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Fidget spinner toy causes Oregon boy to choke


Fidget spinner.
Fidget spinner.
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A mother is warning parents about a dangerous new toy her son choked on. The 5-year-old, she said, choked on a piece of a fidget spinner. The boy underwent surgery Saturday to remove the portion he swallowed.

"It was terrifying and was heartbreaking to see my child choking up blood. I would never want another parent to go through what I did," said Johely Morelos.

The mother said she warned her son Cayden about the toy since she saw what happened to a 10-year-old girl in Texas. The girl choked on a piece of the gadget. Her mother posted her X-ray online.

"If I would have known that the toy came apart, I would have never let him get a hold of it," Morelos said.

The boy was taken to Doernbecher Children's Hospital for surgery and is now home and doing fine.

"Fidgets have really exploded in the past couple of months," said Dr. Benjamin Hoffman, a professor of pediatrics at Oregon Health & Science University and Doernbecher Children's Hospital.

The toy, he said, can easily break apart into small pieces, which children can swallow or inhale.

"Do not use them for children under 12, don't leave children alone if you don't trust them alone with them, and do not let children take them apart," Hoffman said.

Fidget spinners, he told KATU, are not shown to help children with trouble concentrating or holding still.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is now investigating the toy after numerous complaints have been made. Hoffman said it could take years to recall a toy.

"The best-case scenario is that we see you no more. The only way that we're going to see no more is that parents and caregivers are smart about their kids and these potential dangerous items." he said.

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