Horror MRI accidents including freak sex toy injury and nurse being crushed

An MRI scanner has the incredible ability to take in-depth scans of the body to help diagnose medical issues.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are used at hospitals across the world helping to identify serious conditions in minutes.

The powerful machine has a magnetic field that is 30,000 times stronger than the earth's magnetic field and around 200 times stronger than a fridge magnet. Although it is harmless to human tissue, the force of the magnet can haul a metal object to dozens of feet per second.

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Objects containing ferrous metals are pulled towards it and so must not be carried into the scan room. Here, the Mirror has taken a look at some horrifying MRI incidents when things have gone seriously wrong - and in some cases proven to be fatal.

Sex Toy dragged through body

A 22-year-old woman suffered horrendous injuries after a butt plug inserted into her rectum was pulled through her body when she went for an MRI scan.

The dangerous incident reportedly took place earlier this year. The woman who inserted the sex toy had believed it was made entirely out of silicone but it actually contained metal in its core.

The ordeal reportedly came close to damaging internal organs with the sex toy travelling at the 'speed of sound' inside her.

Nurse's freak accident

It's not just patients who are at risk of being brought to harm through MRI scans. At Redwood Medical Centre in Redwood, California a nurse was crushed in a freak accident inside an MRI machine.

According to the report, the MRI's magnetic force caused the bed to be "pulled uncontrollably" into the machine. Nurse Ainah Cervantes became pinned between the bed and the machine, suffering crushing injuries, according to KTVU.

"I was getting pushed by the bed," she said, according to a report obtained by the news channel.

Gun horror

A bizarre incident saw a gun being discharged in the MRI room which led to the death of a man.

Leandro Mathias de Novaes accompanied his mother to a scan at Laboratorio Cura in São Paulo, Brazil. The machine yanked had the weapon from his waistband, causing it to go off and shoot him, on January 16, 2023.

He was rushed to the São Luiz Morumbi Hospital but sadly died weeks later on February 6. Following the accident, a spokesperson for Laboratorio Cura said: "Both the patient and his companion were properly instructed regarding the procedures for accessing the examination room and warned about the removal of any and all metallic objects."

The facility's PR added that both Novaes and his mother signed a form regarding the protocols, but that the lawyer failed to mention his weapon and entered the unit with it "by his own decision."

Sucked into scanner

A terrible tragedy saw a man sucked into an MRI machine while visiting a relative in hospital.

The incident occurred in Mumbai India, when Rajesh Maru, 32, was pulled towards the machine by its magnetic force after he entered the room carrying an oxygen cylinder, the city's police said in a statement.

The victim's uncle said Maru had been asked to carry the cylinder by the junior staff member who assured him the machine was switched off. "A doctor and another member of staff were arrested for causing death due to negligence," Mumbai police spokesman Deepak Deoraj told AFP. The man is sad to have died from inhaling liquid oxygen that leaked from the cylinder which was damaged after hitting the machine.

Fatal brain trauma

In 2001 a six-year-old cancer patient was tragically killed during a routine brain scan due to the 'missile' effect of MRI scans.

The boy was suffered catastrophic head injuries and brain trauma after being struck by a nearby oxygen tank which crushed him.

The horrifying incident happened near New York in the US. Hospital officials say the oxygen tank was "introduced" into the exam room while the machine's magnet was on.

Pinned down in hours of agony

Two hospital workers spent four hours pinned between a highly magnetic MRI machine and a metal oxygen tank.

The 4ft tank was pulled across the room by the machine at Tata Memorial Hospital in New Delhi, India, leaving porter Sunil Jadhav and technician Swami Ramaiah seriously injured. The 28-year-old porter was asked to fetch an oxygen mask but thought he was being asked to fetch a whole tank, the Mumbai Mirror reported.

The technician, 35, suffered punctured bladder and severe bleeding from his abdomen Normally the incident could have been over within seconds, but the machine's emergency shut-off switch failed to work, hospital authorities said.

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