Health alert for Holly after heroin syringe find

A young Limerick girl is undergoing heavy medical treatment after her finger was pricked by a heroin syringe, when she fell on a pile of rubbish near her home.

Holly Sheehy, 9, was playing in a laneway at King’s Island in the city when she fell off her scooter into rubbish which contained a used needle.

On running home, she alerted her mother, Irene, who brought Holly to the Mid-West Regional Hospital.

Holly is now being given five different drugs twice a day to prevent her from contracting HIV and hepatitis B.

She is to undergo further tests at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin.

Irene, who has nine other children, said: “This is our worst nightmare and I am appalled this heroin-taking is going on in our streets and that needles are being left lying around.”

Holly said she had problems coping with the mix of drugs she was now on. “I feel so sick and queasy. I am struggling to keep my food down, and I cannot sleep properly at night,” said the young Limerick girl.

After she told her mother what had happened, Irene went immediately to where Holly had fallen and found the syringe in a heap of rubbish which contained tablets, and drug-mixing paraphernalia.

Irene said: “I was shocked. I never thought this area was being used for this. An innocent child has been pricked by a dirty needle, and now she is ill. She is suffering because of someone else’s actions. It is a very serious situation, and just not on.”

Cllr Maurice Quinlivan (SF), who brought the incident to the notice of Limerick City Council, resulting in a clean-up of the area, said: “It is very distressing for the family and the child herself. It highlights the fact we need a local drugs task force and a concerted effort by the gardaí, the HSE and other services to tackle the issue.”