A man who was killed after being violently pulled into an MRI machine at a medical facility in New York was wearing a large weight-training chain around his neck, his wife has revealed.
Keith McAllister, 61, suffered catastrophic injuries at Nassau Open MRI in Long Island on Wednesday afternoon and died the following day in hospital, according to police.
NBC New York reported that Mr McAllister had entered the room while a scan of his wife Adrienne Jones-McAllister’s knee was under way.
The powerful magnetic force of the machine turned his 9kg chain he uses for weight training into a “torpedo,” pulling the man off his feet and into the scanner.
The force of the impact caused what officials described as a “medical episode”. Mr McAllister was rushed to hospital in critical condition but passed away a day later.
Man sucked into MRI machine on Long Island was wearing 20 pound workout chain with padlock, wife says
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 20, 2025
"He waved goodbye." pic.twitter.com/n6Wu39SKmD
One witness told CBS News that Mr McAllister had been warned to stay out but rushed in after hearing a relative screaming.
Ms Jones-McAllister said she had called out to her husband to help her off the table, telling News 12 Long Island: "I yelled out Keith's name, (shouting)Keith, come help me up.”
"I saw the machine snatch him around and pull him into the machine... He died, he lost, he went limp in my arms."
Ms Jones-McAllister said her husband had suffered a series of heart attacks after he was freed from the MRI machine. He was later pronounced dead.
New York’s Department of Health said it is now reviewing the incident. In a statement, it said: “MRI facilities in NY are not regulated as part of diagnostic and treatment centers, so are therefore not subject to routine inspections.”
He died, he lost, he went limp in my arms
MRI machines use extremely strong magnetic fields that can attract metal objects with great force, making it dangerous to bring anything metallic near the equipment. Crucially, the magnetic field remains active at all times.
Dr Payal Sud, of North Shore University Hospital, said: “The dangers (of not following protocol) could be catastrophic and it underscores why we have all the safety precautions in place. If this was a chain that was wrapped around the neck, I could imagine any kind of strangulation injuries that could happen. Asphyxiation, cervical spine injuries.”
Charles Winterfeldt, director of imaging services at North Shore, added: “It (the necklace) would act like a torpedo trying to get into the middle of the center of the magnet.”
MRI machines are known to pose additional dangers to those with oxygen tanks, wheelchairs, or magnetic jewellery. Patients are always instructed to remove all metal and electrical objects before entering the room for scanning.
While the machines carry strict safety protocols, experts say injuries and deaths caused by their magnetic pull are extremely rare.
It is not the first time someone has been killed by an MRI machine in New York.
In 2001, six-year-old Michael Colombini died at the Westchester Medical Centre when an oxygen tank flew into the chamber, drawn in by the MRI's 10-ton electromagnet.
