A MOTHER who had a one-inch sewing needle lodged in her foot today pleaded with pool users to leave dangerous items at home when they go swimming.The needle was embedded so deep in Sharon Cooper's right foot that doctors at Ipswich Hospital had to cut it open with a scalpel to remove it.

A MOTHER who had a one-inch sewing needle lodged in her foot today pleaded with pool users to leave dangerous items at home when they go swimming.

The needle was embedded so deep in Sharon Cooper's right foot that doctors at Ipswich Hospital had to cut it open with a scalpel to remove it.

The mother-of-four had walked around in pain for a whole day after standing on what she thought was a stone in the locker area of Crown Pools in Ipswich town centre.

"I thought it was a stone but then I couldn't put my foot down. I went to Ipswich hospital and an X-ray showed the needle in my foot."

Mrs Cooper, of Clapgate Lane, Ipswich, had taken her six-year-old son Nicholas to a swimming lesson on Saturday morning when she stood on the needle.

The 39-year-old said: "I got him changed and took him through to the locker room to put our stuff in the locker. It's an area where everyone has to have their shoes off, including the parents.

"It was quite painful. Every time I stood on it the needle was going in deeper.

"It had gone in all the way. When I went to the hospital they couldn't even see the point of entry."

Since the accident Mrs Cooper has been left hobbling about and unable to go to work as a shelf-stacker at Sainsbury's at Warren Heath.

She said: "People should put a bit more consideration into what they're taking into pools when people are walking around with bare feet.

"If it had gone into a child's foot it would have gone all the way through. Why did they have to take a sewing needle to a swimming pool?"

Following the accident, management at Crown Pools urged pool users to help them avoid similar incidents.

Ian Lipman, senior assistant manager at Crown Pools, said: "We take health and safety very seriously and an accident such as this is extremely unusual and unfortunate.

"To minimise the risk of such accidents we have a number of systems in place including regular safety checks, investigation and analysis of all incidents, and staff training.

"We do not allow potentially harmful items such as glass anywhere within the building, and we would urge all our customers to be mindful of items that they bring into the facility which could have the potential to cause injury."

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