NEW YORK (BN24) — A 61-year-old man died after being violently pulled into an MRI machine at a Long Island imaging center when the magnetic field locked onto a heavy weight-training chain around his neck, according to police and his wife.
The fatal incident occurred Wednesday afternoon inside the Nassau Open MRI facility in New Hyde Park while a scan was in progress. Authorities said the machine’s powerful magnet activated while the man was in the room, drawing him forcefully by the 20-pound chain and slamming him into the MRI device. He died from his injuries Thursday afternoon, Nassau County Police said.
The man’s name has not been publicly released pending official notification, though his wife, Adrienne Jones-McAllister, identified him in an emotional interview with News 12 Long Island as Keith McAllister.
Jones-McAllister said she had been undergoing a knee MRI and had asked a technician to bring in her husband for assistance. She recounted that the staff member allowed McAllister into the room, despite the fact that he was still wearing the heavy metal chain, which the couple had previously joked about with staff.
“When he got close to me, the machine switched him around and pulled him in,” she told News 12, holding back tears. “He waved goodbye to me and then his whole body went limp in my arms.”
She described a desperate moment as she pleaded with the technician to shut off the MRI. The technician tried to help her pull him off the machine, she said, but the magnetic force was too strong. McAllister reportedly suffered multiple heart attacks after being freed and was later pronounced dead.
Calls to Nassau Open MRI on Friday were not returned. The facility declined to comment.
This is not the first fatality in New York involving the magnetic force of an MRI machine. In 2001, 6-year-old Michael Colombini died after an oxygen tank was pulled into an MRI chamber at Westchester Medical Center. That tragedy led to a $2.9 million legal settlement for the boy’s family and prompted safety reforms across many U.S. hospitals.
Experts emphasize that MRI scanners generate strong magnetic fields capable of turning certain metals into dangerous projectiles. The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering states the magnets can “fling a wheelchair across the room” and exert powerful forces on iron, steel, and other magnetizable materials.
The Nassau County Police Department continues to investigate the incident, including whether standard safety protocols were followed at the imaging center. The facility has not indicated whether staff involved have been suspended or disciplined.
Jones-McAllister expressed disbelief and heartbreak at the apparent lapse in safety.
“He should never have been allowed in there with that chain,” she said. “This didn’t have to happen.”
