By Tate Papworth
Garry Clancy led a sporting life, but an accident at a notorious Ballarat Road intersection in 2015 changed all that.
Mr Clancy, a resident of Federation Village, said he went to cross the road, like he’d done many times before, but things went horribly wrong.
“It was a dark, nasty old day and I was crossing the road to get the bus,” he said. “I looked both ways and thought it was safe to cross. There was no traffic in sight and all of a sudden a car came from out of sight, speeding like hell, and collected me.
“I was gone for all money. The helicopter came and took me to the Royal Melbourne and I’m telling you, you could’ve put the house on the fact I was going to die.”
Although he survived, Mr Clancy has been left with significant injuries.
“I’m in rehabilitation and I’m suffering really badly,” he said. “It’s destroyed my life.
“I haven’t had much of a life since then. I’ve got rods in my legs and back and I’m destroyed downstairs continence-wise. I can’t walk properly, I can’t stand up. It’s chronic pain.”
Adding to Mr Clancy’s frustration is the fact that an ongoing push to have lights installed at the Hulett Street and Ballarat Road intersection has continually failed to gain funding from the state government.
Brimbank council has been unsuccessfully advocating for safety improvements along Ballarat Road, including installation of lights at both Hulett Street and Perth Avenue, for a number of years.
Last year then Brimbank mayor Margaret Giudice told Star Weekly that VicRoads had undertaken an investigation into the section of Ballarat Road and recommended signals be installed at both locations.
The subsequent budget bid was not successful and was overlooked in this year’s budget.
Fed up residents will gather at the site on Thursday, June 20, from 10am to make their voices heard.
“If there was lights there, none of this would’ve happened,” Mr Clancy said.
