By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
IN Blind Bight, a flower a day keeps the ambulance at bay.
Known to some as the unofficial Mayor of Blind Bight, Bob O’Connell knows his neighbours by nickname and by flower.
Bob has managed to walk his dog, keep his “beer belly” down, and check up on his over 65-year-old neighbours with the help of a flower, for around 16 years.
To ensure his ageing neighbours, who live alone are safe and well, Bob drops a flower off at their door on his morning walk.
“If I don’t see them that’s when I drop the flower,” Bob said.
“And if it’s not picked up the next day I’ll knock on their door.”
Some days it might just be a sprig of tea-tree, but it’s a message that someone cares, Bob said.
“Everyone looks out for one another in small communities, and dropping the flower off is a way of knowing they are alright without being too intrusive,” he said.
The Victorian State Trauma System and Registry annual report for 2014/15 found more Victorians die from falls than from road accidents.
The data outlines 459 people, mainly aged over 64 years old died from falls from a height of less than a metre over the year, compared with 301 in transport-related accidents.
And according to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), the trend has been reoccurring since 2012-’13, with falls being the most common causes of injury back then at 40 per cent and transport crashes at 12 per cent.
In response to the new statistics Minister for Health Jill Hennessy said: “The number of older Victorians who die or experience serious injury from falls is a concern.”
“I would encourage Victorians to think first before climbing a ladder or standing on a chair – is there a friend or neighbour who can help you out.”
Casey Neighbourhood Watch chairperson, Robert Ward has applauded the floral safety idea and hopes to see it spread across Casey.
“It’s a great example of someone taking initiative to promote community safety,” Robert said.
“And they are a very vulnerable cohort of older people living alone and this is a simple way of showing we care – it can make a world of difference.”
Bob’s sister, Janice Munt, former Labor Member for Mordialloc, calls the flower drop off: “Community looking after community.”
“It’s a real comfort to older people living alone to know that someone’s checking that they are okay and it’s such a gentle way to do it,” Ms Munt said.
Bob, a Blind Bight resident of 20 years, said his safety walk became more important to him than ever before after a neighbour who lived alone, fell over in his home and subsequently died.
And Bob, a new member of the Coastal Villages Neighbourhood Watch, assures locals he won’t stop walking anytime soon.
“It’s a compulsory walk for the dog – so rain, hail or shine I’ll be walking, and of course I’ll be dropping off flowers,” Bob said.
To get involved in Neighbourhood Watch in your area visit: www.nhw.com.au
