SWAN Hill parents have been left rattled for the second time in less than a week following the discovery of another used needle in a public area — this time near a children’s playground.
Swan Hill mother Ambyr Fifita took to Facebook on Sunday night to express her disgust at finding the needle lying in the grass at Jaycee Park on Harrison Crescent.
“Me and my brother had five kids with us all under the age of eight,” she said.
“It was about three metres from the basketball hoop in the grass… I nearly stepped on it with no shoes.”
Last Thursday Swan Hill’s Kaleetha Hamilton also turned to social media after she disturbed two children attempting to pick up a used needle from a footpath near the corner of Murlong and Rutherford streets, a few blocks from Swan Hill Primary School.
Her post, which called for better education of children on needlestick injuries, sparked a lengthy discussion among concerned parents, including some who said they had also found needles around Swan Hill.
The locations included the footpath by the channel on Rutherford Street, the front garden of a Fraser Street home and a footpath close to Nyah District Primary School.
There was also discussion about the needle exchange program run through Swan Hill District Health.
For the full story, pick up a copy of Wednesday’s Guardian (June 4).
