"Magnet boy" attracts metal to chest

By: Natalie Jimenez
Topics: Viral Video

(CBS/Reuters) A young boy in the town of Koprivnica, Croatia, is gaining worldwide attention for an unusual talent.

Six-year-old Ivan Stoiljkovic appears to be able to attract metal to his chest - including silverware, coins and even a frying pan.

His family says Ivan possesses extraordinary strength and even healing powers.

"We always felt he is a bit different," said Ivan Surlovic, the boy's grandfather.

"At 15 months of age he was rollerblading, he started walking at eight months. He was less then two years when he had already been driving a little motorcycle, and it was a bit weird," Surlovic said.

Ivan practices his magnetic skill every day, usually with his grandparents.

"It started as a joke," said Dragica Surlovic, Ivan's grandmother. "I said, let's try this and things just stuck to him. The heavier things actually stuck more strongly to him."

In total, his family says Ivan can carry up to 55 pounds of metal on his torso.

His family says that Ivan's power is strongest in the morning and when he is calm and focused.

His upper body appears to be more magnetic and his family says his wounds heal very quickly and leave no scars.

Family members told Reuters that Ivan also has "healing hands" with which he alleviates his grandfather's stomach pains and has soothed the pain of a neighbor who hurt his leg in a tractor accident.

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by jbullion1 July 10, 2011 9:00 PM EDT: Magneto!!!; Reply to this comment


by Eugenite May 18, 2011 1:43 AM EDT: Lol, yeah fat does tend to be sticky!; Reply to this comment


by Eugenite May 18, 2011 1:43 AM EDT: Lol, yeah fat does tend to be sticky!; Reply to this comment


by jhomes May 17, 2011 3:33 PM EDT: If the boy is magnetic, then why does the coin fall off of his chest @ 11 sec.?????; Reply to this comment

by korgri May 16, 2011 2:22 PM EDT

It's a ruse. The items are sticking to the tacky dried sweat on the kid's chest. It is not a case of magnetic
attraction, otherwise items close to him would exhibit magnetic attraction characteristics. The frying pan et al would snap onto him, it wouldn't have to be set n place on his somewhat inclined upper chest. Also
there may be a substance on the back of the metal pieces aiding in the adhesion. Do many countries mint coins that can be manipulated magnetically? Maybe in Croatia they do!

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by Saskatchewan62 May 17, 2011 1:08 AM EDT: Yes, It does look like a ruse. However, I thought the same thing about the magnetic properties of the coins. I tried picking up a $1 coin, a quarter, a dime, a nickle and a penny with a fridge magnet. All but the penny were picked up just fine. [Canadian money...]
That said, the video proves nothing at all. It could have documented the adhesion process with jaw dropping clarity. It seemed carefully edited to not convince anyone. This is the kind of junk that appears in tabloids. How did this empty story get distributed by a legitimate news source? Either follow this up with better proof or admit it was an awful piece of journalism.