999 call handler’s bike stolen during her shift
‘IT JUST FEELS LIKE THE PERFECT END TO 2020’ SAYS KATHLEEN
AN ambulance call handler who discovered her new bike had been stolen outside work following a 12-hour shift said it ‘felt like a kick in the teeth’.
Kathleen Dipper, 24, left Parkway Business Centre in Moss Side following a busy shift answering 999 calls at around 6.30pm on Tuesday (December 29).
She found a broken bike lock, her helmet - but no bike.
Kat, from Chorlton, saved up for months for the £650 specialised Sirrus 2020 2.0. She only had it for three weeks.
She’s desperate to get the bike back.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News , Kat said: “I was working a 7am to 7pm shift, a fairly busy shift.
“I locked up my bike at around 6.30am then I came out after 12 hours - I’d not really been around that part of the building all day.
“It was fairly busy on the day, and I was really looking forward to getting home.
“I came out at 6.30pm and I thought I was hallucinating.
“The bike had gone, the lock had been cut and the broken lock and my helmet were just left there.
“I only had it for three weeks.” After speaking to security staff about CCTV footage, it was established the bike was stolen at around 11.30am.
Kat added: “It was right under everyone’s noses at a really obvious time of the day.
“It’s my only form of transport.” Kat recently cycled 300 miles to fundraise for Cancer Research. She said she is now relying on lifts to get to and from work.
“I don’t really feel safe at work, I feel like that person was watching me as they seemed to go straight for the bike,” she added.
“It just feels like the perfect end to 2020.
“I’ve not gone home over Christmas as my family all live down South, and it felt like a bit of a kick in the teeth.
“It just knocks you a bit.
“It’s not just the fact of the bike getting nicked, it’s just so easy to happen to anyone.
“I don’t feel as confident as I did going to and from work.”