A horrified dog owner had to go to hospital for treatment after stepping on a used needle at a popular walking spot. Daniela Stoyanova was walking in Dalry Cemetery in Edinburgh with her border collie Bubba when she suddenly felt a sharp and burning pain in her right foot.
She initially thought she had stepped on a piece of wood but when she looked at her shoe, she saw the head of a needle sticking out.
Daniela told Edinburgh Live: “My first reaction was to look at the sole of my shoe as I was convinced I stepped on something sharp, possibly a piece of wood or tree branch or stick. To my surprise, I saw the head of a needle and straightaway I knew it was a needle from a syringe.“
Other dog walkers had previosuly warned Daniela of discarded needles being found in the long grass around the graveyard. She was advised to contact NHS 24 on 111 by her GP surgery Springwell Medical Centre and a call handler told Daniela to go straight to A&E.
She had to have blood samples taken to check for any diseases such as Hepatitis B, C or HIV at the the infectious disease ward and she was then given two injections - one for Tetanus and one for Hepatitis B.
The worried dog walker will need to repeat the Hep B jag twice over the coming months and said the shots left her feeling sick and exhausted for days. Edinburgh Council officials have now warned of the dangers of discarding needles as they urged anyone who spots a discarded needle to report it immediately.
Councillorr Scott Arthur, Environment Convener, said: “I’m very sorry to hear about this incident and hope the visitor is feeling better. Discarding waste like this is very irresponsible and even more so when it could be potentially harmful for anyone picking it up.
"We’d encourage anyone coming across this kind of waste in public places to use the ‘report it’ section on our website to make us aware and we’ll make sure it’s cleaned up as soon as we can.”
The walking site, Dalry Necropolis, is described as a picturesque “garden cemetery” with catacombs and was built in 1846. It is popular short cut used by school children and dog walkers.
An Edinburgh Council spokeswoman said: “Street Work provide us with portable sharps bins, and we work closely with them in our Cemeteries, and we thank our active Friends group who do regular clean ups of needles and continue to look at other ways to help. Unfortunately, there are still more and it’s very unfortunate that this happened."
A community group, Volunteers at Friends of Dalry Cemetery, work in the graveyard to clean up the area and raise cash for headstone repairs. C0-founder of the group Jakob Assarsson said: “We’re saddened to hear that someone has had an accident at Dalry Cemetery involving a discarded needle.
"Since we started in 2020, we have removed decades worth of discarded needles, as well as removing any new needles as soon as we become aware of them. With CEC and Streetwork, we are looking at installing permanent or semi-permanent needle bins.
"We support the Scottish government’s efforts to introduce drug consumption rooms, to reduce the incidence of discarded needles in the environment. It is regrettable that, to date, the UK government has blocked these efforts.”
If you sustain a needle injury, the NHS advises to follow the below first aid immediately: Encourage the wound to bleed, ideally by holding it under running water; Wash the wound using running water and plenty of soap; Do not scrub the wound while you’re washing it; Do not suck the wound; Dry the wound and cover it with a waterproof plaster or dressing.
Treatment may be needed to reduce the risk of getting an infection and people should seek urgent medical advice if they injure themselves with a needle.
If you come across a used needle, do not pick it up yourself as you may injure yourself and could be in danger of being infected. If there is a large number of needles appearing on a regular basis, you should report it to the police.
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