A man with a terminal lung illness has been left housebound after his car was stolen.
Kenneth Ireston, from Aigburth, who has been shielding since the start of the pandemic, was due to attend an Electrocardiogram (ECG) appointment at South Liverpool NHS Treatment Centre in Garston on Friday, January 28.
Wendy Ireston, Kenneth’s wife, had to prepare the car - a deep blue Peugeot Horizon - for the short journey.
READ MORE: Update as four rushed to hospital after serious crash left man critical
The car has to be at a certain temperature, while Kenneth's oxygen tank and his medicine have to be loaded into it, in order for him to travel.
After preparing and loading the car, Wendy returned to the porch to take Kenneth to it.
But when she turned around, the car had gone.
Wendy said: “My husband is disabled and he doesn’t go out because he’s got a terminal lung illness, so he’s been in lockdown longer than anybody could possibly be in lockdown.
“Every time anyone else comes out of lockdown, he’s still in it because he can’t afford to take those chances.
“Friday just gone he had an appointment to go for an ECG because he’s been getting pains. He should have gone weeks ago but we had to cancel it because when it’s too cold, I can’t take him out.
“I have to warm the car and everything before I put him in. Everything’s got to be just right otherwise he can’t breathe and the readings will be wrong. I had to take oxygen with me because he’s on oxygen 24 hours a day.
"He’s mostly housebound even with the car, he just can’t get out. With the car, which is more of an adapted van, it’s got an electric lift on the back for his wheelchair to take him in and out of it.
“I got him all ready, he sat in the porch, I got the car sorted right at the bottom of the path. It’s not a driveway, it’s a short path and it’s five of my footsteps to the front door.
“I got out of the car and shut the door, left the car ticking over to keep it warm and in those five steps into my front door, got the wheelchair with Kenneth in, brought the wheelchair round, took a couple of steps, looked up and the car was gone.
“I couldn’t believe it.”
Kenneth’s appointment in Garston was at 12.45pm on Friday, so he and Wendy had planned to leave their home in Aigburth at half past 12.
That would allow him to go straight into his appointment without having to wait around, allowing him to keep his distance from people.
Wendy said: "I was taking him out just before half past and by 12.34 there was a phone call going through to police to say that the car had been stolen.
"I’ve phoned the police a few times and they’ve said that they’ve seen nothing. It’s not going to flag up because they’ll change the number plates.
"I phoned up the following day to ask whether anything is happening or if they had any leads, they said no.
"Whoever took the car has known exactly what to do and exactly where to go."
Approached for comment by the ECHO, a spokesperson for Merseyside Police said: "Around an hour after the vehicle was reported stolen, it was sighted on Jericho Lane. Patrols attended and searched the area but the vehicle could not be located."
The loss of the car has many serious ramifications for Kenneth.
Not only is he unable to attend appointments until they have another vehicle, but he was meant to be moving out of his home for a month so essential repairs could take place.
Wendy added: "The worst part is that my husband has got to leave this house for a month because there’s a lot of work having to be done.
"There’s some subsidence to the side of the house and that’s all got to be fixed. He’s got to leave the house for a month. He can’t be around any type of dust or anything like that.
"The home insurance have been fantastic. They’ve got a place for him, they’ve set it all up.
"The closest that they could actually get with the facilities that he needs is in Wales. We couldn’t get anything else - there was nothing else available for him, but he didn’t mind doing that."
She continued: "So, now, he’s not going to be able to go. We’re going to have to cancel everything. It has disturbed his life so much, it’s unbelievable.
"The home insurance won’t be able to do any more - they’ve done so much for him. They’ve arranged accommodation, they’ve arranged for the work to be done, they’ve made sure that the oxygen can be delivered twice a week. And now, we just won’t be able to get him anywhere."
Wendy has tried to source an alternative vehicle from her car insurance provider. However, she was told the incident has to be investigated before she can be provided with anything.
Her driving licence, front door keys, payment cards and Kenneth's blue badge were also in the car's glove box when it was taken. It has cost Wendy nearly £400 to change her locks since losing her keys.
Now, she hopes someone may have spotted the car or they could find a way to get it back.
She said: "You can see the car has two bottles of oxygen in and a bottle of morphine.
"Whoever has taken that car knows that it belongs to a disabled person and yet they’ll still do that.
"It’s a horrible world when people do things like that."
A Merseyside Police spokesperson confirmed the car had been reported stolen and that it was spotted on Jericho Lane around an hour after the report.
Community Policing Inspector Dave Uren added: "The theft of any vehicle is a despicable offence which has the potential to leave the rightful owner without means of getting to work, to shop and to enjoy their day to day lives.
"But the theft of a vehicle which is clearly for the use of someone with a disability who already has mobility challenges is particularly callous.
"I know that the vast majority of people in our community will be appalled by this and I urge them to help us trace the person or people responsible so that we can bring them to justice.
"Anybody who was in the Aigburth area on Friday afternoon who witnessed anything or who has any information then please let us know. All information you hold could be vital to our enquiries.
“Finally I would urge everyone to be vigilant and lock your vehicle when parked so it can’t be taken by opportunistic thieves. You can find more information and advice around stopping vehicle theft on our website."
Anyone with any information is asked to contact @MerPolCC on Twitter.
You can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or via their online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/give-information.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
