Man wearing necklace dies after being pulled into MRI machine — wife witnesses tragic scene

A 61-year-old man has died after being pulled into an MRI machine by the powerful magnetic force generated by the scanner, according to Nassau County Police and the victim’s wife. The fatal incident occurred Wednesday afternoon at Nassau Open MRI on Long Island, in New York.

Keith McAllister had accompanied his wife, Adrienne Jones-McAllister, to her MRI appointment for a knee injury. During the scan, she asked a technician to call her husband into the room to help her off the table.

McAllister entered wearing a 20-pound necklace around his neck — used for weight training — which was swiftly pulled into the active MRI machine.

“At that instant, the machine switched him around, pulled him in and he hit the MRI,” Jones-McAllister recounted in an emotional interview with News 12 Long Island. “He waved goodbye to me and then his whole body went limp.”

She pleaded with staff to shut off the machine and call emergency services. “Turn this damn thing off!” she said, recalling the panic as her husband collapsed in her arms.

McAllister was taken to a local hospital, where he died the following afternoon.

“He was just trying to help me,” Jones-McAllister said, still in shock. “Now he’s gone.”

Nassau Open MRI declined to comment on the incident. Calls to the facility went unanswered over the weekend.

This incident echoes a 2001 tragedy at Westchester Medical Center, where a 6-year-old boy, Michael Colombini, was killed when an oxygen tank was sucked into an MRI chamber. His family later settled a lawsuit for $2.9 million.

MRI machines generate extremely strong magnetic fields capable of pulling heavy metallic objects across a room. According to the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, even wheelchairs can become dangerous projectiles if brought too close during operation.

As authorities investigate, McAllister’s death raises fresh questions about MRI safety protocols, particularly regarding patient and visitor screening.