Toddler Stabbed By Heroin-Filled Needle On Bus Seat

A 3-year-old girl was reportedly stabbed by a heroin-filled needle on the back of a bus in Dublin, Ireland.

Alysha Zambra had boarded the bus with her mother, Stacie Zambra, when she was pricked with the needle left on the seat. "I just glanced out the window and then I turned Alysha's finger was pumping with blood and I saw the needle on the ground," Zambra commented.

Zambra screamed and rushed the child to the hospital. "It must have been fate because five inspectors were at the next stop," Zambra said.

The girl was taken to Crumlin Children's Hospital. Alysha has since been released, but now the family awaits her test results for diseases such as HIV, reports the Independent.

"No parent should ever have to go through this," Zambra said. "This country is ruined by heroin. You pay your money to go on the bus and you shouldn’t be expected to scan for filthy needles. It just makes me sick."

Dublin City Councilor Noel Rock told the Mirror he was disgusted by the incident. "We need to make sure that passengers feel safe reporting these criminals and feel like the driver will take the issue seriously," he commented. "We need to make sure that public transport belongs to the public, not to the kind of people that leave syringes on seats."

The Irish transportation company experienced a similar incident earlier this year, when a 6-year-old boy was also pricked by a drug needle while riding the bus.

A spokeswoman for Dublin Bus said, "Dublin Bus also has strict maintenance and cleaning procedures in place internally. All protocols and procedures are regularly reviewed."

Passengers were transferred to another bus following the incident. "Incidents of this nature are a rare occurrence and the overall level of anti-social behavior is low and has decreased over the last number of years."

Dublin reportedly has a problem with drugs, with heroin in particular as a major issue for the city. According to the European Drug Report, drug-induced mortality among adults in Ireland is more than three times the European average.

Sources: Independent, Mirror