Maltese Lecturer Left ‘Exhausted’ After Attempting To Walk On Pavement With Wheelchair-User Daughter In Żejtun
A prominent Maltese lecturer and former police commissioner candidate has spoken out about the challenges she faces regularly trying to walk with her wheelchair-user daughter on her hometown’s pavements.
Mary Muscat shared a photo from her walk with daughter Justyne, showing not just a garbage bag and a pole in her way, but a large car casually parked in the middle of the pavement, blocking it entirely. The photo was taken in her hometown, Żejtun.
“I was left distraught this morning,” Muscat said. “It’s already enough having to avoid garbage bags on the pavement, but now also this? I’m exhausted.”
Her post received over 200 shares since it was uploaded, with many people expressing solidarity with the Maltese mother, having experienced similar situations themselves.
“As long as they are comfortable, they don’t think of others’ needs,” said one person.
“We have a similar situation in Ħal Għaxaq… it’s like they’ll break their legs if they need to cross the road,” said another person in reaction to the car parked on the pavement.
Speaking to Lovin Malta, Muscat said this was a typical situation she ran into.
“This has happened at least five times in the last year, especially in my area where it is limited parking,” she said. “It makes you cry – I’m trying to empower my daughter, but how do you explain this? Garbage bags and cars honking in her face…”
She said that while people are educated about garbage bags, they need to understand they can’t just leave them in the middle of the pavement. And when it comes to illegal parking, she was clear: “police call the drivers and they casually remove their vehicles without having a traffic offence ticket. So they repeat their behaviour without having learnt their lesson…”
For Muscat, the effect this is having on her growing daughter has left her heartbroken.
“It is so disempowering for my daughter… I’m trying to teach her to drive her wheelchair safely, but there’s no way she can do that on her own like this,” she ended.
Have you ever experienced anything like this in Malta? Let us know in the comments below
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