93 years old and still riding quad bikes
Daisy Green has lived every one of her 93 years on her family farm and there’s nowhere else she’d rather be.
“People can’t understand why I’ve wanted to stay in the same place all my life but that’s what I like. I’m a ‘stay put’ person,” says Daisy, whose parents bought the farm on Palmers Island near Yamba on the Northern New South Wales coast before she was born.
Daisy is the youngest and last remaining of three siblings – all of whom lived out their years on the mixed-farm that in the almost 10 decades it’s been owned by the Greens, has cultivated dairy cows, sugar cane and bees.
Her brother Jack loved the bees; her sister Amelia was an avid gardener and cook; while Daisy ‘did a bit of everything’, including driving the tractors.
STILL DRIVING… HER QUAD BIKE
Daisy is still driving today, swapping tractors and cars for a motorised quad bike.
“I’ve got a wheelie walker but I’m better on the bike,” says Daisy.
“I can jump on the bike and get around very well. I head up to the barn to visit and feed my three cats each day. Their mother was a stray that my friend trained and they make good company.”
SUPPORT TO FOCUS ON WHAT SHE LOVES
“I read a fair bit and that’s good. I like the journals I get which are mostly the agricultural ones.
“Even though I don’t farm myself now I like to read about what other farmers and beekeepers are doing.”
Daisy has always been more interested in farming than housework so having Feros Care help with housework suits her perfectly.
Daisy receives a government Home Care Package, designed to help people remain in their own homes by providing funding for services such as housework, gardening, physiotherapy, nursing, travel and companionship.
“Feros Care gives me a hand with things and it really makes a difference,” says Daisy.
“I think it started 13 or so years ago when my brother wasn’t well and over the years I’ve got a bit more help here and there.
“It’s nice to think, ‘hang on I don’t have to do that. I can get help with that’.
“I’ve got an old friend I call “cranky knee” that makes it harder for me to get about so with Feros doing my housework I can do the things I enjoy like potter around the farm
and watch the world go by.
“They also do my groceries which is great because I’ve never liked shopping.”
PERSONALISED SOLUTIONS TO REMAIN INDEPENDENT
Feros Care prides itself on providing solutions to all the different needs people have and were able to create a service especially for Daisy when she started having trouble putting her garbage out.
Her arthritic knee made the task increasingly difficult, and her closest neighbours are several hundred metres away, so Daisy spoke to her Feros Care Wellbeing Manager Janene Fisher who organised someone
to drop by twice a week to take the bin to the road and back again.
“It might not seem like much but it’s a lot to me,” says Daisy.
“I find it very helpful. It helps keep me independent and I’ve got to stay as independent as possible. I might only have a few years left and I want to spend them here.
“The help from Feros Care is helping me stay put.”
Staying put is the most important thing for Daisy.
“I’ve been here 93 years and I enjoy it so I hope I can stay here for a good long while yet,” she says.
FRIENDS, FAMILY AND FEROS
“I’m happy to get some help and I’ve been with Feros Care for so long that I can recommend them.
“One lady, Marion, has been helping me since my brother was alive and one day she told me she’d been coming for 10 years! She knows me and what foods I like. It’s nice having people
you can rely on and I’m lucky to have friends, family and Feros who look out for me.”
The humble nonagenarian tells us that featuring in this story will be her only claim to fame. We doubt that very much.
“I’m just an ordinary person but I’ve got this far so it’d be nice to go a bit longer,” says Daisy.
We feel privileged to be able to help Daisy do just that.
Do you or someone you know need support to maintain independence at home? We know your home is where you belong. Talk to our expert team on 1300 763 583.
