The mum of a five-year-old lad who swallowed 52 magnetic balls thought he would die after he was rushed into emergency surgery to have them removed.
Jude Foley had his bouts of sickness brushed off by doctors in August before his mother Lyndsey decided to take him to A&E at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil when his complaints intensified.
An initial physical and blood examination showed nothing abnormal, but after an X-ray of Jude's stomach the doctor's jaws were left on the floor.
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Wales Online reported that a necklace-type shape could clearly be seen in the boy's stomach.
He was then rushed to the Noah's Ark Children's Hospital of Wales in Cardiff where he underwent a major operation in an attempt to remove them all safely.
"I felt like I might lose him – it was horrific," admitted Lyndsey, from Penydarren, Merthyr Tydfil.
"It was lucky that he was operated on that night or it could have been fatal. You don't expect something so bad to happen from a child's toy."
Doctors at the children's hospital had to cut Jude's bowel in five places as the magnets were trapped. They also had to remove his appendix as one of the magnets had joined it to his bowel.
"The time went so incredibly slowly," Lyndsey said of the mammoth seven-hour procedure.
Docs said "he was very lucky that there was no long-term damage."
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Lyndsey believes that judo-mad Jude didn't eat the magnetic balls in one sitting and did it over a much longer period of time.
She is now warning other families not to buy these types of toys over Christmas.
"If you have these beads at home remove them immediately. If you know of anyone who has them pass the message on.
"They are so dangerous they shouldn't be put on the market, and I wouldn't want another family to be put through what we have experienced."
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