(TNND) — A New Zealand boy who swallowed up to 100 high-powered magnets underwent surgery to remove them from his gut.
The 13-year-old was admitted to Tauranga Hospital on New Zealand’s North Island.
Doctors realized the magnets joined together to form chains in his insides. X-rays showed four different chains of magnets in sections of his insides, cutting off blood flow to nearby tissue.
According to a report by doctors at the hospital, published Friday in the New Zealand Medical Journal, surgeons removed “approximately 80–100 5x2mm high-power neodymium magnets.”
The boy, who was not identified in the report, spent 8 days in the hospital.
However, the surgeons warned that the boy may face long-term complications, such as bowel obstructions, hernias, or chronic abdominal pain.
Although New Zealand banned the selling of small high-powered magnets in 2013, the report said the boy got his hands on the magnet through the online shop Temu. The country banned the magnets due to swallowing cases.
“These magnets are harmless to play with but if swallowed can cause serious internal damage that can require major surgery,” said Simon Bridges in a written statement, then New Zealand’s consumer affairs minister, at the time of the ban.
When the ban was put in place, New Zealand noted it would be difficult to get rid of magnets from online sources.
“Despite the ban small high-power magnets continue to be sold. The Commerce Commission has taken at least two retailers to court for selling the magnets and therefore breaching the Notice,” said Professor Alex Sims, Department of Commercial Law, School of Business, University of Auckland, in a written statement.
In a statement to NBC News, Temu said it has not yet been able to confirm whether the magnets in question were purchased through its platform.
“We are sorry to learn about the reported incident and wish the boy a full and speedy recovery,” Temu’s spokesperson told NBC.