THE mum of a disabled toddler who travels to Sheffield for vital hospital visits fears proposed changes to the area's rail links will make their life a nightmare.
Lisa Hutton was speaking as Grimsby Telegraph Editor Michelle Lalor visited Westminster to present a 5,000-name Keep On Track petition to the Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin. The names have been collected within a month and all want the direct express service between Cleethorpes and Manchester airport to stay.
The 38-year-old Humberston mum-of-three is worried she will have to change trains at Doncaster to get her three-year-old to Sheffield every month.
As reported, one of the options is to scrap the current direct express service and introduce a service between Cleethorpes and Doncaster or Sheffield – people would then change before carrying on to Manchester.
Lisa said: "I don't drive so I've no idea what I would do if the train stopped.
"It's all well and good saying that we could just change at Doncaster, but there are only a limited number of wheelchair bays on each train and we'd be unlikely to get one there, whereas when we board at Cleethorpes we are the first ones on. If the train wasn't there anymore it would be horrific.
"We couldn't afford a taxi all that way so we would have to hope that the hospital could provide transport or we'd have to miss the appointments all together."
Lisa's daughter, Lily-Mae Hutton, who is registered blind and has cerebral palsy, was born prematurely and suffered internal bleeding after a traumatic birth.
Her heart stopped on three occasions and doctors urged her parents to have her Christened and her last rites read at the same time, but, miraculously, she pulled through.
Lilly-Mae, who now attends Humberston Park School, has to travel to Sheffield up to 12 times a year for treatment at the Children's Hospital, Royal Hallamshire Hospital and Ryegate Clinic.
Lisa added: "Taking the train is so much more convenient than trying to get my husband to drive us as parking in Sheffield is atrocious.
"It's also cheaper than it would be to drive and park, and easier to wheel the paediatric wheelchair onto a train that it is to put it into the car.
"We usually travel across the day before an appointment so that we can get Lily-Mae as settled as possible.
"We can't get onto bus because they don't accommodate wheelchairs and I don't drive, so we don't have any alternative.
"I honestly wonder if these Government ministers would be considering axing the route if they had a disabled child who needed to use the train for appointments.
"I know for a fact we aren't the only parents in this area in this situation and we need to stand up and make our views heard."
Follow us on Facebook and TwitterVIEW PICTURE GALLERIES www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/pictures
