Out of the blue, six months after becoming a client of South West Community Transport, 75 year old Ruse resident Steve Mills was told they would no longer be able to help him.
Mr Mills, who has had TB [tuberculosis] pretty much all his whole life, was devastated because it meant he was stuck and couldn’t get to his medical or hospital appointments.
Over the next four to five weeks it took a rant on social media by his wife Rosemary, and a call from a family friend to MP Greg Warren, who personally intervened to have Mr Mills be accepted back as a client of South West Community Transport.
But let’s go back to the start of the story, and let Mr Mills himself tell us what happened.
“I got a phone call to say, we can’t transport you anymore, and I asked why, and they said there’s a problem with the seatbelt,’’ says Mr Mills.
“The way you sit in your chair, you sit low and the seatbelt doesn’t go across your lap, it goes across your stomach, and there’s an impression you will slide out under that seatbelt if the bus driver brakes suddenly or is involved in an accident,’’ they said to me.
“I tried to explain to them that I can’t sit up, that I have my own seatbelt as well that supports me, plus I’ve got the footrest that should stop me from sliding out as well.
“They rang me back because I had a couple of appointments booked to Fairfield Hospital, and they said, we want to give you a refund.
“And I said, it’s all good, don’t worry, and the lady on the phone said, sorry, we just can’t do it.’’
South West Community Transport took Mr Mills mostly to medical appointments, but also to do his shopping or go to Bunnings, that kind of thing.
When he applied to become a client of theirs a year ago, they sent someone out to see him.
“He measured the chair, he saw me sitting in the chair, and he said, no problem, ring us when you need a service,’’ Mr Mills said.
“They transported me for six months, and there was no issue.
“But all of sudden it’s a problem,’’ he said.
At first Mr Mills called Aged Care, and they said, look, we can’t do anything, it’s a matter between you and the transport company; the best you can do is ring around and find another company to transport you.
“I did that, I must have made 12 to 15 phone calls, they either don’t transport wheelchairs, or deal mainly with NDIS customers, not Aged Care customers,’’ Mr Mills said.
“I hit a brick wall.’’
Almost as a last resort, he called the electorate office of his local member, Greg Warren.
“I rang his office first, and spoke to a young lady who said to me, leave it with us, we’ll see what we can do,’’ he says.
“They came back with some suggestions, but it didn’t really solve the problem of the seatbelt issue and that I’m lying down and look like I’m having a sleep, which I’m not.’’
At was at this point, three to four weeks after he was “banned’’ by South West Community Transport that Mrs Mills took matters into her hands.
“Rosemary posted a rant on Facebook at three in the morning, and a day or two later a family friend, David Tricca, got in touch with her to say, leave it with me, I’ll talk to Greg Warren,’’ says Mr Mills.
“Next thing I’ve got Darrin Wilson, the executive officer at South West Community Transport, and Josh Urbaniak, the operations manager, calling me to say they’re coming to discuss my issue.
“Which they did, and told me they can start carrying me from that day.
“While the seatbelt issue is the same, they have put me on a pulley to get me up into the back of the bus.
“I said to Greg Warren yesterday (at the photo shoot) without your intervention I’d still be stuck.
“He helped, he fixed it.
The South West Voice asked Mr Warren what he had to do to restore Mr Mills’ transport service.
“I just picked up the phone and talked to Darrin,’’ he said.
“I put Steve’s case forward, and said, look, the guy’s stuck, if he doesn’t have you guys, he’s got nothing.
“There were some technical issues that they had, and I was accepting of that – running a safe operation is really, really important,’’ Mr Warren said.
“South West Community Transport is a wonderful organisation, and I’m so grateful to them, they’ve bent over backwards to help Steve and his family – if they hadn’t he would have been stuck.
“Steve’s just one example of people that rely on them to get around, to have a life.
“It’s a great outcome and all credit goes to South West Community Transport, they’re the ones who did the work, I just did my job,’’ Mr Warren said.
Mr Wilson said he did not have much to add to what Mr Warren had said.
“I’ll just say that it was a pleasure to work with everyone involved to get such a positive outcome,’’ he said.