A FOUR-YEAR-OLD who stepped on a hypodermic needle while getting out of the bath has been cleared in HIV tests after an eight-month wait.

His mother, Paula Sax, 26, claims the needle was brought into their home on the bottom of a shoe and belonged to an addict living in the same block of Oliver Court, Sydenham.

Now Miss Sax, who has been plagued with illness as a result of stress since the incident, has spoken of her relief since the test results have come back negative.

She said: "It has been a stressful period for my son Daniele and myself. The whole thing has been so traumatic.

"It doesn't even bear thinking about if the results had gone the other way. The last nine months have been filled with sleepless nights."

After the incident, Paula tried to remove the needle and accidentally cut herself with it.

The pair rushed to Lewisham Hospital but were told accurate results would take months to come back as HIV can take a long time to present itself.

Miss Sax, who was also given the all-clear by doctors, was furious with Radcliffe Housing Association, which owns the flats.

She said: "They did nothing to help us, nothing at all. It has been a traumatic period for Daniele.

" As well as the normal course of vaccinations every young child has, he has been subjected to this."

But chief executive of Radcliffe Housing Scott Wilson moved quickly to deny the allegations.

He said: "We would deny we did nothing to help Miss Sax. We supported her application for a transfer.

"She also signed a satisfaction slip to say she was happy with the cleaning service we provide and we did all we could to get the person with the alleged drug use problem moved."

July 13, 2001 16:24

Patrick John