Luc Bruneau is “enraged”. He has been struggling to sleep since last Tuesday, filled with anxiety after having stuck a dirty syringe in his hand through terrible bad luck.
Posted at 3:44 p.m.
One morning like any other, around 6 a.m., Mr. Bruneau went to the apartment building he owns on rue du Havre, near the Frontenac metro station in Montreal. In front of his garage door, he saw two individuals injecting drugs, the nature of which he still does not know.
The two consumers left the premises when Mr. Bruneau went to his garage door to open it. By an unfortunate mistake, he would have dropped his keys in a pile of dead leaves.
“By reflex, I leaned over to pick them up,” explains the 57-year-old man to The Press. I felt significant pain: I had just stuck the syringe in my hand. I still saw a substance in it, and blood. The one of the two guys who had just left. »
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
The scar left by the syringe on Luc Bruneau’s hand.
Injured, Luc Bruneau would have frozen. Until one of the two consumers returned to the scene.
“He said to me “ah! you found what I was looking for. I don’t have another syringe, so I’m going to take it again,’ and then he pulled on the syringe, took it out of my hand,” he says, still in disbelief
Mr. Bruneau went directly to the hospital. Since then, he has undergone triple therapy treatments against HIV and hepatitis. He will have to wait three months before getting a final diagnosis.
“Health staff told me that it regularly happens that people come to the emergency room after being in contact with a contaminated syringe. I was also told that there was a real chance that I was HIV positive. However, I had not asked for any of this,” laments Mr. Bruneau.
If Luc Bruneau takes the trouble to speak to the media, it is to criticize the inaction of the City of Montreal in the face of “the accumulation of dirty syringes” in public places in the metropolis.
My goal is to shake up the tree, so that someone wakes up and realizes that it is time to pick up the needles, before our children and citizens are affected like I was.
Luc Bruneau, citizen injured by a dirty syringe in Montreal
In particular, he notes the strong presence of consumers in the Médéric-Martin park, located a stone’s throw from the building he owns. Luc Bruneau and residents of the area have already sent complaints to the police regarding their presence, without the situation changing.
The mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, was made aware of the incident involving Luc Bruneau. ” I understand [sa colère]she commented during a press briefing last Friday. The syringes found, the incivility and the crime, it’s a big no for us. »
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The Mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante
We are working hard with the SPVM and the Mobile Mediation and Social Intervention Team (ÉMMIS), we have even hired guards to monitor the parks and tackle the problem of syringes, but this is not not simple. I don’t have a magic wand to fix this.
Valérie Plante, mayor of Montreal
Mme Plante is calling for an additional investment of $100 million in Quebec to combat homelessness. This sum would be shared between all the cities of Quebec. “There are organizations that collect syringes, and tell us that they would know what to do if they had more money,” she assures.
His administration is doing too little to limit dirty syringes found in public places, denounces Mr. Bruneau.
There is too much tolerance towards people who inject. We must carry out extreme repression against consumers, not distribute resources, or open injection centers. These solutions will never work.
Luc Bruneau, citizen injured by a dirty syringe in Montreal
Luc Bruneau would like to sue the City, which he considers responsible for his accident, but fears that the process will be too costly.
“If I had the resources, I would do it,” he assures. I feel like I’m David against Goliath. I don’t have what it takes to fight. »
In recent days, the arrival of a homeless shelter in the Villeray district has caused concern in the neighborhood. Some residents found dirty syringes on their doorstep, the day after the opening of L’Abri de Villeray, located on Saint-Laurent Boulevard, near Jarry Park.
