The New York man who died after being sucked into an MRI machine was jammed inside for about an hour, his horrified family has claimed.
Keith McAllister, a 61-year-old Long Island resident, suffered a fatal injury during a freak accident on Wednesday while assisting his wife, Adrienne Jones-McAllister, at Nassau Open MRI in Westbury.
Adrienne was having a knee scan completed. Afterward, the technician exited the room to bring in Keith so he could help his wife stand up, as explained in a GoFundMe campaign created by Adrienne’s daughter, Samantha Bodden.
But Keith was wearing a 20-pound chain – which he was allegedly never told to remove before approaching the screening machine, the GoFundMe states.
‘[The technician] forgot to inform him to take the chain he was wearing from around his neck off when the magnet sucked him in,’ Bodden wrote.
Reflecting on the gripping moment, Adrienne shared with News 12: ‘I witnessed him approach the table, and suddenly the machine pulled him in. He went limp in my arms – it’s a memory that continues to haunt me.’
Keith’s panicked wife and the employee allegedly tried to pull him out of the machine for several minutes before the police were called.
Keith was ‘attached to the machine for almost an hour before they could release the chain,’ Bodden explained.
Keith McAllister (right) was fatally injured the Wednesday freak accident while he was trying to help his wife, Adrienne Jones-McAllister (left), off an MRI table
Keith (pictured) was wearing a 20-pound chain – which he was allegedly never told to remove before approaching the screening machine
MRI machines generate strong magnetic fields and radio waves to create detailed internal images of the human body (file image)
The following day, Keith died at the hospital after having ‘several heart attacks’ related to the harrowing incident.
Just as Bodden wrote on the fundraiser page, Adrienne has asserted the technician was well aware Keith was wearing a chain.
She alleged the worker allowed her husband into the room despite the piece of jewelry, which had been worn on previous visits to the same facility.
‘That was not the first time that guy had seen that chain. They’d had a conversation about it before,’ she said.
Bodden has also refuted reports that Keith was not allowed to enter the MRI room, reiterating the sentiment that he was invited in by the allegedly forgetful employee.
‘Several news stations are saying he wasn’t authorized to be in the room when in fact he was because the technician went and brought him into the room,’ Bodden wrote.
Police are investigating the incident, but do not believe any foul play was involved. Authorities have claimed Keith did not have authorization to enter the room.
Daily Mail approached management at Nassau Open MRI for comment.
MRI machines generate strong magnetic fields and radio waves to create detailed internal images of the human body.
The freak accident occurred at Nassau Open MRI in Westbury (pictured) after Keith was allegedly told to come into the MRI room by a technician
The magnetic pull of MRIs are so strong that it is capable of flinging a wheelchair across the room, according to the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.
When undergoing on MRI procedure, patients are generally asked to remove all jewelry and piercings to remain safe.
People with certain medical implants are unable to go into an MRI machine at all. This generally includes people with cochlear implants, blood vessel stents, cardiac defibrillators and pacemakers.
Keith’s GoFundMe has already raised about $6,600 towards funeral expenses.
‘Keith was a husband, a father, a stepfather, a grandfather, a brother, and an uncle. He was a friend to many,’ Bodden wrote.
