A FERNHURST woman has been left counting the cost of accidentally pricking her finger on a discarded hypodermic syringe after helping to spruce up a village community garden. Southerly Turner, 30, removed her thick gardening gloves to pick up some small items of rubbish and vegetation in the garden by the village telephone box and found the syringe stuck in her finger. The incident happened around 3 pm last Thursday when Southerly, a local school teacher, volunteered to tidy up the garden which is normally tended voluntarily by her mother Judith. Southerly believed that the syringe marked with the word insulin had been thrown in the garden, out of sight behind a bench and was then covered in other debris. "Mum had warned me about picking up broken glass and used condoms, but it wasn't until I took off my gloves to clear up cigarette packet wrappers and the like, that I realised what had happened," said Southerly. "When I took it out of my finger I saw that it said insulin on the syringe. I didn't know what to do," Southerly told The Herald. She contacted Fernhurst villager Peter Hudson who, realising Fernhurst medical centre would be closed, took her to Haslemere Health Centre as a precautionary measure, where he felt sure a doctor would see her. With her hand covered in mud and blood from the wound, Southerly said that despite "being very efficient" the GP was unable to help her and advised her to attend the hospital accident and emergency department soon for blood tests. But because she was unable to get to the hospital on the day of the accident, and not thinking her case was urgent, Southerly instead went to Haslemere minor injuries department on Friday afternoon after work. She told The Herald that she was seen by a senior nurse who she claims told her she should have had a precautionary injection against HIV within two hours of the incident, for it to have the most effect. "She was amazing and really efficient," said Southerly who was given a blood test and both a jab against Hepatitis B and Tetanus on the spot. She was referred to specialists at Farnham Road Genito Urinary Medicine, (GUM) clinic at Farnham Road Hospital in Guildford for further treatment. She is now faced with weeks and possibly months of tests and treatment to guard against any possible chance of acquiring the HIV virus. Southerly said: "It's just unfortunate and while I don't blame the GP, the surgery should have done something there and then". She added that even if she had got to the hospital, it would have taken her more than the recommended two hours for the most effective treatment. Mr Hudson a member of the Fernhurst Chichester and District Community Safety Partnership, a voluntary organisation which is called on to tackle community problems when they arise, said he was "disgusted" by the syringe find. "I haven't heard of one being found there before, and to be discarded like that without the cap on the end of the needle. "There was a lot of vegetation there and it was behind the seat so it could have been there for a while. "I hope it doesn't put people off volunteering, but I think people ought to know about it and they really do need to wear gloves at all times," said Mr Hudson. A spokesman for Guildford and Waverley Primary Care Trust said that the doctor had advised Southerly to go straight to the accident and emergency department. "It seems like there may have been a misunderstanding but she was advised to seek treatment immediately," he added.
