Wife shares horror details after husband dies from being sucked into MRI machine

News.com.au

2 days ago

A man who died after being sucked into an MRI machine was brought into the room by a technician before the horror accident, his wife revealed.
Keith McAllister, 61, was dragged into the machine by his necklace during his wife's scan – and suffered catastrophic injuries before dying the next day, The Sun reports.
His wife, Adrienne Jones-McAllister, told News 12 Long Island about the harrowing ordeal which unfolded on Wednesday afternoon.
She said her partner entered the MRI room at Nassau Open MRI in Long Island while a scan on her knee was underway.
Adrienne asked the technician to bring her husband in as she needed his help getting up off the table.
He was wearing a large metallic chain around his neck – which turned into a 'torpedo' and caused him to be pulled off his feet and into the machine.
Adrienne said she saw the scanning device suddenly 'snatch him' as he approached her.
'He went limp in my arms, and this is still pulsating in my brain,' the heartbroken patient said.
She recalled saying: 'Could you turn off the machine, call 911, do something, Turn this damn thing off!'
The technician seemingly allowed Adrienne's husband into the room – despite the fact he was wearing a 20-pound (nine kilogram) chain.
His wife said that he used it regularly for weight training.
And she revealed that it was not the first time the pair had visited Nassau Open MRI – and even claimed that the staff member had previously discussed Keith's huge chain.
She said: 'That was not the first time that guy has seen that chain. They had a conversation about it before.'
And she revealed that they had previously made casual comments about the accessory, saying things like: 'Ooooooh, that's a big chain!'
Keith was then rushed to hospital with critical injuries – but after suffering several heart attacks he died the next day, police said.
New York's Department of Health said it was reviewing the incident.
It said: 'MRI facilities in NY are not regulated as part of diagnostic and treatment centres, so are therefore not subject to routine inspections.'
MRI machines use powerful magnets that can pull in metal objects – and this makes it unsafe to bring metal of any kind near the machine.
And the magnetic field is always on – meaning even small objects can cause accidents.
'The dangers (of not following protocol) could be catastrophic and it underscores why we have all the safety precautions in place,' North Shore University Hospital's Dr Payal Sud told CBS.
'If this was a chain that was wrapped around the neck, I could imagine any kind of strangulation injuries that could happen. Asphyxiation, cervical spine injuries.'
Charles Winterfeldt, the hospital's director of imaging services, said: 'It (the necklace) would act like a torpedo trying to get into the middle of the centre of the magnet.'
North Shore says that MRI machines can pose a particular danger to people with oxygen tanks, in wheelchairs or those even wearing magnetic jewellery.
Patients are instructed to remove all metal and electrical objects before getting scanned, according to North Shore.
However, experts say injuries and deaths tied to objects being pulled by the magnetic field of MRI machines are rare.