Theft takes woman’s independence
Hamilton woman Rebecca Reece has lost her independence after her wheelchair was stolen off the back of her car.
The 42-year-old, who uses a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy, woke on Saturday morning to find her manual wheelchair gone. It lived on a bike rack on the back of her red Toyota Corona, which was parked down a private driveway, outside her front door, tucked well off the road in Melville.
‘‘It’s always been there on a bike rack, and it has never been pinched before.’’
Reece does have a motorised wheelchair but it’s too heavy and big to put in the car. She uses it around the house and to walk the dogs, but the manual wheelchair allows her more independence.
‘‘It is to get me around, so I can get out of the car and go shopping.’’
Reece and her husband Kenny didn’t hear anything during the night.
‘‘The dogs didn’t bark. It is very hard to get off the bike rack as it’s easy to get stuck, if you don’t know how to lift it off you will be struggling out there.’’
It has also left Reece shaken to be in her own home.
‘‘It’s quite scary for me. I don’t want to be here on my own, so if my partner goes out I want to go with him I don’t want to stay home alone.’’
If the wheelchair isn’t returned, it means Reece will likely have to pay for a replacement, which can cost anywhere from $1500 upwards. She will also have to go through the process of getting a purposely fitted chair.
‘‘I would have to go back to square one, back to measuring, and they would have to measure the doorways again.’’
Reece is very appreciative that a member of the public did drop a wheelchair off for her to borrow after reading of her plight on Facebook, however it doesn’t fit her. She has reported the theft to police.
‘‘What I am worried about is someone has taken it from here and wanted to sell it for scrap metal.’’
The wheelchair does have a serial number which can be traced. The stolen chair has no footplates, it has black tyres with no rims on the wheels, and it’s got no arm rests.