San Francisco boy ingests fentanyl at park, dad claims

SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco father said his son is recovering after accidentally ingesting opioids at a public park.

First responders aren't providing specific details due to the child's age and the nature of the incident. However, they confirmed a crew responded to an incident at Moscone Recreational Park where a child suffered a cardiac arrest.

The park in San Francisco's Marina District is a popular destination for parents and their children. But one father posted to Nextdoor that his 10-month-old son barely survived after ingesting fentanyl at the park.

In the post, the father said the child was out with his nanny, who noticed the child was sluggish, and that he was starting to turn blue. He went on to speculate the child may have found the fentanyl in a leaf pile. The dad credits the quick thinking of the nanny who performed CPR and the first responders who administered Narcan which he says saved his son's life.

Michael Halpren, who lives across the street from the park, says he watched the incident unfold.

"So, I saw people sitting over there as moms and kids do all the time," recalled Halpren. "When I walked past they were helping a child, he was laying prostrate on the ground, obviously in some sort of trauma."

Halpren says he finds it all hard to believe.

"My windows look down on this park," said Halpren. "I saw what was going on yesterday. So, there was not an occurrence where there was someone sleeping on that bench for example, dropped some fentanyl and a baby picked it up, or a child picked it up or ingested it."

Nannies at the park say the accidental overdose happened next to these benches, and say there are occasionally people in the park who appear to be intoxicated.

Marie Mallon says the issue can happen at parks throughout the city.

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"It really concerns me to see the constant proximity of those who in my opinion appear to be under the influence of drugs or addicted how close they are to our parks," said Mallon.

The fire department confirms they were on the scene here within two minutes of receiving the call for help. Police say they are still investigating.