JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Many parents have taken to social media to voice their concerns over the popular fidget spinners, saying that they're dangerous and need to be recalled.
The fidget spinners were originally designed to help kids with sensory and attention disorders by occupying their hands in order to help improve concentration.
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Mother Johely Morelos said even though she warned her son about another child who had to go to the emergency room because she choked on a fidget spinner, her son wound up in a hospital, too, after he swallowed a piece of the gadget.
According to BuzzFeed, Morelos' son, Cayden, had to have a disc from the fidget spinner surgically removed from his chest.
"It was super scary," Morelos said. "When they were putting a tube down his throat, he was throwing up blood. It was really scary for me to see he was in pain."
Cayden was back to normal just days later, and Morelos is now working with a child safety advocacy group to push for the fidget spinners to be recalled and required to have a choking hazard warning.
Consumer Product Safety Commission representative Scott Wolfson said the agency is following up on the case of a 10-year-old Texas girl who choked on a fidget spinner, as well as other cases of children swallowing loose discs.
"Choking risks to children are traditionally a priority for our agency, so we take that very seriously," Wolfson said. "It's early in the process for us, but we’re taking the issue seriously. We would encourage anyone that has an incident to use SaferProducts.gov to report it right away."
Another mother spoke about how her 3-year-old son got a piece of the spinner stuck on his finger.
"We tried everything, and it began to bend and cut into his skin the more we messed with it," she said.
BuzzFeed said the mother took her son to an ER after nothing could be done to help him at an urgent care center. She said it took "two to three different tools before the bearing was cut off."
"When a toy craze like the spinners hit, you may be tempted to buy one for your child when you see a street vendor has them, but the safety of products sold outside reputable retailer cannot be verified," Joan Lawrence, who leads regulatory affairs for the Toy Association, told BuzzFeed.
A representative with Kids in Danger encouraged parents to test products at home by dropping them on the ground to see if the small parts easily come loose.
"If you can break it, your child can break it," she said.