Toddler put blood in his mouth from syringe he found in a doctor's waiting room

A mother has spoken about the shocking moment her one-year-old son put blood in his mouth from a syringe he is thought to have found near a bin at a hospital.
Jodie Sykes, 22, said she is now 'absolutely petrified' that her son, Alfie Jackson, may have contracted some kind of deadly disease.
He is being treated for hepatitis as a precaution after picking up the syringe at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, which has since apologised for the blunder.
Ms Sykes now has an agonising three-month wait to discover whether or not her son has been infected.

Horrifying: Alfie Jackson, 2, (right) squirted blood from a syringe into his mouth after finding it on top of a bin at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. His mother Jodie Sykes fears he may have been infected by a disease

Anxious: Ms Sykes and her partner Dean Jackson (right), must wait up to three months to find out whether Alfie has been infected

Ms Sykes said: 'We were put in a room as a doctor was examining my partner, Dean Jackson. There was a syringe filled with blood and my son got hold of it.

'We turned around and he put his hand full of blood into his mouth. I screamed "put it down" and he started crying.

Dangerous: Alfie picked up the syringe while his father received treatment to remove an abscess

'I was absolutely petrified that he could catch something or get a disease as it was someone else's blood. No-one can tell me if it was clean, if it wasn't diseased or infected.
'With him not even being two yet I'm terrified that it could affect him for the rest of his life.'
Ms Sykes, from Golcar, near Huddersfield, also said she was angry that the doctor showed little concern for the impact on Alfie's health last Thursday.
She said: 'The doctor went to get a cleaner so we ended up cleaning up Alfie with wet wipes. He didn't say anything about treating him, we were just brushed off.

'It was only the next day when I was speaking to Dean's doctor saying I wasn't very happy about it that he said there was supposed to be a procedure. Within five minutes they took us to Ward 18 for blood tests and treatment for hepatitis.
'He had an injection and he's got to go back in a month. Then in three months we have to go back to see if he's caught anything.'
Ms Sykes said they thought the blood filled syringe had been left on top of a needle disposal bin.
She said: 'The nurse said it's impossible to get your hand in a needle bin so it can't have been in properly.'

Huddersfield Royal Infirmary medical director David Wise said: 'This is unacceptable and should never have happened and for that we apologise to the family.

'We have reviewed the environment on the unit and are issuing a reminder to all staff that sharps boxes must be kept in a safe location to make sure that this does not happen to anyone else.'

Apology: Huddersfield Royal Infirmary has apologised for the 'unacceptable' incident

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