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A 13-year-old boy in New Zealand was hospitalized and underwent major surgery after swallowing as many as 100 magnets.
The teen, who suffered four days of stomach pain before being admitted to Tauranga Hospital, had ingested between 80 and 100 high-power magnets, each around 5×2 millimeters in size, according to a Friday report in the New Zealand Medical Journal.
“Accessibility to high-power magnets is a rising concern for our pediatric population, which may be due to the ability to purchase from online marketplaces at inexpensive prices,” the report states.
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FILE PHOTO: A view of Tauranga Hospital is pictured here. The teen suffered four days of stomach pain before being admitted to Tauranga Hospital. (Google Maps)
An X-ray revealed four chains of magnets stuck together inside his abdomen. Surgeons operated on the boy, removing the magnets and damaged sections of his intestines. He was released from the hospital eight days later, according to the report.
Ingesting multiple magnets can cause life-threatening injuries. Surgical intervention, which is frequently required, can also lead to complications later in life.
New Zealand and Australia have both banned the sale of small high-powered magnets. However, enforcing those bans online is more difficult, the report states.
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FILE PHOTO: Surgeons are pictured using medical instruments. Surgeons operated on the boy, removing the magnets and damaged sections of his intestines. (iStock)
In this instance, the magnets were reportedly purchased from online marketplace Temu, according to the report.
A spokesperson for Temu told Fox News Digital it is investigating the incident and has reached out to the authors of the report for more details.
“We are sorry to learn about the reported incident and wish the boy a full and speedy recovery,” the Temu spokesperson told Fox News Digital in an email. “We take product safety very seriously and continuously monitor our platform to ensure sellers are complying with the safety regulations of the markets they are doing business in.”
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FILE PHOTO: The Temu logo is seen here. A spokesperson for Temu told Fox News Digital it is investigating the incident. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Temu has not been able to identify the specific product listing or confirm whether the magnets were purchased from its online marketplace, according to the spokesperson.
“Nonetheless, our teams are reviewing relevant listings to ensure full compliance with local safety requirements,” the spokesperson said. “Any products found to be non-compliant will be removed, and we will take firm action against any sellers found to have breached our platform rules or local regulations.”