A young man whose mobility aid was stolen from a Brisbane restaurant is appealing for help to find the motorised wheelchair attachment he relies on to get around independently.
Twenty-six-year-old Joshua Appleby, who is paraplegic and uses a wheelchair, was having lunch with his carer at the Australian National Hotel at Woolloongabba, on Monday July 20, when the attachment was stolen.
"My independence has been taken away from me," Mr Appleby told ABC Radio Brisbane.
He removed the customised attachment and parked in the main hallway of the venue so he could fit his chair at the table.
"It's a bit big and bulky to sit down with at lunch," he said.
"[I] came back out after lunch, went to go attach to it, and it was gone."
'It allows me to do what I need to'
Mr Appleby describes the attachment as looking a little like the front of a motorbike or pushbike with handle bars and features the brand name 'Batec' in capitals.
"It's all battery-powered and it clicks onto the front of my wheelchair and allows me to be able to go to my appointments or out to the shops or anything I need to do without putting extra strain on my body," he said.
Without the aid, getting around independently is incredibly difficult for Mr Appleby.
"I can still push around my chair manually, like a normal wheelchair, but I've had a number of shoulder injuries and I've got a weakness through my left hand," he said.
"It does make it very difficult to get any sort of distance, and as soon as you come to a tiny bit of a hill or anything, it's very difficult."
Police are investigating the theft and reviewing CCTV footage from restaurant.
Appeal for return of aid
Mr Appleby's mother Charlotte took to social media, appealing for information and for the aid to be returned.
"Who would steal a mobility aid from a paraplegic?" she wrote on Facebook.
She has asked anyone with information to contact Woolloongabba or Dutton Park police.
Mr Appebly became a paraplegic after he was involved in a single vehicle crash in 2013.
He and his family relocated to Brisbane from country Victoria so he could undergo rehabilitation.
He is hopeful he can get the attachment back.
