Warren Green recovers after medical incident at Palmers Channel

The brother of a walker who was found collapsed on a busy roadside says he his been overwhelmed by wellwishers since the incident as his well-known sibling takes steps to recovery.

Bruce Green looks out with his brother Warren's house in the background at Palmers Channel. Bruce says Warren is on the mend after suffering a stroke while walking to do his daily shopping. Picture: Adam Hourigan

Warren Green is well-known in the Clarence Valley for walking down the Palmers Channel road to get his daily shopping and remembering thousands of names of the people he meets.

His brother and neighbour, Bruce Green, said he had been overwhelmed with people’s best wishes since Warren collapsed near his home at Palmers Channel.

Warren was found lying on the side of Southbank Road on the morning of August 19, raising fears he had been hit by a passing car.

NSW Ambulance paramedics were called after a man was discovered collapsed beside Southbank Road at Palmers Channel.

But Warren had instead suffered a stroke.

The good news is he’s on the mend after several hospital procedures.

“Luckily one of the first people there worked at Priceline and she was a nurse … and the highway patrol was there and the ambulance only took five minutes,” Bruce said.

“When the ambulance came they put him on a stretcher and noticed his left side was numb and they said he’d had a stroke.”

Bruce said Warren was taken straight to Grafton Base Hospital and a doctor from John Hunter Hospital rang to ask permission to give him a special drug.

“I heard the risks, but I said yes because it’s no good to him being in a wheelchair,” Bruce said.

A map of Palmers Channel shows where Warren Green was found after having a stroke.

“It helped, and then they took him to the hospital on the Gold Coast to do more procedures.”

Bruce said Warren had been brought back to Grafton in the past week and then taken to Maclean Hospital rehab wards, which he said was an encouraging sign.

“When we spoke to him on the Gold Coast his speech was a bit slurry, but a couple of days a lot better,” Bruce said.

While Bruce as been unable to see his brother due to Covid restrictions, he said there was one skill that definitely hadn’t been lost.

“He still remembers everyone’s names – that’s still there,” he said.

“The doctor at the Gold Coast told him his name, and five days later he’s telling everyone who that was there.

“And the doctor tells me he’s a pretty cheeky guy, which is definitely true.”

Bruce said there had been many inquiries from people they knew and in the community about how he’d been, and it was a reflection of the type of person he was.

“He always gives people box of chocolates or cards, never saves any money, but is always be giving to people,” he said.

Bruce said he was confident people would see Warren up and down the road again.

“I suppose I’ve always been a bit worried about him walking near the road, but he’s pretty good,” he said.

“He used to go up and down the road cleaning up the rubbish, he kept it clean for everyone – I might get him one of those high-vis vests just in case.”