Nurse’s car stolen and kit dumped
A COMMUNITY nurse has had her car stolen and all her NHS kit dumped by a gang of callous thieves.
Mum-of-one Helen Stokey, 36, has worked as a community nurse for Bolton Foundation Trust for six years since qualifying and relies on her car and kit.
After leaving her home on Balmoral Drive in Leigh, Wigan, at 7.45am to take daughter Neve, eight, to breakfast club, she discovered her black Ford Ecosport had vanished.
She said: “The last time I saw my car was when I was bringing my little girl home from school. I parked it up close to a grass verge outside and carried on with my evening.”
Helen says she could not believe it when the car was not where she left it and as she had been ill with a migraine the night before, she started to think she was confused and had left it elsewhere before realising it was gone.
A neighbour told her she had seen four youths get out of a Vauxhall Corsa in the early hours and they had hung around her vehicle for 10 minutes before getting in it and speeding off.
Helen said: “I found out my insurance does not cover me for a courtesy car unless it is found and needed repairs “I am off work for a week with my daughter but after that I will have to think about a hire car to get to work – at a cost of £200 per week.”
Helen says she spotted pictures of her dumped NHS kit on social media.
A woman had spotted the items dumped on a dirt track close to Hindley prison, taken photographs and posted them on social media sites to try and find the owner. Helen contacted her and then she and partner Barney McQueen, 36, a building services engineer, drove there to see what they could retrieve. She said: “The majority of my kit was thrown deep in some brambles so we couldn’t get to it. We cleared up what we could.” A man said he had seen four lads dumping the kit.
Helen says the lost items, which include a blood pressure pack, catheters, dressings, sterile materials, and a blood glucose machine, will cost the NHS hundreds of pounds to replace.
Police said enquiries were ongoing.