Man dies after being sucked into MRI scanner

Jul 21, 2025, updated Jul 21, 2025
McAllister's step-daughter said he was trapped in the machine for almost an hour. Photo: Pixabay
McAllister's step-daughter said he was trapped in the machine for almost an hour. Photo: Pixabay

An American man has died after being pulled into an MRI machine by a “large metallic chain” he was wearing, sparking a police investigation.

The 61-year-old man – named by his wife to local media as Keith McAllister – was wearing the heavy necklace when he went into an MRI room at a Nassau facility in Westbury, New York, early last week, local police said.

They said his entry “while the scan was in progress” was not authorised.

McAllister’s wife Adrienne Jones-McAllister told local TV station News 12 Long Island that she was the one having the MRI.

“He went limp in my arms – and this is still pulsating in my brain,” she said through tears.

Jones-McAllister told the TV station she was getting an MRI on her knee and needed help getting up afterwards. She said she asked the technician to get her husband.

“I yelled out Keith’s name, ‘Keith, Keith, come help me up’,” she said.

She also told the station that her husband was wearing around his neck a nine-kilogram chain with a lock that he used for weight training.

“At that instant, the machine switched him around, pulled him in, and he hit the MRI,” Jones-McAllister said.

She said she and the technician tried desperately to pry her husband away from the machine.

“I’m saying, ‘Could you turn off the machine? Call 911. Do something. Turn this damn thing off!’.”

McAllister’s step-daughter Samantha Bodden alleges the technician “forgot to inform him” to take off his chain.

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“My mother and the tech tried for several minutes to release him before the police were called,” she wrote on Facebook.

“He was attached to the machine for almost an hour before they could release the chain.”

McAllister was taken to hospital in a critical condition. Police said the next day he had “succumbed to his injuries and was declared deceased by a hospital physician”.

How does MRI work?

Magnetic resonance imaging scans take detailed pictures of the inside of your body and can show problems without the need for surgery, Australian government health resources say.

The scanners are often shaped like tunnels, with a table for a person to lie on that slides through the middle.

“The scanner uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to generate signals from the body. These are picked up by a radio antenna and processed by a computer to create detailed pictures,” Health Direct says.

Warnings about wearing metal near the scanners, or even some health devices, are common.

“Some people cannot have an MRI, for example, people with a pacemaker or certain implants. This is because metal interacts with the magnet and can cause serious harm to the patient,” Health Direct says.

“Make sure you do not wear any make up or hairspray when you have your MRI scan, as these may contain tiny metal particles that may interfere with the scan, heat up or even burn you.”

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