Allan finds the humour in life despite disability

Rangeway resident Allan Headland has no legs.
“I’ll tell you a funny story,” the 68-year-old said.
“I was kicking the footy around at Towns (football oval) with my great nephew. I gave the ball a real hard kick and one of my legs (prosthetic) fell off. I fell down in front of 300 people, all up, in the grandstand.
“There was no chanting from the crowd. They didn’t think it was funny. It was sort of funny to me though — and believe me, we only played handball after that.”
Mr Headland lost his first leg about 12 years ago to diabetes. In 2011, the other one was amputated because of vascular issues.
He walks around using prosthetic legs. He will not use a wheelchair.
“I was sitting there watching them install the ramp at home and when they were finished, I was like yep, nice,” he said.
“Then I picked the wheelchair up and put it in the back. Never used it.”
Despite the disability, Mr Headland gets around. He plays pool, he plays darts, he’s a life member and former player at Towns Football Club and he’s the elder on Campus at Central Regional TAFE Geraldton.
He also sells St Kilda merchandise, the funds of which support the Victorian club.
Not long ago, he got permission from St Kilda to fundraise for Mullewa with the local footy team.
“See, they’re the Saints too,” Mr Headland said.
“We wanted to get a new dialysis machine for Mullewa Hospital but the Government knocked us back, said Mullewa’s too close to Geraldton. It’s still 100km, I don’t think it’s that close.
“Anyway, in the end, we put the $600 we did raise into paintwork at the facility.”
When The Geraldton Guardian met with Mr Headland, he was quick to introduce his wife Rose.
The Headlands celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2018.
“It’s funny, you know,” Mr Headland said. “My middle name is Charles and her middle name is Camilla. It’s like, the royal couple.”
Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.
Sign up for our emails