Girl, 13, has appendix and part of bowel removed after copying TikTok tongue-piercing game

Magnetic balls used for illusion are easy to swallow accidentally, mother warns

Surgeons found 15 beads in the 13-year-old’s internal organs. (AFP via Getty Images)

A teenager has had to undergo major abdominal surgery after copying a new trend on TikTok, according to a report.

One of the latest fads on the video-sharing app involves putting magnetic balls on either side of the tongue, which gives the appearance the user has a tongue piercing.

Faye Elizabeth said she took her 13-year-old daughter to hospital after complaining she felt unwell. After a scan detected ball bearings in her gut, she was rushed to surgery.

The girl underwent an emergency operation, with surgeons finding 15 beads in her internal organs.

Ms Elizabeth, from Rainhill on Merseyside, told the Liverpool Echo: “They had to take part of her bowel away and re-stitch it. There was one stuck in her appendix so they had to remove that.

“Apparently she watched a TikTok video where there’s a trend that all the kids are doing at the minute.

“I haven’t actually seen it but she told me about it and a lot of other children her age have seen it. They’re magnets but because they’re so small they’re easy to swallow.”

It comes just days after a similar incident in which an 11-year-old boy swallowed magnets trying to copy the trend.

Ellis Tripp swallowed five magnetic ball-bearing that were found by doctors in his intestines after he underwent surgery at Birmingham Children’s Hospital on Friday.

His mother, Amy Clarke, shared on a plea on Facebook warning other parents about the trend.

She said: “I’m in a nightmare. This TikTok craze could/would have killed him if left any longer. Please talk to your children and tell them how DANGEROUS THESE ARE.”