6-Year-Old Boy Stuck With Needle Outside School

A 6-year-old boy was outside with his elementary school class in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood when he felt something sharp - adults quickly realized it was a used needle.

"This can't happen to these little kids," said Charlie's grandmother, Patricia Snow.

The child was playing in the leaves at the Ellis Elementary School Monday when he was stuck twice with a hypodermic needle.

Snow says as soon as her daughter found out, she brought him to the hospital.

"You think the worst. And you don't want to think the worst," said Snow. "I'm just crossing my fingers, just as she is."

This comes just four months after a 7-year-old girl was pricked by a needle at a Hyde Park playground.

People in Roxbury neighborhood say they're not surprised - in fact, they say they see needles all the time.

"I see them every day," said Adrian Pena.

"It's hard to monitor everybody," said Chris Swift, who has had to talk to his son, Christian, about what to do if he sees a needle.

Christian Swift says his dad told him not to touch or play with needles if he sees them.

There is a specialized team that picks up discarded needles around Boston. Since May, they have picked up more than 6,000. Still, Mayor Marty Walsh says this is proof that more needs to be done.

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