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Brave truckie with MND suffers setback during final highway run

Courageous former truckie Warren Acott, who is in the process of driving from Victoria to Parliament House in Canberra on a ride-on-lawnmower to raise awareness of motor neurone disease, has suffered a distressing setback.

Warren, who was forced to give up truck driving after being diagnosed with MND last year, fell backwards yesterday while trying to move himself in his wheelcair and hit his head on the concrete ground.  

He was rushed to hospital for treatment, but thankfully he has not sustained any long-term injuries.  

Warren, 66, is still hoping to arrive at Parliament House this Friday March 22, however some of the stops along the way will have to change to make up for the time lost. 

Warren’s daughter Belinda shared an update with those following his journey in the Facebook group “Mow Down MND”.  

“A couple of hours ago, while trying to move himself in his wheelchair, he went over backwards and hit his head on the concrete,” Belinda wrote yesterday.  

“He was frozen in shock for a few moments, but could then feel the hardness of the concrete under him as we waited for the ambulance to arrive.” 

Warren was rushed to hospital after falling backwards in his wheelchair and hitting his head on the concrete ground. Image: Rob Heyman

Belinda said that Warren encouraged some photographers present to take photos of him after his fall, to show the reality of living with MND.  

In another update shared yesterday afternoon, Belinda said she was pleased to inform everyone that her dad was resting in hospital and “no serious damage” had been done when he fell.  

“The wonderful doctors and nurses at the Wagga Wagga Hospital have given him a scan and an X-ray and the all clear to go home,” she said.  

“While he was very determined to continue on with what we had planned, the team have insisted on another rest day tomorrow.  

“This will not impact our arrival date in Canberra but we will be updating the in between stops to make up the time.” 

Currently, MND is not listed as a notifiable disease, which means doctors don’t need to alert the government of new cases, so cases aren’t recorded or monitored.

The purpose of Warren’s lawnmower trip to Parliament House – which began at his home in Toolleen, Victoria on March 11 – is to ask the government to make MND a notifiable disease.

This would mean more research could be done into the causes of the disease, hopefully contributing to finding a cure.

You can read more about Warren’s story here.

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