It was just a regular Friday night for the Christchurch mum. She'd changed her toddler's nappy and let him on his merry way for a bit of play time before bedtime.
It was only when the boy started grizzling and grabbing his bum that the mum knew something was wrong.
"I felt sick, I just took the nappy off him and there was a needle in it. I can't believe I didn't even see it when I put it on," the mum, who asked to remain anonymous, said.
"I was obviously in a bit of shock but made sure he was okay and put him to bed," she recalls.
"Then I went back and looked at the nappy and took photos and recorded myself pulling it out. I know 100 per cent it didn't come from my house. My needles are all up and away from little fingers and the eye of the needle had a little bit right at the top that was a bit bent over. I don't have any needles like that."
She said the nappy with the sewing needle in it came from a big bulk box of Babywise nappies from The Warehouse.
It was only when the boy started grizzling and grabbing his bum that the mum knew something was wrong. Photo / Supplied
Alarmed, she posted about the incident in a few of her due date groups on Facebook. A friend in one of them got her in touch with The Warehouse head office and she also got in touch with them via their website.
"I had a reply saying they were sorry that had happened and to send photos and videos and they'd pass it on to the relevant people. The manager at The Warehouse I bought them from contacted me. He was really helpful to deal with. Said to bring the nappy and packaging (which I had most of) back in and he'd get it sent away so they could investigate and see where it came from. So I did that. They refunded me for the box and gave me a $50 voucher which was nice.
"I made sure they filled in a stock incident report, so that what happened was recorded and it had my contact details, etc, on it so they could let me know what they discovered."
She said the company told her they would investigate and it could take up to 20 days.
"I thought on that for a few days but decided I couldn't just wait 20 days without warning people to look out for needles," she said, worried she might not be the only unlucky mum to have got one of those in a box.
She says she's sent several other messages to The Warehouse that went unanswered and asked them to let the public know this had happened so people could at least look out for needles, in case there were more.
It's been two weeks since the incident and the company has told the mum the investigation continues.
A message received today says that "no needles are used in the manufacture process so they're still investigating" where the needle could have come from.
The mum says she continued to push for some kind of public warning and was told that, because this is the only reported case, they will not be issuing a statement.
"I asked if they were waiting for someone else to get hurt and she was like 'oh no, it's not like that'. Saying it like they didn't know where it came from so didn't know what to issue a public statement about. I just told her to say that it had been found and that they were investigating. Then people would be aware and she said they wouldn't be doing it at this time. I said that didn't really sit well with me," the mum told the Herald.
"They were so helpful to start with but no one except the manager of the store gave me any contact details. I tried to give them plenty of opportunities to get the word out there themselves and now I feel like they're ignoring me and hoping I'll just go away."
Contacted by the Herald, The Warehouse confirmed it is investigating the incident.
"Customer safety is our top priority and in cases like this we work quickly to investigate. Our factories do not use needles in the manufacture of nappies and we are undertaking forensic tests to determine the origin of the needle. There has been just one reported case of this and we are working closely with the customer to understand more details," Tania Benyon, Chief Merchandise Officer at The Warehouse Group said.
"We have both the needle and the outer packaging and there have been no signs of tampering. We always keep customer safety top of mind and rest assured if we believe there was a serious risk we would act quickly."
