“I saw the machine snatch him,” she said through sobs. “It pulled him in by the chain around his neck… he went limp in my arms. And this is still pulsating in my brain.”
According to the Nassau County Police Department, officers responded to a 911 call around 4:30 p.m. regarding a “medical episode.” Keith had been caught in the MRI’s magnetic field. Two days later, police confirmed he had died from his injuries after suffering multiple heart attacks.
Adrienne, who had just completed her own MRI scan, recalled asking the technician to bring Keith in to help her stand. The technician allowed him into the room — despite the 20-pound metal chain he always wore, which Adrienne said had been seen and commented on during previous visits.
“In that instant, the machine switched him around, pulled him in, and he hit the MRI,” she recounted. “I was screaming: ‘Turn it off! Call 911! Do something! Turn this damn thing off!’”
Both she and the technician tried desperately to pull Keith away, but the magnetic force was too strong.
MRI machines use extremely powerful magnets to create detailed images of internal body structures. Patients are always instructed to remove any metal objects beforehand, as the magnetic field can instantly attract even small metallic items — let alone a chain weighing 20 pounds.
Jones-McAllister said the tragedy haunts her every waking moment.
“I haven’t been able to sleep. I’m barely eating. I just can’t believe it,” she said. “He waved goodbye to me… and his whole body went limp.”
The couple had been to Nassau Open MRI before. Adrienne insists the staff had seen Keith’s chain before and even joked about its size. “They had a conversation about it: ‘Oh, that’s a big chain.’ They knew,” she said.
Keith McAllister, she added, was a hard-working, devoted husband — “and I loved him so much.”
The Nassau County Police Department confirmed that an investigation is ongoing.