Boy, 9, with cerebral palsy forced to use wheelbarrow to get around

A young Queensland boy with cerebral palsy has been forced to use a wheelbarrow to get around, while waiting for a wheelchair under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Angus Hopkins, 9, has outgrown his current wheelchair and desperately needs a new one to get around, but his mother has been told that could take two years.

The country boy from Nobby, near Toowoomba in the state’s southeast, has already been waiting for a new wheelchair for almost a year, his mother, Jody Ezzy, told The Weekly Times.

Angus's old wheelchair has become too difficult and unsafe to push around on the Darling Downs property, so he has been getting around in a wheelbarrow, which is exhausting for his mum.

The boy’s mother said she had spent hundreds of hours on the phone with NDIS and had reportedly been told it could take up to another two years before the new wheelchair was approved.

"Give us some idea when this is going to be – don't keep moving the goal post. We just need to know when and if," Ms Ezzy told 7NEWS on Tuesday.

She told The Weekly Times she was fed up with the lack of transparency and being made to feel as if the family was being unreasonable for asking for basic services.

"Having to explain that to him and seeing his disappointment that he can't go to shows, get himself around at home, he can't go and get the mail [is terrible]," she told the newspaper.

Ms Ezzy said Angus deserved some independence and self-reliance that a wheelchair would provide him.

The National Disability Insurance Agency, which is responsible for the NDIS, told Yahoo News Australia it was working to speed up the process.

“The request for the new wheelchair is being approved and we will work with Angus’ family to make sure it will be made available as soon as possible,” an NDIA spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday.

“In the interim the NDIA will make funding available for Angus to hire a wheelchair.

“The NDIA has been in contact with Angus’ family today to reassure them that the wheelchair will not take two years to supply and has apologised for any anxiety caused.”

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