A YOUNG Enniscorthy family has issued a plea to the thieves who stole their car and five-year-old daughter’s wheelchair to “just walk away” and let the items be found.
The Tracy family, from Oulart, was sleeping soundly in their house on Thursday morning when thieves entered the home at around 2:30 a.m., taking the keys to the 132 Hynundi i40 which had been specially modified to facilitate a chair for their daughter Lauryn who has cerebral palsy.
Gavin, Lauryn’s father told The Echo: “They broke into the house, took the keys and took the car from outside the front door. Lauryn’s wheelchair, a distinctive pink one, was in the boot and her specially modified car seat was in the back seat.”
The chair, which is worth about €3,000 along with the car seat which is another €2,500, is the only one that Lauryn had and relied on for getting around while she waits for a special assistance dog from Irish Dogs for the Disabled.
The family has been partaking in a massive fundraising campaign for this charity since the middle of the year but this has come as a serious blow.
“This is a real kick in the teeth for us after all of the great work and support we have received. We are putting out an appeal to everyone to try and find the car and the chair.”
Gavin and many supportive members of the public took to social networks to tweet and Facebook pictures of the car and the wheelchair in the hope of alerting the public to keep their eyes peeled. Since Saturday, Gavin’s original tweet, which read: “My car was stolen, it contains my child’s pink wheelchair and special seat – Please RT” has been retweeted or shared almost 3,000 times and endorsed by celebrities including Bressie, Katherine Lynch and Paul McGrath, who has already pledged his support to Lauryn’s fundraising campaign.
[Full story in this week’s Echo]