Mum disgusted at human filth in playground

By Anna Bowden
First there was the smell. Then there was the sight. Then came the sounds of disgust.
Jennifer Murray was forced to drag her 19-month-old toddler Jasmin through human excrement yesterday in what should have been an enjoyable daily trip to Memorial Park.
Mrs Murray had taken Jasmin to play at the park, as was their routine most mornings, when the toddler approached the top of the slide and her mother waited at the bottom.
"It absolutely stank, when I looked up the slide I saw an extremely large amount of human faeces," she said.
So when little Jasmin pushed off the edge into the slide yesterday morning, her mother cried out.
"I yelled at her to stop and don't do it but she is 19 months old and doesn't understand those instructions."
Stopping amid the mess, Jasmin had to crawl to her mother's reach and was then dragged the rest of the way out.
"She was covered in it, up her arms, on her hands and on her face. She was screaming, in a situation like that she wanted to hug me. I stripped her down to her nappy straight away."
Other mothers at the park came to her aid with baby wipes, and also began searching around for pens and paper to make "keep off" signs to warn other families.
"My main concern was that other kids would turn up and do the same thing, it's just disgusting and yet another thing parents have to be vigilant with.
"When you think of what playgrounds used to be like, there is so much that isn't there anymore because it's classified as being dangerous."
Mrs Murray took Jasmin home to bath her and rang Tauranga City Council to ensure a parks person was aware of the incident.
While most cases are suspected to be caused by toddlers and irresponsible parents, Mrs Murray said this one seemed to be a deliberate act.
"It's such a violation because it's an area of trust, you feel a bit betrayed by society."
Tauranga City Council parks coordinator Ned Nicely said this sort of crude vandalism does happen.
"It's just one of those things that happens in playgrounds, it's fairly typical, it happens all over the world," he said.
Mr Nicely has been working as parks co-ordinator for six years and said cases of faeces being left on slides happens once or twice a year. "I can recall taking several calls in my time, usually at the same location because a lot of people go there. It happens."
He said playgrounds were checked about once a fortnight and parks every day. Though for an incident such as yesterday's, either a maintenance or cleaning contractor would be contacted immediately.
"Parents who are usually aware of it seem to just drive away. It is no different to a dog owner walking away. It is not a park issue, it is a parent issue."
Although this incident did not appear to be the result of a toddler accident, Mr Nicely said this was generally the reason.
A CentralMed doctor said it was unlikely there would be any harmful risk for Jasmin.