Inquisitive toddler Payton Bushnell is lucky to be alive after swallowing 37 high-powered magnets.
The three-year-old complained of a stomach ache, and when she didn't recover, her parents, Kelli and Aaron took her to the doctors, where they were alarmed to see not one, not even two, but 37 magnets in her tummy on an X-ray!
The magnets were from Payton's parents' Buckyballs, a popular magnetic game they had at home. The magnets ripped three holes in Payton's lower intestines and one in the stomach.
"They saw a circle had formed in her stomach, and they thought she swallowed a bracelet," Payton's mother, Kelli told KPTV. "If we had any idea what those magnets could have done to our daughter's intestines I would have never had them in our house."
Doctors immediately took Payton into surgery when the magnets showed up on her x-ray, and were fortunately able to save her life by removing the 37 antibodies. She is now on her way to a full recovery.
"In all the research I have done, I have never seen any child swallow more than 10 magnets," nurse Sandy Nipper, from Randall Children's Hospital, told the channel.
"When I heard 37 magnets were swallowed, my nurse's mind raced to what taking 37 strong magnets could do to a fantastic little three-year-old girl, and it frightened me to death."
"Her mom and I prayed and hoped she'd get through it," said Payton's dad, Aaron. "When they roll your daughter out with tubes sticking out of her, you don't know how strong you are until all you can be, is strong."
Good luck with your recovery, Payton!
Inquisitive My darling toddler, thank you for...
- ...saving me pennies on the phone bill<p> Just imagine how many calls I might have made by now if the phone was EVER where it should be on its cradle! The telepathy thing isn't coming on that brilliantly, though, if I'm honest. Daddy never seems to receive the message 'bring more wine'.</p>
- ...decorating the house<p> You’re right. We really were very unimaginative when we painted it in shades of off white, hoping to achieve stylish spaces that exuded light and airiness. That big smear of chocolate you made by wiping your cheek on the wall in the living room actually matches the cushions! And should I ever enter the house and forget where the kitchen is, the line you drew with non-washable felt-tip the entire length of the wall in the hall will show me the way.</p>
- ...boosting the local economy...<p> ...by, for example, providing work for the exterminators, who come to catch the mice, who come to eat the food that you somehow manage to deposit, in minute amounts, all over the house in places that should be impossible to get to.</p>
- ...the interesting beauty regimes<p> I do remember reading that avocado is excellent for one's skin – although I’m not sure about your particular method of mixing it with snot, and transferring it from your face to mine with that expert lunge/sweep manoeuvre. Especially when I already have my make-up on.</p>
- ...for helping me make new friends...<p> ...such as the woman who answers calls for the emergency services.</p>
- ...all the long weekends...<p> ...which are always extended by several hours, what with your fascinating ability to wake up at 5am every Saturday and Sunday (or sometimes, amazingly enough, even earlier if it’s one of those rare occasions that I went out the night before).</p>
- …filling the silences in the house...<p> ...with giggles, farts, excruciatingly high-pitched screams, the brain-numbing babble of battery toys and – rather brilliantly, even when you are sleeping soundly in your bed – a deafening roar when we turn on the stereo, which you have invariably switched on to maximum volume.</p>
- ...not to mention the silences everywhere else...<p> ...like in the library, for example, when we returned your story books and you were sad to see them go. I'm not sure, when the sweet librarian suggested you could take home a different Peppa Pig book, it was an entirely appropriate response to turn purple, scream bloody murder and repeatedly try to bite her. But still, she didn't call the police or anything.</p>
- ...making my heart swell...<p> ...not only with the love I have for you, but also with adrenaline – when I catch you on the third 'rung' of the bookshelf, because you have realised there's a valuable vase up at the top (possibly the only thing in the room you haven't yet licked).</p>
- ... teaching me the true value of money<p> I thought, what with frivolous purchases of Jimmy Choos and luxurious make-up having been replaced by cautious purchases of Start-Rites and Johnsons wipes, I had learned to appreciate it. But what really clinched it for me, I think, was looking up just as you posted that £20 note through the minuscule gap between the wall and the fireplace.</p>
- ...helping me garden<p> I understand that waiting for those tomatoes to turn red is just too much for you. Never mind. After months of tending those plants (which I grew from seed by the way, do you remember?), rather than plucking ripe juicy tomatoes for glorious summer salads, I will just look up recipes for green tomato chutneys which will take up space in the cupboard for all eternity – or until we move house.</p>
- ...being so honest<p> Like when you pointed at my thighs, laughing, and said: 'jelly!' it was a turning point for me. Really.</p>
- ...being right next to me when I woke up this morning<p> The fact that you prised open my sleepy eyelid, and then tried to lick my eyeball, is by the by. Even if not quite THAT close up, just like every other morning of my life, you were still the very first thing I wanted to see.</p>
Share this article
10 Comments