A MOTHER faces months of anxiety after her son fell on a carelessly discarded needle.

Seven-year-old Mackenzie Higgs was playing with seven other children from neighbouring houses on a green outside their home in Tortuga Walk, Popley, Basingstoke.

After he jumped near a tree on the green, the Marnel Park Infant School pupil fell on a hypodermic needle that had been left lying on the floor.

The youngster went home to tell his mother Simone, who took him to the hospital.

But the schoolboy and his mother now face an anxious six-month ordeal after being told that Mackenzie needs to return to the hospital for further treatment, and wait for the results of a test for HIV.

Simone told The Gazette: “I took him to the hospital and he had a Hepatitis B vaccination, and he will need to have another one again at one month, two months and six months. With him being seven, he was scared and he said: “Am I going to die?”

“The thought of having to go through this over the next few months makes me sick. I have got to wait for the blood test results to come back.”

The 34-year-old mum was also left disappointed with what she feels was a lack of action from the borough council, as a team only came to check the area three days later after Simone called to report concerns that there might be other needles in the area.

Tim Boschi, head of community services at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, said: “An incident with a child being injured by an needle in a bush in Popley was reported to us, and a member of the team was assigned to go out to investigate.

“But when the resident called back for an update after 30 minutes, she said was going to dispose of the needle appropriately in a clinical sharps box, so we took no further action.

“After a resident raised further concerns about the possibility of other needles being in the same area, our team went out to investigate. As we couldn’t locate the area involved, we spoke to the resident and were directed to the area, but could not find any further needles.”