Food worries for family with disabled son after Woolies suspends Victorian delivery orders
Tobias has a weakened immune system, so his family went into isolation on Wednesday. But his parents were sent into a panic when Woolworths suddenly cancelled their online food order.
A Pakenham mum who provides round the clock care for her seriously ill son is worried she won’t be able to feed her family after Woolworths cancelled all online orders due to stockpiling shoppers.
Julia Williams and her husband Brian provide 24-hour care for their 12-year-old son Tobias, who is quadrilpligic, has chronic lung disease and severe scoliosis.
Due to threat COVID-19 poses to Tobias’s weakened immune system, the Williams family went into isolation on Wednesday.
“We got a call from the RCH (Royal Children’s Hospital) saying that things are changing and we have to be aware of it. It had been mentioned to us that if we went out into the public and Tobias caught it, he wouldn’t survive,” Ms Williams told the Herald Sun.
“We made the decision to even pull his brother out of school because his brother Elijah brought home some viruses last year and one of them put Tobias in ICU.”
With the entire family in lockdown and their extended family based hours away in Gippsland, the Williams are totally reliant on home delivery from supermarkets.
The 40-year-old mum said she didn’t know what to do when she received a text from Woolworths saying that her order had been cancelled.
Ms Williams said shoppers should think about the vulnerable and disabled before they start stockpiling essentials.
“There’s a lot of vulnerable members in society as it is and this is putting them in an even worse position. Some of us have a lot to deal with on a daily basis without this,” Ms Williams said.
When contacted by the Herald Sun, a spokesman for Woolworths said the suspension of online deliveries is a “necessary step” while they work to restock their stores across Victoria.
“Due to extraordinary levels of demand for groceries over the weekend, we’re temporarily suspending delivery services out of our Victorian supermarkets until further notice,” the spokesman said.
“We’ll continue to service online deliveries in selected metropolitan areas from our West Footscray Customer Fulfilment Centre.
“We understand the decision to suspend delivery services out of Victorian stores will be incredibly frustrating for our customers and apologise for the inconvenience caused.”
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Originally published as Food worries for family with disabled son after Woolies suspends Victorian delivery orders
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