A grandmother has spoken of her surprise after becoming a global internet sensation as she snubbed a mobility cart — in favour of a children’s scooter.
A Facebook fan page dedicated to nippy Barbel Roerig, 74, has almost 3,000 “likes” from as far as Columbia, Pakistan and New Zealand.
But the down-to-earth grandmother-of-two told SWNS that the attention does not faze her.
She said: “I think it’s very nice and now I know what it must feel like for all the famous people in the world.
“I’ve not seen my Facebook page lately as I don’t have a TV or the internet and I keep forgetting to look when I have the chance. I think it’s funny though.
“When I go along the street I get a lot of waves from all the young men and it keeps me young.
”It has been going on for so long that I am used to it. It’s quite enjoyable getting toots from the lorry drivers.
“It’s funny, when I go out without the scooter no one pays any attention to me.
“When I do use it I’m normally going too fast to hear what people say, but they always smile.”
Barbel, from Perth, Scotland, has one request though – photographers need to start taking pictures of her best side.
She laughed: ”They always catch me from the back.”
Barbel, who was an architectural technician in her native Germany before moving to Perth in 1971, said she first picked up the scooter nine years ago in a bid to beat arthritis.
She said: “I saw staff at an airport using scooters and I thought that it was a great way to get about.
“I have arthritis in my knee so take the load of it, I bought a scooter. I’ve had it for about nine years now.
“I have an allotment at Moncrieffe Island in Perth so when I travel there I use the scooter quite often because sometimes I can be carrying quite heavy things.
“I keep saying it’s the first step to a wheelchair but a scooter doesn’t make you look so old.
“I’ve even got my friend’s grandchildren on the scooter when they’ve stopped using the pram, so it’s been used a lot over the years.”
Not only is the pensioner celebrated for her mode of transport, but also her taste in children’s cartoons as she rides around with bags featuring designs of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The creator of The Perth Scooter Gran page on Facebook, known only as “The Doctor”, said that when he first saw the pensioner he felt he had to spread her fame around the world.
He said: ”I made the page to celebrate the awesomeness of Perth Scooter Gran after capturing a couple of photos myself and to give the people of Perth a place to share their sightings of the enigmatic lady.
”I haven’t had the opportunity to speak to her myself but one of her relatives posted on the page.
”I’m not surprised people are enthusiastic about Scooter Gran – go to any other city in Scotland and you’ll find loads of interesting characters, but the majority of Perth people are too scared to be seen as anything less than ordinary.”
Barbel has been a big hit with fans on her Facebook page.
Susan Mohammed said: “Good on her I don’t think you should go silent when you’re older.”
Lorraine MacLeod said: “See her about all the time! Good on her.”
Alan Williamson said: “Scooter gran you are a legend. I often laugh when I see you but fair play to you.”
