Toronto data reveals hundreds of discarded syringes

When the discarded syringe pierced deep into her heel, Danielle Monk was grateful for one thing — that it wasn’t her 2-year-old son Nolan that stepped on the soiled needle in a Toronto park.
In that same split-second, Monk’s dream of having found refuge from the drugs, shootings and crime of the city’s downtown core were shattered.
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“My husband and I realized we didn’t want to raise our son in Parkdale,” said Monk. “So when we visited Mimico three years ago, and saw the beauty and tranquility of the neighborhood, we decided to move there.”
She calls Mimico her “Eden on the lake” — at least she used to.

The 26-year-old mother stepped on the needle on the morning of Aug. 6, while playing with Nolan in Norris Crescent Parkette located behind their small apartment.
“As soon as I stepped on it, I just grabbed the needle, threw it in the trash and grabbed my son,” she said. “I then rushed to the ER where I ended up waiting for four hours before I could even see someone.”
She has avoided the park ever since.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/08/15/toronto_data_reveals_hundreds_of_discarded_syringes.html