Mum’s stark warning as girl, 2, left vomiting ‘litres of dark green liquid’ after fidget balls burnt her insides
A MUM claims her daughter almost died after swallowing six magnetic 'fidget' balls.
But doctors allegedly dismissed her symptoms as a tummy bug and left the toys burning holes in her stomach for two weeks.
Jade Berriman said her two-year-old Meliyah-Jayd had to undergo emergency surgery when her body began to poison itself after the 4mm balls burnt four holes in her small bowel.
The 31-year-old claims she feared her little girl was going to die when she started vomiting litres of dark green liquid, but fortunately survived after having 16in (40cm) of her bowel removed.
Meliyah-Jayd has been left with a permanent 5in (12cm) scar across her stomach after accidentally swallowing the magnetic 'fidget' balls.
Jade said the youngster initially began complaining of a stomach ache on September 2.
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When the pain persisted, she called 111 and took her daughter to visit an out-of-hours doctor at the Story Street Walk-in Centre in Hull.
The worried mother said medics diagnosed her toddler with gastroenteritis, inflamed bowels and a sore throat, and she was sent home.
But after her daughter's tummy pains got progressively worse and she discovered her "rolling around" and "wailing" in the early hours of September 10, Jade rushed her to the children's A&E department at Hull Royal Infirmary.
By this point, Meliyah-Jayd had been continuously throwing up for nearly a week and hadn't been to the toilet in 48 hours.
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After seeing the doctor, Jade claims her tot's stomach pains were dismissed and she was diagnosed with tonsillitis and sent home with antibiotics.
The mum-of-three is now warning other parents to "always trust your gut" when children fall ill after her little girl was reportedly wrongly diagnosed twice.
'Wailing' in pain
Jade, from Hull, in East Yorkshire, said: "A week after her tummy pain first started, I came home from work and on Sunday morning she was rolling in pain. She wasn't crying, she was wailing.
"It was the worst sound I had ever heard, so we took her to A&E."
Doctors were unable to take a urine sample from the two-year-old because she was so dehydrated.
"A doctor then looked at her throat and diagnosed her with tonsillitis," mum Jade claimed.
"I knew that was completely wrong but they gave her antibiotics and shipped me out with a lethargic baby who was being sick constantly and screaming with tummy pain.
"I said, 'I don't think it is' and her dad said it wasn't either.
"We know the symptoms of tonsillitis as our middle son had his tonsils out from this when he was younger. You don't get tummy pain with tonsillitis."
She added: "I'm upset with how little care she got at Hull Royal Infirmary A&E.
"They failed to give my daughter the duty of care she needed and this could have killed her.
"If they had done their job, it may have saved the damage she had suffered."
Jade doled out advice to other parents.
"I would say to parents, you know your child better than anyone else. You fight for what you believe.
"Parents need to trust their gut," she added.
A spokesperson for Hull University Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, which covers the Hull Royal Infirmary, said it was sorry to hear Jade felt her daughter didn't receive adequate care and urged her to reach out.
Third time lucky
After being sent home from A&E with penicillin, Jade said Meliyah-Jayd projectile vomited every time she tried to give her a dose of the medication so she rang her GP on September 11.
But after she struggled to get a same-day appointment and her daughter continued to cry out in agony, she rushed her to the Beverly Urgent Treatment Centre in Hull, which admitted the toddler to Hull Royal Infirmary.
Jade said her tiny tot had lost all colour in her face and was lethargic.
Jade said: "At this point, I knew she was dying and had an awful feeling that we were going to lose her.
"[At the urgent care centre] they rushed her through as a priority and then the doctor rang the hospital and got her admitted straight away.
At the hospital, Jade said 24-hour tests were run on Meliyah–Jayd but they all came back normal on September 13.
But when the two-year-old's body allegedly started to poison itself and she began throwing up dark green liquid, she was taken for an ultrasound.
It revealed her stomach was filled with fluids, which were immediately pumped from her body.
An X-ray was then taken on Meliyah-Jayd's stomach, which is when Jade said the doctors discovered the six magnetic beads in her bowels.
The schoolgirl was then rushed for a three-hour emergency operation to have the beads extracted, which resulted a large portion of her bowels being removed.
Jade said: "On Wednesday morning she was very sick.
"It must have been litres flying out of her tummy. It was a green colour like the dark green innocent smoothie and this was her poo. Her body was poisoning her.
"She was so floppy and weak she couldn't hold herself up. She was choking on her own vomit and we had to hold her up.
"I knew she was dying and I knew she was leaving me. She was just getting weaker. It was awful. I can't even describe what it was like."
She added: "I laid her on the X-ray bed and within seconds they asked me if she was laying on balls, which she wasn't and this is when we discovered she had swallowed the magnetic balls.
"Within the hour she was having emergency bowel surgery."
Jade remembered everything going by in a blur.
"The surgeon said he didn't know how she survived all that time in so much pain. He said he's taken a lot of magnets out of children but this is the worst he had ever seen.
"She's a miracle to be here"
Meliyah-Jayd is now recovering at home with her family, but Jade said her daughter remains on 'amber alert' for the next six weeks to make sure her bowels don't leak, which could result in her having a stoma fitted.
Jade said: "We think she took the balls individually and because they're magnets they've come together in her bowels and put a hole all the way through.
"[Due to the surgery], we now have to watch what she eats and she can't have a lot of fatty foods or fizzy drinks - things that take longer to digest.
"She's a miracle to be here. I'm relieved that she is on the road to recovery but I'm watching her like a hawk and anxious."
Jade is now urging for parents to be wary of these magnetic balls and posted on Facebook to raise awareness of the dangers of children swallowing them.
Jade said: "Don't buy these metal balls. I wish I had never bought them for my son.
"Of course, I am partly to blame for purchasing these for my older children and she must have swallowed them when I had my back turned for a second but I want to raise awareness on how dangerous these tiny little balls can be.
"This could have been goodbye post."
A Hull University Teaching Hospital NHS Trust spokesperson said: “We are very sorry to hear that the care Meliyah-Jayd received did not meet the expectations of her family.
"We currently have no record of the family contacting us via our PALS or complaints teams but we would encourage them to do so in order that we can investigate appropriately.
“We are glad to hear that Meliyah-Jayd is recovering now and that she and her mother were happy with the care they received after she was admitted to hospital.”
A City Health Care Partnership CIC (CHCP) spokesperson who covers Story Street Walk-in Centre said they can't comment on individual cases but urges anyone unhappy with their services to get in touch.
They said: "A CHCP cannot disclose any details about the care of individual patients as this would be a breach of confidentiality, but we would urge anyone who has used our services and is unhappy about any aspect of their care to get in touch with our Customer Care team who will endeavour to resolve any problem or concern as quickly as possible."
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A nine-year-old also had to have part of his bowel removed after swallowing a magnetic fidget ball.
Parents have previously issued warnings about pop-it fidget toys, as children may choke on parts that fall off them.
