Her commitment towards making the world a better place is why Bella Tipping has been named Dubbo’s Young Citizen of the Year.
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The teenager said she was feeling a lot of things after hearing her name called out, but she was very excited and very honoured to receive the award.
In her nomination, Bella was described as “a teenager with an innate sense of social justice”.
She began pushing for changes to the way airlines operate when she was 12-years-old. Bella saw a quadriplegic man being moved from his seat and secure wheelchair and into a plane chair by a crew member. When the man started to sink in his seat Bella was acutely aware how undignified flying is for disabled passengers.
Bella, realising how passengers or crew members could get injured under the current methods of travel for disabled passengers, started to investigate regulations around air travel.
She started a petition calling for major airlines to change modify their planes when they upgrade their fleet to allow people to travel in their own wheelchairs. The petition drew the attention of Virgin Airlines and she was made a member of their quality assurance team which works to improve dignity and safety on flights.
Bella said she would be meeting with Virgin again soon to “talk through some issues and hopefully we’re going to come up with a few more solutions”.
“I’m hoping other young people will hear what I’m doing and know that little things can make a change. I hope they’ll feel like they can do it as well and then the world will be a better place,” Bella said.
Her family and supporters were emotional watcher her accept the award.
“It’s great to have the family here, everyone is so proud and what better way to spend the day then with my family,” Bella said.
“I think we’re going out for dinner tonight and then hopefully relax a bit, try and escape the heat, but mostly I’ll be enjoying the time with family.”
Bella’s nomination said: “Isabella is extremely intuitive and she lives with the goal of improving the life for others who are less fortunate. In her own words Bella said ‘accidents happen and people get hurt and it could happen to anyone at anytime so why can’t we do our very best to allow people with a disability to be included in life as everyone else?’”
BELLA WON’T STOP UNTIL THERE’S CHANGE
Karen Peters says she knows Dubbo’s Young Citizen of the Year won’t stop until she sees changes made within the airline industry.
Bella Tipping was announced as the recipient of the award on Friday. She’s been pushing for airlines to make changes that allow disabled passengers to travel in their own wheelchairs.
Bella called for the modifications after seeing Karen Peters’ husband Denzil struggle when flying to South Africa.
Ms Peters said the teenager was a role model.
“The thing about Bella is that she’s doing it because it’s the right thing to do. She’s not doing it to promote herself and she doesn’t really like being the centre of attention but she does it because she’s got a heart for it and to help people less fortunate than herself,” Ms Peters said.
She said Bella was also helping make it easier for those in wheelchairs to travel by encouraging accommodation owners to public photos outlining how accessible their buildings were.
“Bella is very determined and she won’t give up so I think we will see changes it’s just a matter of time.”