Woman whose husband died after being sucked into MRI machine shares devastating account of his final moments

A woman has opened up about her husband’s final moments as he was tragically sucked into an MRI machine and killed.

Adrienne Jones-McAllister tearfully recounted the terrifying moment that her husband, 61-year-old Keith McAllister, was pulled into an MRI machine at Nassau Open MRI in Westbury, New York, after the powerful magnet caught hold of a 20-pound metal chain he was wearing.

“He went limp in my arms,” she told News 12 Long Island. “And this is still pulsating in my brain.”

On July 16, what began as a standard MRI appointment for Adrienne’s knee quickly turned into a nightmare. Keith, who regularly accompanied his wife to help her off the imaging table, entered the MRI room as usual — this time, still wearing the heavy chain he often used for weight training.

Adrienne said the staff at Nassau Open MRI were familiar with both her husband and his chain. “That was not the first time that guy has seen that chain,” she said. “They had a conversation about it before.”

But on this visit, the consequences were devastating.

“In that instant, the machine switched him around, pulled him in, and he hit the MRI,” Adrienne recalled.

The powerful magnetic field generated by MRI machines can attract metallic objects with extreme force, per the New York Post.

Jones-McAllister and the technician both tried to free Keith from the machine.

“I was saying, ‘Could you turn off the machine? Call 911. Do something. Turn this damn thing off!’” she said, still visibly shaken.

Despite their frantic efforts, Keith suffered multiple heart attacks. Emergency responders arrived shortly after 4:30PM, and he was transported to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

The Nassau County Police Department confirmed in a statement that he had “experienced a medical episode” at the MRI facility.

In a follow-up report, they said he had “succumbed to his injuries and was declared deceased by a hospital physician.”

Adrienne remembers the last moment she saw her husband alive.

“He waved goodbye to me, and his whole body went limp,” she said.