WESTBURY, Long Island — A 61-year-old man died after being pulled into an MRI machine at a medical facility in New York, according to his wife who witnessed the incident.
Keith McAllister was killed on Wednesday, July 16, at Nassau Open MRI in Westbury when he entered the MRI room while wearing a 20-pound metal chain, his wife Adrienne Jones-McAllister told News 12 Long Island.
The incident happened after Jones-McAllister had completed her own MRI scan on her knee and needed assistance getting up from the table.
"I yelled out Keith's name, 'Keith, Keith, come help me up. Come help me up,'" Jones-McAllister said.
According to Jones-McAllister, the technician brought her husband into the room despite the fact that he was wearing a large metal chain with a lock that he used for weight training.
"They were standing there laughing and joking before he even came to the table," Jones-McAllister recalled.
WATCH: Wife says man who died after being pulled into MRI machine 'waved goodbye'
When Keith approached the MRI machine to help his wife, the powerful magnets in the machine pulled him in.
"I saw the machine snatch him around and pull him into the machine... He went limp in my arms," Jones-McAllister said.
Jones-McAllister and the technician tried unsuccessfully to free Keith from the machine's magnetic pull.
"I was saying, 'Could you turn off the machine? Call 911, do something. Turn this damn thing off,'" Jones-McAllister said.
She noted this wasn't their first visit to the facility, and her husband had worn the chain there before.
"This was not the first time that guy has seen that chain. They had a conversation about it before. 'Oh, that's a big chain,'" Jones-McAllister recalled.
Following the incident, Keith suffered several heart attacks. He was 61 years old.
"I haven't been able to sleep. I'm barely eating," Jones-McAllister said. "I just can't believe. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing. He waved goodbye to me and his whole body went limp."
Jones-McAllister described her husband as a hardworking man who always gave his all.
"And I loved him so much," Jones-McAllister said.
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