A Russell Island pensioner who broke her arm after falling from her mobility scooter on her own street has put forward an unconventional idea to draw attention to the island’s deteriorating road conditions.
Christine Morrow says the condition of roads near her home has become so poor that delivery trucks struggle to access the street and taxis refuse to drive all the way to her house.
Ms Morrow was injured on December 4 after coming off her mobility scooter just outside her gate while travelling along Hacking Ridge Road at 6km/h.
“It was only a matter of time,” Christine said.
“I’ve had so many near misses on my road as well as the road it turns into.
“I feared that I would fall off sooner or later but didn’t imagine it would result in a broken bone.”
She said the fracture was diagnosed at the Redlands Satellite Health Centre and has left her in a cast for more than five weeks.
The cast runs from between her thumb and fingers to past her biceps on her left arm.
Ms Morrow said the injury had significantly affected her daily life, particularly as she lives alone.
She said she had spent hundreds of dollars on transport, paying $20 return taxi fares to access essential services including the supermarket, post office, doctor, pathology and pharmacy.
She also said she had been unable to maintain her home or use the public swimming pool, despite having paid more than $300 for a season pass.
Ms Morrow has raised her concerns with Councillor Shane Rendalls, who she says has offered support.
“He even came out and took photos of the road to submit to Council in the hopes of getting it fixed,” Ms Morrow said.
“But this would be a drop in the ocean considering how many dreadful roads there are on Russell.
“The average age of Islanders is over 60 and you see mobility scooters everywhere.
“People are aging, yet instead of improving to accommodate mobility needs, instead, the roads are becoming more and more dangerous and decrepit.”
In response, Ms Morrow has proposed an innovative community fundraiser aimed at highlighting the issue while raising money for road repairs.
“I’m going to start a charity race called the Russell Island Regatta,” she said.
“But it will be on land and not at sea.
“We will organise an annual race by people riding their mobility scooters over a short course on roads that urgently need repair.
“It will highlight roads that need fixing while simultaneously raising some modest funds towards this.”
Asked whether the first proposed regatta should be held on her own street, Ms Morrow laughed.
“No, believe it or not, there’s one that’s worse,” she said.
“The first Regatta should be run along Fenton Road between Centre Road and Hacking Ridge.
“Nobody can use it because if they try turning into it off Centre Road, they get less than 70 metres before they encounter an impassable bunker.
“If they try approaching from the Hacking Ridge Road side, even if they make it through the swamp, they will then come to a section where the ‘road’ is less than the width of a single car.”
Ms Morrow hopes the idea will spark broader discussion about road safety and accessibility for Russell Island’s ageing population.
