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'This item could kill someone': Mum's dire warning over 'dangerous' eBay toy

Mum Clarissa Clary suffered an injury just centimetres from her eye when a toy she had bought for her son popped open
Mum Clarissa Clary suffered an injury just centimetres from her eye when a toy she had bought for her son sprang open. Photo: Supplied

A mum-of-three has warned parents against buying a ‘pocket staff magic trick’ for children this Christmas after she suffered a painful injury when it sprung open unexpectedly.

Clarissa Clary from Essex, England bought the gift for her 16-year-old son from a private seller on eBay.

The product, used by magicians, appears to be a small metal cylinder but quickly pops out into a staff up to five feet in length.

‘Huge warning’ to parents on Facebook

Writing in a Facebook post, the make-up artist and hairstylist said: “This is a big, huge warning to anyone out there that has bought a magic staff, or is thinking about buying one of these dangerous items for anyone - please don’t!”

“I released the spring and it shot open very, very fast. I thought it was quite cool. I couldn’t close it back up, and after I watched (a) video, I saw it was a challenge.”

Mum Clarissa Clary suffered an injury just centimetres from her eye when a toy she had bought for her son popped open
She bought the product from a private seller on eBay, who has since deleted the listing. Photo: Supplied

She says after some trouble she managed to close the trick toy back up, only to have it suddenly spring open, in a painful accident.

“When I picked the bag up, somehow the spring was released, and within 1 second, at 1000mph and over 5ft long, it hit me in the face,” she wrote.

Hours in hospital with blood dripping down her face

Mum Clarissa Clary suffered an injury just centimetres from her eye when a toy she had bought for her son popped open
Clarissa suffered swelling and couldn't drive for a week following the incident. Photo: Supplied.

The 44-year-old went to hospital immediately following the accident, but had to wait more than five hours with blood trickling down her face.

She needed a tetanus injection as the product had loose metal fragments.

The following day, she couldn’t stand up or see out her left eye.

Her bruising worsened over three weeks, and she continues to feel ill with headaches, dizziness and sickness spells.

She wrote: “All I could think of was how lucky I was as I could have lost my eye. The hospital said the same - it could have been life-threatening.”

“If a child got hold of this, I dread to think what could happen.”

Clarissa told Yahoo Style that the item arrived in a small brown box with no markings, leaflet, any instructions or warnings - and the manufacturer is unknown.

She added: “It was literally one inch away from my eye socket. This item could kill someone or cause disfigurement forever.”

Concerned parents react online

Mum Clarissa Clary suffered an injury just centimetres from her eye when a toy she had bought for her son popped open
The mum says the staff sprung open unexpectedly and narrowly missed her eye (Photo: Supplied)

The post has now been shared more than 300 times on Facebook at the time of writing.

One Facebook user wrote: ‘I got one of these last year for my son. I have taken it away as I thought it was dangerous.’

“I’m so glad I’ve seen this, as this would be something my son would have asked for,” another parent added.

A third person commented: ‘I've seen these things sold as a concealed weapon, not as a magic trick.’

“It’s described as a magician’s toy which opens up when you release the spring,” Clarissa told Yahoo.

“I genuinely didn't know the danger of this item when purchasing it. The product was faulty and badly made. If you go on YouTube you can watch some quick videos on it - it shows you how fast the release is.”

She added: “My daughter contacted the private seller when it happened to tell them.”

Item removed, but the threat remains

Clarissa was given a refund, and the seller apologised and removed the product listing immediately.

However, she is concerned that similar pocket staffs are still being listed on eBay, from as little as $4, and claiming to be 100% quality products.

She said: “I'm just very concerned if anyone buys one of these, and gives it as a present for Christmas there will be many accidents waiting to happen, unfortunately.”

“This product is so dangerous. I bought mine on eBay, but they also sell them on other websites. I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

“eBay doesn’t permit the listing of unsafe products. The items have been removed and the sellers advised to contact buyers,” an eBay spokesperson told Yahoo.

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