THUNDER BAY – Not even the Grinch who stole Christmas would stoop this low.
A Westfort resident says some ne’er-do-well broke into her shed and stole her autistic foster daughter’s wheelchair and some tools.
Jessie Ann, who asked that her last name not be used, is begging the thief to return the wheelchair, which her daughter needs to move about.
Jessie Ann said she put the wheelchair in the shed less than two days ago to make room in her vehicle for Christmas presents as they were going shopping.
“I didn’t think much of it,” she said in an email response on Friday night. “Our yard is fenced-in, and we have dogs, which I would have thought would have alerted us if someone was in the backyard.”
Jessie Ann first noticed the wheelchair was missing on Friday, when she went to collect it to send along with her daughter Shealyn, who was going away for the weekend with her support worker.
“I didn’t put it back in our vehicle because the kids have been home sick with a bad cold and to be honest, we weren’t going anywhere. It slipped my mind.”
The mother is outraged.
“I just can’t believe anyone would steal a wheelchair,” she said. “My daughter is severely autistic and although she is able to walk, we use the chair for outings so it’s less overwhelming for her, so she can have a more enjoyable time.”
Jessie Ann said Shealyn, who has been with her since she was three, has no safety awareness skills and doesn’t do well in crowd situations.
“She really relies on her chair to help make life a little easier and a lot more enjoyable.”
The missing lifeline is described as a transport chair with a seat belt and a silver ‘S’ on the back.
Jessie Ann said the special-order chair, worth $400, can be returned, no questions asked.
Her Facebook page can be found here.
