NEED TO KNOW
- A family member of a man who was fatally injured by an MRI machine on Long Island said he was attached to it for nearly an hour
- The man has been identified as Keith McAllister, 61
- His family said he died the following day after experiencing “several heart attacks”
The family of a man who died after being sucked into an MRI machine is sharing new heartbreaking details about what happened.
The incident occurred just after 4:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday, July 16, when a 61-year-old man, later identified as Keith McAllister, entered an MRI room during a scan in Westbury, N.Y.
“The male victim was wearing a large metallic chain around his neck causing him to be drawn into the machine which resulted in a medical episode,” the Nassau County Police said in a statement.
He was transported to a local hospital in critical condition but died the next day, police added.
His wife, Adrienne Jones-McAllister, told News 12 Long Island she was with her husband when it happened.
“He went limp in my arms,” Jones-McAllister said, “and this is still pulsating in my brain.”
She told the station she’d had an MRI on her knee and called for the technician to let her husband in to help her get back up afterward. The outlet reported the technician allowed McAllister inside even though he was wearing a 20-lb. weight-training chain around his neck.
“In that instant, the machine switched him around, pulled him in and he hit the MRI,” she told the outlet. She and the technician tried to pull him away but were unsuccessful.
“I was saying, ‘Could you turn off the machine? Call 911. Do something. Turn this damn thing off!’ ” Jones-McAllister said, adding separately, “That was not the first time that guy has seen that chain. They had a conversation about it before.”
Patients are typically asked to remove any metal and electrical objects from their person before undergoing an MRI. According to the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, MRI machines use powerful magnets to scan bodies for diseases and ailments while producing images of “non-bony parts or soft tissues.”
In a GoFundMe set up to support her mother, Samantha Bodden claimed that her mom and the MRI technician spent several minutes trying to free him themselves before police were called — but McAllister remained attached to the machine “for almost an hour before they could release the chain from the machine.”
According to both Bodden and Jones-McAllister, he died the following day after experiencing “several heart attacks following the tragic accident.”
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Bodden went on to remember McAllister as a “husband, a father, a stepfather, a grandfather, a brother, and an uncle” as well as a friend to many.”
“He was on a fixed income from social security and didn’t have much. So at this time, my mother is asking for help with expenses to help bury him,” she continued, adding that “anything will help and is very much appreciated.”
As of Monday, July 21, nearly $7,000 has been raised.
Reached over the phone, a representative for the Nassau County Police Public Information Office said they have no additional information to release at this time beyond the department’s initial statement, noting the Nassau County Medical Examiner will complete a report about McAllister’s death.
A representative for Nassau Open MRI, where the incident occurred, could not immediately be reached for a comment or clarification about McAllister’s access to the room.
Read the full article here
