A routine medical visit turned into an unthinkable tragedy when 61-year-old Keith McAllister was fatally pulled into an MRI machine at a private diagnostic facility in Westbury, New York. His wife, Adrienne Jones-McAllister, was undergoing a scan for a knee injury when the unimaginable occurred right before her eyes.

Adrienne described the horrific moment the machine’s powerful magnetic field “snatched” her husband—violently pulling him toward it and spinning him with such force that neither she nor the technician could stop it. Keith had entered the MRI suite wearing a heavy metal chain around his neck—an item that should have disqualified him from being near the machine. Despite strict protocols in place to prevent such dangers, the necklace was neither removed nor flagged, contributing directly to the fatal outcome.

“I screamed for them to shut it off,” Adrienne said through tears. “But by the time they responded, it was too late.” MRI machines generate extremely strong magnetic fields, which can instantly attract metal objects with great force—turning even small items into lethal projectiles. Medical experts stress that all metallic items, especially jewelry, must be removed before entering the scanning area. In this case, prior warnings about the risks were reportedly ignored or missed, a failure now under investigation by the Nassau County Police Department.

Keith was rushed to the hospital following the incident but was pronounced dead shortly afterward. Adrienne is devastated, still reeling from the moment she watched her husband go from waving goodbye to going limp in an instant. “He smiled at me just before it happened,” she recalled. “And then he was gone.”

The case raises urgent questions about safety standards and oversight in private imaging centers. For Adrienne, it’s a painful reminder of how quickly life can change and how critical it is to follow every safety protocol, no matter how routine the visit may seem.