The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Girl’s vital oxygen kit is stolen from car
Family appeal for return of crucial equipment
The family of a six-year-old Peterborough schoolgirl is appealing for the return of vital medical equipment that allows her to live her day to day life.
Thieves broke into Nichola Dowland’s car while it was parked outside her New England home and stole her daughter’s oxygen saturation monitor.
Scarlett,(6), suffers from interstitial lung disease, meaning it is difficult for oxygen to pass into her bloodstream.
As a result Scarlett relies on an oxygen saturation monitor to go about her day to day life, including attending Welland Academy.
The theft which has left Scarlett distressed, took place in Boswell Close where she lives.
A spokesman for Cambridgeshire police said the kit was stolen overnight between 5.30pm on Tuesday, July 18 and 8.30am on Wednesday, July 19, when Nichola discovered the theft had taken place.
When starting the morning school run she noticed the boot of her car was open.
Thinking she must have left it that way the night before, she drove to school, only then realising that the bespoke jute bag, featuring an illustration of Scarlett, had been stolen from the boot.
The contents of the bag, including the oxygen saturation monitor, a handheld oxygen monitor, Scarlett’s inhaler containing her medication and the record book which is filled in daily by Nichola and the school were also missing.
The unique bag has a picture of Scarlett’s oxygen cylinder and heart designs printed on it. Nichola made a heartbreaking appeal for the return of the kit - and said the equipment would be useless to anyone else.
She said: “A community nurse has lent us another saturation monitor for today, but realistically she can’t be in school without the monitor, she needs to check her oxygen levels every two hours.
“Interstitial lung disease means Scarlett’s body is deprived of oxygen, so it makes it difficult for her to breath.
“It was a shock as where we live is a quiet area, it’s a culde-sac, we know all the neighbours.
“To take a child’s medical equipment is one step too far, it’s heartbreaking.
“It’s useless to them, they can’t really sell it, the fact that someone took it just makes me so angry.”
Anyone with information about the theft or sees the monitor, owned by the NHS, or the bespoke bag, should contact Cambridgeshire police by calling 101 giving the crime reference number CF0410830717.
Alternatively, witnesses can contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111, or visit https://crimestoppersuk.org/