A man riding his mower to the nation's capital to petition for greater awareness of a degenerative illness has used an unexpected trip to Wagga Wagga Base Hospital to drive home his message.
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Motor Neurone Disease sufferer Warren "Wozza" Acott had been passing through the Riverina in recent days as part of his Mow Down MND trek from the Victorian town of Toolleen near Bendigo, all the way to Canberra.
The former truckie is on a journey across southeastern Australia, collecting signatures for a petition he hopes to hand to prime minister Anthony Albanese later this week, calling for the government to make MND a notifiable disease.
A notifiable disease is defined as one that presents a risk to public health if there is an outbreak.
If MND is added to the national register, it would help the government monitor trends and outbreaks of the disease, while also assisting efforts to reduce and potentially eradicate the disease in the future.
Wozza roared his way into Griffith on Wednesday before continuing his journey east and arrived in Wagga Wagga on Saturday.
After a day's rest, he planned to press on to Gundagai on Monday, when the drama unfolded.
On Sunday morning, a short wheelchair ride out the front of a house took a turn for the worse when after losing his balance, Wozza fell backwards out of the chair and hit his head on a footpath, causing him to temporarily lose consciousness.
As he lay there in pain waiting for the paramedics to arrive, Wozza, who has lost most movement in his arms and can no longer walk, took the opportunity to drive home his message regarding MND to Mr Albanese.
"This is what MND is," he said.
"This is what happens to people [suffering from MND] every day.
"I'll be just going about my business, and next thing I'm headbutting concrete."
As paramedics treated Wozza and loaded him on board the ambulance, daughter Belinda Acott said her dad was a week into the 11-day trip when the incident took place.
Ms Acott said her dad's petition was important.
"[If it's made a notifiable disease], more research can be done into why people are getting it and what we can do about it."
Ms Acott said her dad was inspired to fight the disease after listening to a podcast of others who had been pushing to re-class MND as a "notifiable disease".
"He was also stuck in aged care and just wanted to get out, so he decided to ride his mower," she said.
From Wagga Wagga, Wozza had planned to mow on to Gundagai and Yass before his final stop in Canberra.
And despite the dramatic turn of events at the weekend, Ms Acott said they will find a way to get to the nation's capital.
"He's pretty determined to get there, so if dad's healthy and okay but can't ride the mower, we'll still be able to drive him," she said.
Andrew Mangelsdorf
Originally from South Australia, Andrew Mangelsdorf grew up in Victoria before launching his career in Temora, NSW. He also served as a journalist at Lake Cargelligo before making the move to The Daily Advertiser in 2022. Always on the lookout for story ideas, so if you've got one, let me know: andrew.mangelsdorf@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Originally from South Australia, Andrew Mangelsdorf grew up in Victoria before launching his career in Temora, NSW. He also served as a journalist at Lake Cargelligo before making the move to The Daily Advertiser in 2022. Always on the lookout for story ideas, so if you've got one, let me know: andrew.mangelsdorf@austcommunitymedia.com.au
