Appeal after voice of girl, 16, with cerebral palsy is stolen

THE parents of a teenager with cerebral palsy have appealed for help online after her speech machine, the only way she has of communicating, was stolen from their car.

Miya Thirlby, 16, uses a speciallyprogrammed machine, called a liberator accent 1400, which costs £6,000 and took the family six months to buy.

The theft took place overnight between Jan 8 and 9 when someone gained access to a blue VW vehicle in Pennycross, Plymouth, and snatched the device.

Paul Johnson, 40, Miya’s father, said she had been unable to communicate since Tuesday when the thief broke stole the device. Mr Johnson has started a social media search, and his tweet has been shared 6,000 times.

Mr Johnson told The Daily Telegraph that he was shocked by the kindness of strangers who hade offered to help him pay for a new one and the many people, including Alan Shearer, the former footballer, who had sent their support.

“I just put it on Twitter – I don’t have thousands of followers – I was just hoping that word would get spread. I didn’t think it would be shared as much as it did. Alan Shearer posted it to his followers and sent me a message,” Mr Johnson, a business analyst, said.

To purchase the first device, the family raised funds by holding bake sales, and members of the public donated to help towards the efforts. Because of this, the family is loath to start up a fundraising campaign for a new one until it is certain the stolen device will not be returned.