Today’s the day brave MND fighter Warren Acott sets off on the final leg of his 800km journey into Canberra on his ride-on lawnmower, before heading to Parliament House tomorrow.
As a truck driver of over 40 years, Acott is no stranger to the highways, but this epic final run has captured the hearts of many, as he’s made his way from his hometown of Toolleen in Victoria and garnered so much support for his efforts the entire way.
It hasn’t been smooth sailing the entire time though, after a set-back earlier in the week saw Acott rushed to hospital. Upon being released, he soon returned to the road, just as determined as ever.
Following the journey on his Mow Down MND Facebook page, words like “legend”, “warrior” and “inspiration” are being used over and over again to describe Acott, by his many supporters, with the number of people rallying behind him growing by the day.
He’ll be making the 63.5km trip from Yass to Canberra today, as part of his Mow Down MND campaign, where he’s pushing to make MND a notifiable disease, which could go a long way into assisting with future research.
With his daughter Belinda, two of his grandkids and his support team by his side, Acott has been working to gather as many signatures as possible on a petition to make MND a notifiable disease – and those signatures have been coming in thick and fast.
Tomorrow, Thursday March 21 is the day Acott will take to the lawns of Parliament House, at 11am, to hand deliver the petition. He’s hopeful of being able to personally hand these signatures over to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese himself.
He’s hoping to be joined by 800 people to represent the number of people who are either diagnosed or die from MND in Australia each year.