I have a friend with ME who uses an electric wheelchair almost all the time. She has had it stolen a number of times and even been tipped out of it! She just had it nicked again at the weekend. It was securely (so she thought) padlocked up outside a fiends house while she went in for a few drinks. When she went out she found it had been dismantled around the padlock and nicked again. It has been found, after being taken for a spin and dumped, a few miles away. Someone has kindly repaired it and put it back together again but now my friend feels she can’t go out anymore. She already has problems getting out and about and likes to take advantage when she feels able to. Her mobility is a big issue. Some of the places she likes to go do not have wheelchair accessibility, especially the old pubs where she likes to meet friends because the buildings are old and listed. This has, again, limited her as to where she can go. She is in a terrible state of despair again and this has made her ME symptoms worse.
Any suggestions as to what she can do to make sure the chair is safe when she can’t be with it? Police aren’t interested and haven’t been interested before when it’s been pinched. Local radio and newspapers have run her story before but she didn’t get any response from it.
It’s just unbelievable to think that someone would do this when it is clear that a wheelchair means the owner is disabled and needs it! The stress this has caused her and her parents is awful.