A Long Island man died after being violently pulled into an MRI scanner by a heavy metal chain, and his grieving wife is blaming the facility’s technician for the tragedy.
Keith McAllister, 61, was at Nassau Open MRI in Westbury to assist his wife, Adrienne Jones-McAllister, who had just finished a knee scan. When the technician called him into the room to help her off the table, McAllister was still wearing a 20-pound chain used for weight training.
As he stepped inside, the MRI machine’s magnetic force instantly pulled him in, causing severe injuries. “I saw him walk toward the table and then the machine just snatched him,” his wife recalled tearfully. “He went limp in my arms.”
Jones-McAllister said the chain had been worn on previous visits and was visible, yet the technician allowed him in, even joking about it. According to her, the technician made no effort to warn him or ensure he removed the chain before entering the room.