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THE PARENTS OF a seven-year-old autistic boy were left “gobsmacked” last weekend when a used syringe, lodged down the side of the seat on a DART, became stuck in his finger.
The family were on their way to catch the Christmas steam train from Pearse Street Station in Dublin on Saturday when the boy put his hand down the side of his seat. When he pulled it back out, there was a syringe stuck in his finger, his father told TheJournal.ie.
“He had to get a series of tests in Crumlin Hospital because we don’t know what was in it but there was blood in the syringe,” he said. “We won’t know now for six months what the situation is but he’s on a course of injections against hepatitis B and hepatitis C.”
‘Like being stabbed’
The concerned father said that while he and his wife were “just devastated” when they saw the syringe hanging from their son’s hand, it gave the seven-year-old himself a major scare.
“The slightest little thing feels like a mountain for him – a pin prick to an autistic child is like being stabbed,” he explained.
He said his son does not “understand the repercussions it could have” and though doctors have said the liklihood of his having hepatitis is low, “no one knows what the outcome of it will be”.
The boy’s parents notified staff at Iarnróid Éireann as soon as it happened last Saturday and wrote to the company this week. His father said they will also be seeking legal advice on the matter.
Reviewing CCTV
In a statement to TheJournal.ie, a spokesperson for Irish Rail said it was obviously a very distressing incident for the young boy and his family and the company has been liaising with them since the incident.
We are reviewing CCTV both in terms of the incident itself, and to see if it can be identified when and by whom the needle was placed there. It does appear as if it was down the side of the seat completely out of sight.
They said there was an immediate check after the incident happened to ensure there was no other potentially harmful material hidden or visible on the train and “thankfully there was not”.
“DARTs are cleaned thoroughly and regularly, including sides of seats to ensure that such incidents are prevented, so it may have been that the syringe was placed there earlier in the day while the train was in service,” they added.
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governments need to implement legislation on the reduction of plastic. nearly every food item we buy is wrapped in plastic, there is no need for most of it. one example is coffee cup lids can be made of corn starch. there is so much that can be done yet our governments do nothing. Shame on them
@Leitrim303: yes it has gotten pretty ridiculous at this stage but the plastic bag levy at least was a success. We need more legislation like this.
@Leitrim303: I was given reusable cup with lid. Best gift.
They just won’t make plastic from hemp. It’s biodegradeable. Hemp would go a long way in doing something positive about the plastic polution of the seas, deforestation and more.
But it grows in abundance, is cheap to process. So there’s no interest in it.
@Dave Doyle: stop talking sense. They don’t like when you talk sense.
@Dave Doyle: the authorit-eyes fear sense, logic and reason
Not just turtles.
@Fiona deFreyne: But turtles have nice smiley faces and feature in kids movies. SInce when did anyone want to watch Finding Mickey the Monkfish? Plastic is killing most sea life and if turtles can draw attention to it then that’s fine. We are a despicable species.
Man kind is killing the Planet
@j4VEpUO8: man unkind.
100,000s of birds and marine mammals die every year. You can create knowledge to educate society by mapping and opening up data on plastic pollution anywhere @ openlittermap.com. It’s like Pokémon Go for tidy towns. Get paid Littercoin for mapping and opening up data on plastic pollution anywhere
Die from plastic pollution every year *
There is a campaign running that we can all do easily enough. Every time you go to the beach or sea remove 3 pieces of plastic and take it away with you. I intend to do this and we all can and should. It can make a difference right here and now.
@Catherine Sims: but the focus of attention needs to go to the corporations that can make the most difference and impact – Coca Cola P+G etc , they are the ones who design and sell the plastic packaging , this is another example of not focusing the real pressures and attention correctly – I dont get the option to buy a glass bottle of coke ? They are best positioned to actually address a real global problem and they are best positioned to impact and they actually CAN fix this problem – but THEY need to be pressurised by people power – no point to whining at the general public if the corporations supplying the products dont change as it wont make any difference imo
And still the Irish Government drags its heels on deposits for PET bottles…
One of several problems in tge oceans
Plastic is causing sterility and cancer but who cares about that as its cheap and nasty?
Plastic packaging should be banned, regardless of the packaging industries and the Lobby Group Repack’s lobbying .
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