The family of a six-year-old boy with special needs are celebrating after his stolen wheelchair was recovered.
Kyle Fitzgerald, who has cerebral palsy, was left without the vital item, his specially-adapted car seat and Kaye Walking/Standing frame when his house was burgled.
The heartless thugs didn’t take anything from inside the property but instead hunted for car keys and stole the family vehicle containing the valuable items just before 3am today, Dublin Live reports.
His father Rory and mum Janine were left heartbroken as they had to tell Kyle what had happened and shared the news on their Facebook page Kyle’s Wish To Walk.
A video appears to show the alleged thieves loitering around the family house in Ashbourne, Co Meath, and even shows a close-up of one of them who spots they are on camera and covers his face.
Rory said: “The thieves got into the house and had a walk around downstairs which has all his equipment. They passed a laptop, an expensive TV, lots of valuable items and just grabbed the car keys.
“It would be obvious to them that there was a special needs kid in the house because lots of Kyle’s other equipment is downstairs and even more so after the theft because there is a wheelchair in the boot.
“There’s a sign on the back of the car that says ‘disabled child on board’ so before they even stepped foot inside they’d have realised who it belonged to.”
In May, Kyle travelled to the US to have pioneering surgery to allow him to walk again.
Rory said: “He got Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy surgery, which is available at a specialist centre in the at St Louis Children’s Hospital, Missouri.
“The surgery went great and could see him live an independent life. But there is extensive physiotherapy after this surgery and he will be relying on that wheelchair to help him in his rehabilitation.”
Gardai thanked those who re-tweeted their appeal and say all the stolen property is on its way back to its rightful owner.
