Four-year-old Marcell now knows it's wrong to eat magnets, but at the time his mom says he probably thought the tiny magnets looked like candy and would taste like candy.

But, Marcell's X-rays and his mother, Angela, tell the real story.

"I pretty much knew he may not make it," said Angela as she described the agonizing 90 minutes her son was in the operating room.

Marcell had emergency surgery last May, two days after he got violently ill. He had excruciating stomach pain and wouldn't stop vomiting.

"I just prayed, just prayed," said Angela. Everyone, including Angela's primary care physician, thought it was a bad case of the stomach flu.

Stumped doctors knew it was something more. They took an X-ray, and found the problem: three magnets magnetized together in his intestines. Doctors operated immediately.

They not only found the three magnets, but eight tiny holes in Marcell's intestines. The magnets eroded through his intestine wall.

"I was in denial, 'cause I didn't think a toy could do this to my baby, I didn't think this could happen," saidAngela.

Six months after Marcell's scare, 19-month-old Kenny Sweet of Redmond was rushed to the hospital. Doctors found magnets in his intestines too.

But for Kenny, it was too late, and he later died. And just last week, we learned an unidentified 5-year-old was hospitalized for the same thing. He's in intensive care at Seattle's Children's Hospital.

The common thread? Each of them say the children swallowed magnets from a Magnetix building set.

They are powerful magnets encased in plastic. In all three cases, the magnets were out of their plastic hardware.

"If it's happening here, it's happening elsewhere," warns Seattle attorney Sim Osborn. He represents Kenny's and Marcell's families.

He wants Magnetix to pull the magnet toys off the shelf and has filed a lawsuit seeking a court-ordered injunction to do just that.

"I had these toys in my house, I've thrown them out, and told everyone I know," said Osborn.

The company that manufactures the Magnetix toys said that the toy meets federal safety standards and has an appropriate age and choking hazard warning.

"These children didn't choke, these children had their intestines pulled together by these super strong magnets," insists Osborn.

The particular toy set that Marcell had was labeled safe for ages 3 to 100. Even though Marcell met the age requirement -- he was 3 1/2-years-old at the time of his surgery -- his mom is convinced that no age is safe.

"I want them pulled off the shelf...I don't want to see more children die, I almost lost mine I don't want anyone else to lose theirs," Angela said.

The toy maker says the incidents are avoidable with proper supervision, but the families say it's unavoidable because they believe Magnetix makes an "unreasonably dangerous toy."

The Consumer Product Safety Commission told KOMO 4 its investigation is "serious and ongoing." A Commission spokesman said the goal is to make sure Magnetix and a child dying are never used in the same sentence again.

For More Information:

Dec. 20, 2005 -- Earlier Story From KOMOtv.com
Mar 16, 2006 -- Earlier Story From KOMOtv.com