Deplorable footage shows double amputee struggling to climb up stairs at train station in Australia

Transport minister admits video is 'distressing'

(Facebook)

A double amputee has been filmed dragging himself up platform stairs at Unanderra train station in New South Wales, Australia, because there is no service at the station.

The footage also shows a stroke victim, Bec Schmidt, struggling up the stairs with the help of her partner and an elderly woman with a hip replacement on the opposite side of the stairs.

The video was shot by Fiona Jordan, a child support officer, and was intended to show how difficult it was for stroke victim Bec Schmidt to get on and off the platform at her local station.

A second video shows Ms Schmidt struggling to walk down the 36 stairs as a man in a wheelchair climbs down backwards, at points struggling to keep control.

Post by Elevators for Unanderra Train Station.

Ms Schmidt, a former transport worker, suffered a stroke in 2008. She is the owner of a Facebook community page “Elevators for Unanderra Train Station” and has started an online campaign to try and get 10,000 people to sign a petition to have the elevator built, the Daily Mail reported.

A picture on the group’s Facebook page shows a sign, reportedly from several years ago and later removed, explaining that Unanderra Stationis “undergoing an upgrade” which will include the installation of two customer lifts.

According to the Illawarra Mercury, transport minister Gladys Berejiklian said in response to the video: “It’s distressing to see anyone in the community struggle to access public transport- whether they’re elderly, customers with a disability or families with prams.”

There has been no confirmation from Transport for New South Wales that a lift installation project, estimated to cost AUS$25 million, will go ahead.