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N.Y. man critically injured after being sucked into MRI machine

A 61-year-old Long Island man is in critical condition after being pulled into an active MRI machine by his metal necklace at a Westbury imaging center

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A Long Island, New York, man was critically injured Wednesday, July 16, 2025, when he was sucked into an MRI machine by the chain necklace he was wearing.

Chase Stevens/TNS

By David Matthews
New York Daily News

NEW YORK — A Long Island man was critically injured Wednesday when he was sucked into an MRI machine by the chain necklace he was wearing.

The incident happened at Nassau Open MRI in Westbury around 4:30 p.m. when the 61-year-old man entered an MRI suite without permission while a scan was in progress, according to Nassau County police.

He was “wearing a large metallic chain around his neck causing him to be drawn into the machine which resulted in a medical episode,” police said Thursday.

The man, whose identity has not been released, was taken to a hospital, where he remained in critical condition with unknown injuries on Thursday. It remains unclear how he gained access to the room while the MRI machine was active, but an investigation is ongoing.

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machines use powerful magnets and radio waves, instead of radiation, to create detailed images of the body’s internal structures. Metallic objects are not supposed to be near the machines since the magnetic field can turn any metal object into a projectile.

“The magnetic field extends beyond the machine and exerts very powerful forces on objects of iron, some steels and other magnetizable objects; it is strong enough to fling a wheelchair across the room,” according to the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

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