Victoria mom upset after baby swallowed nail from Value-Village toy
Victoria woman says toy piano purchased at Value Village was full of needles or nails
A Victoria mother says she is furious after her eight-month-old son ingested a needle or nail found in a toy she bought at Value Village. “We had a horrible experience yesterday,” the mother told the Times Colonist.
“Thank goodness it had a happy ending and our son is going to be just fine.”
The mother, who asked that she and her son not be named, said she bought a Little Tikes piano — a small musical toy for babies and toddlers — at the downtown second-hand store on Saturday.
She wiped the toy down, gave it to her son to play with and began cooking lunch.
“The poor boy started to scream, so I poked my head in to check up on him and he had some blood coming out of his mouth, so I ran to investigate,” she posted to Facebook.
She said she found what looked like a needle head in his mouth. When she looked around, there were needles all over her floor.
She is still uncertain if they were needles or small nails, but said some were broken.
She said when she called Value Village to report what happened, she was told staff had found needles in stuffed animals earlier in the week.
The mother took her son to Victoria General Hospital for tests and X-rays. The mother said the X-ray showed the head of a nail in her son’s abdomen.
She said doctors told her to watch for pain and discomfort, but that he should pass it on his own.
“I’ll be looking through poop for the next few days,” she said .
“Which right now doesn’t sound too bad, because it could have been a lot worse.”
Value Village spokeswoman Sara Gaugl said the store is investigating what happened.
“We take the safety of our customers very seriously and are committed to evaluating all items before they go to the sales floor. We were saddened to hear of this unfortunate situation and are looking into the details that have been reported,” she said.
Gaugl could not say if there had been other needles found earlier in the week.
Victoria Police spokesman Const. Matt Rutherford said police are investigating, but believe the other incident involving needles was reported years ago, not this week.
He said it appeared to be sewing needles or small screws that were found, not hypodermic needles, although police are still waiting for photo evidence.
Investigating the source of the needles will be a challenge, he said.
“It’s a donation-based system, so nine times out of 10, it’s anonymous,” Rutherford said.
“That’s why we’re asking if anyone has any information, or indeed if they were the one to drop off the toy, to please give us a call.”
The Victoria Police non-emergency number is 250-995-7654. Anonymous tips can also be made to Crimestoppers at 1-800-2228477.