Emergency crews called after Robert Gladwood struck by car at Andergrove

A Mackay man is currently in an induced coma with internal bleeding and a number of serious injuries after he was struck by a Dodge Ram on his daily walk.

The southbound lane of Bedford Rd was closed after a car struck a pedestrian before 8.30am. Photo: Fergus Gregg

The distraught niece of a critically injured man just wants “him to wake up” after he was placed in an induced coma after being struck by a vehicle at Andergrove.

Police are calling for witnesses to the traffic collision left Eureka Cascade Gardens resident Robert Gladwood fighting for his life last week.

Police allege the 66 year old had been on his usual morning walk just after 8am on August 23 when a blue Dodge Ram struck him on Bedford Road near a roundabout along Oak Street and Celeber Drive in Andergrove.

Mr Gladwood suffered life threatening chest injuries and was rushed to the Mackay Base Hospital before being flown to Townsville.

His niece Melissa Fenech said her uncle was currently in an induced coma at Townsville University Hospital with bleeding in his brain, a broken hip, four cracked ribs and a fractured skull.

“I just want him to wake up and come back home so we can see his happy face, his smiling face,” Ms Fenech said.

Paramedics rushed a patient to hospital after they sustained potentially life threatening injuries being struck by a car. Photo: Fergus Gregg

Since the incident Ms Fenech said she had been overwhelmed with messages about her uncle, many from people she hardly knew.

“Robert is very loved in Mackay,” Ms Fenech said.

“He hasn’t got a bad bone in his body.

“He’d give you the shirt off his back.”

She said Mr Gladwood was a resident at Eureka Cascade Gardens on Oak St in Andergrove, where he had a girlfriend and a close friendship with the village chef.

“He broke down after hearing the news,” Ms Fenech said, adding her uncle would “want to get together with friends and family, have a beer and watch the cowboys.”

Police are asking witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage between 8am and 9am along Bedford Road and Oak Street in Andergrove on August 23, to come forward, an appeal Ms Fenech has echoed.