A devastating accident occurred July 16 at Nassau Open MRI in Westbury, Long Island, when 61‑year‑old Keith McAllister was drawn into the MRI scanner by a nearly 20‑pound metal chain he was wearing. His wife, undergoing a knee scan, had asked a technician to fetch him afterward—but he was not told to remove the chain.
As McAllister approached, the MRI’s powerful magnetic field yanked him into the machine. Attempts by his wife and the technician to pull him free failed, and he remained stuck for almost an hour before police arrived and extracted him. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he suffered multiple heart attacks and died the following day.
The McAllister family has criticized the facility’s protocol for allowing anyone into the MRI suite with metal. They’ve launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover his funeral costs. The Nassau County Medical Examiner’s office is reviewing the case, and the MRI center has not issued a public comment.
This tragic incident highlights the crucial importance of enforcing safety standards around MRI machines, which can exert enough force to turn metal objects into deadly projectiles—even when staff have previously observed such items.