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5th February 2024
03:01pm GMT
An eight-year-old boy died after he swallowed magnets as part of what may have been an attempt at a social media trend, a coroner has ruled.
Rhys Millum died on September 29 as a result of 10 3mm silver magnetic balls that had joined together in his bowel to form a 30mm row, perforating his small intestine.
The coroner added that the boy may been taking part in a TikTok trend which saw people put a magnet on the inside and outside of their cheek to create the appearance of a dimple piercing.
Rhys never mentioned putting the magnets in his mouth and they were only found during a CT scan after his death.
As part of the investigation into his death, police found a video of him talking to his brother about boosting his social media profiles by doing stunts that were "a bit dare devil… like drinking hot sauce."
The Mail reports that Rhys had never spoken about the magnet challenge with his family though.
His mum Andrea Boyd told the publication: “He was doubled over screaming. I gave him Calpol thinking it was wind. It did not seem to settle him much.”
When she took him to Harrogate District Hospital A&E department, his abdomen was examined and he was cleared to go home after being given more painkillers and anti-fever medication.
The boy's condition deteriorated after he was picked up by his dad Richard Millum to stay with him for the weekend, when he struggled to eat or drink and kept vomiting.
The court heard that there were periods of time over that weekend when he would perk up.
On the Sunday evening of that weekend though, Millum was bathing Rhys' brother when Rhys walked in and told his dad that he could no longer see. After sitting on a chair, he lost consciousness shortly after.
Millum called an ambulance and tried to revive his son. After being rushed to hospital, Rhys suffered a heart attack and was put on life support.
He never regained consciousness and died later that night.
A postmortem found the magnets in his bowel. These had been gifted to him and his brother by a family friend as part of a sculpture-making toy.
His father said Rhys was "messing around with them all the time" but that he never saw his son put them in his mouth.
Boyd said: “We did try to brainstorm why he would put them into this mouth. Someone mentioned this TikTok thing and thought it might be that.
“Richard had mentioned the balls to me. He got them for the boys to make sculptures out of them.”
Whilst Rhys didn't have a TikTok account himself, coroner Catherine Cundy said that Rhys was "at least aware of the concept of social media challenges and would have had access to social media platforms like YouTube and may have seen people using magnets in this way."
She recorded a misadventure conclusion.
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