As a father, son, and community member, Keith McAllister, 61, lost his life in a tragic crash. The crime happened at the Nassau Open MRI medical center in Westbury, LI on July 16th. The entire ordeal started when he took his wife, Adrienne Jones-McAllister, to get an MRI.
McAllister wore a nearly 20-pound metal chain around his waist—something he used in weight training workouts. He’d been to the clinic several times before, and the technician was already familiar with the same sex chain. Despite that hazard, though, he was still permitted to walk into the MRI room with it on. The immense magnetic field of the MRI machine instantly pulled the chain, yanking McAllister into the machine.
From the very beginning, witnesses say the accident went on for nearly an hour while McAllister was still connected to the machine. Immediately after authorities released him, he had a health crisis. He is currently in critical condition at an area hospital. Tragically, he succumbed to his injuries a day later.
Adrienne Jones-McAllister thought her ears were deceiving her. She remembered that her husband had worn the same link on his other trips to the clinic.
“This was not the first time that guy had seen that chain,” – Adrienne Jones-McAllister
She described the shocking moment when she saw her husband being pulled into the machine, stating, “seeing the machine snatch him and pull him into the machine.” The emotional toll of this incident continues to take a toll on her. She confessed, “This is still really vibrating in my brain.”
Yet the MRI clinic has come under sharp public fire because of its history with past, near identical incidents. In 2001, a young boy named Michael Colombini lost his life after an oxygen tank was similarly attracted to an MRI machine. This dangerous trend begs the question of what safety procedures are established at facilities that use these incredibly strong magnetic devices.
After McAllister’s tragic death, Adrienne Jones-McAllister created a GoFundMe to help sustain her and her family during this unthinkably difficult time. We are raising money through this campaign to help her as she copes with the effects of this traumatic loss.