Parents in Shock After Thief Steals Disabled Son's Wheelchair
A thief in Florida has deprived an 11-year-old boy of his mobility, in a crime the boy's family finds hard to believe. Police are searching for a suspect who stole a $4,400 wheelchair from Michael Thorne, who suffers from scoliosis and other illnesses, leaving him unable to walk, Local 6 reports.
Thorne and his family were at a soccer tournament in Jacksonville, Fla., when someone grabbed the special chair out of their car.
"I was just in shock," Michael’s mother, Thea Thorne, told Local 6. "I just couldn't believe that someone would possibly take a wheelchair. That chair was his ability to get out and about and go on walks and go to his doctor's appointments and to go soccer games."
Van Thorne, Michael’s father, told Local 6 that the theft was made even worse by how hard they fought with the insurance company to obtain the wheelchair in the first place.
"It is just one-of-a-kind,” Van Thorne told Local 6. “So he's got to go around without it and it really makes it hard."
The Thornes’ insurance company and the hotel where the car was parked said there is nothing they can do about the stolen wheelchair. The Thornes are praying police can find the culprit.
"How could you possibly think that this is right to do this to a little boy?" Thea Thorne asked Local 6.