Long Island Man Fatally Injured in MRI Accident While Wearing 20-Pound Chain Necklace with Padlock

Man Dies After Being Sucked into MRI Machine While Wearing Heavy Chain

A man from Long Island tragically died after being pulled into an MRI scanner while wearing a heavy metal chain around his neck, his wife revealed. The chain, weighing approximately 20 pounds and secured with a padlock, was a result of his weight training routine.

Keith McAllister, 61, suffered multiple heart attacks following the incident at Nassau Open MRI in Westbury last Wednesday. His wife, Adrienne Jones-McAllister, was in another room undergoing a routine knee scan when the accident occurred. She explained that McAllister often helped her after her appointments and had previously worn the large chain during training sessions, even discussing it with the MRI technician in prior visits.

McAllister had started wearing a 20-pound metal chain with a padlock on it as part of his weight training.
McAllister had begun including a bulky metal chain as part of his workout routine.

According to Jones-McAllister, as her husband entered the MRI room, the machine unexpectedly “switched him around and pulled him in.” Despite her and the technician’s efforts to free him and pleas to stop the machine, he was unable to be saved.

MRI facility Long Island
MRI machines generate powerful magnetic fields that can attract metal objects nearby.

“I yelled for them to shut it off and call 911,” Jones-McAllister recounted. The incident underscores the dangers of metal objects near MRI machines, which create strong magnetic fields capable of pulling in metallic items with force.