By Emily Norman
A heavily disabled woman, who was hit by a car in a Masterton car park, was left to pull herself back onto her scooter to get help.
Her son is now pleading for the driver responsible to come forward.
Don Mailman’s mother, 54, suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and has limited mobility.
She had just finished shopping at Countdown on Thursday at noon, and was loading groceries onto her scooter just outside the supermarket when she was hit.
She said a female driver had come in through the Worksop Rd entrance, and had overshot a car park, driving onto the pavement and slamming her into her mobility scooter.
There are no barriers between the carparks and the footpath in this area.
“The woman jumped out of the car and said sorry and then took off — she didn’t wait with my mother at all to make sure she was okay,” Mr Mailman said.
“Mum said there were people there but no one helped her up, she was able to pull herself onto the scooter and then scootered home.”
When Mr Mailman’s mother got home, she called him for help and he immediately left work in Greytown to come to her aid.
“In the time of me getting up there, mum had tried to move, and because of her injuries she had fallen to the ground so she hit her medical bracelet for immediate help.
“As I was coming into Masterton I got a phone call and it was St John’s saying, we’ve talked to your mum and things aren’t good.
“I raced around there to find her lying on the ground not being able to move.
“St John’s rang back again and said that all the ambulances were busy in Masterton so it would be a 30-40-minute wait.
“So, I basically lifted her up, put her in my car, and took her to the hospital.”
Mr Mailman said his mother was “pretty traumatised” by the incident and was “scared to scooter anywhere now”.
His mother who did not want to be identified was checked over at the Wairarapa Hospital Emergency Department. She had suffered a fractured wrist, bruising, and swelling of her knees.
“Mum’s got bionic knees, so the doctor said she was very lucky,” Mr Mailman said.
“If she hadn’t had her knees replaced, the impact would have clean shattered her.
“It’s just really gutting because shopping is her activity, you know.
“And now that she’s scared to do it on her own, it takes away her freedom and really sets her back.”
Mr Mailman said he wanted the driver responsible to come forward to give his mother closure.
“I understand that it’s an accident, these sorts of things happen.
“But the fact that they didn’t hang around to make sure she was okay, the fact they just took off, that’s the gutting part of it all.”
A representative from Countdown visited Mr Mailman’s mother on Friday morning to give her flowers and chocolate.
There were no surveillance cameras in the area.
What the bleep masterton not bleeping cool where is the whakawhanugatanga these are people’s lives we are dealing with the offender should be lucky that nothing worse happened but Heck like surely you would stop to help this lady and I’m more disgusted that others didnt help her
I’m in the states, so I don’t know the law down there, but I’m shocked that the police aren’t all over this. Over here this would immediately be treated as a hit and run which is a felony. It would be all over the local news stations also. The punishment here would be prison time because deliberately fleeing the scene is no accident.
A similar situation occured with my Dad, also in Masterton & while on his mobility scooter. Sadly his injuries which occurred from a person on their bike cycling at speed ramming into him where the start of his decline. He died less than 6 months afterward. I think the issue here is awareness of our elderly & disabled and people taking better care of each other in general.
Mayb countdown cd consider getting surveillance cameras now 2 help identify any future incidents? I, m sure this wd help mrs mailman’s confidence 2 get back on her scooter 2 shop & maintain her independence as well. Hope she has a speedy recovery 🙂
I’m sorry to hear that no-one helped this lady but it’s all too common a happening in today’s society. I was there an hour or two earlier and would certainly have offered my assistance if it had happened then. I wish her a full recovery and hope she manages to get out there scootering again. All the best.