Paralyzed 8 year old's wheelchair stolen from vehicle in Nazareth.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
By JEFF SCHOGOL
The Express-Times
Adolph Marth was shocked to discover Monday that someone had stolen his 8-year-old daughter's wheelchair.
"How could you violate a child who is totally paralyzed from the waist down and be that brutal, to stoop down so low?" the Nazareth man said.
He said he had left his car unlocked when the wheelchair was taken from it, but "it would be the last thing I would think anyone would take."
Nancy Marth said her daughter, Abby, suffers from spina bifida, a birth defect where part of the spinal cord is exposed.
Abby cannot walk and her upper body is very weak, Nancy Marth said.
She said her husband had taken their daughter to Heritage Day on Sunday and then left the wheelchair in the car parked outside their home on the 400 block of East Walnut Street.
When she went shopping the next afternoon, she noticed the $3,200 wheelchair was gone, she said.
"I couldn't believe it. Who would steal a wheelchair? You could tell it was a child's wheelchair," Nancy Marth said.
She said she immediately reported the incident to police.
Nazareth police officer Alan Koch said police have no leads in the case but still hope the wheelchair will turn up in someone else's front yard.
"That's pretty cruel, if you ask me. She's a sweet girl," said Koch, whose daughter goes to school with Abby.
Nancy Marth said the insurance company will pay to replace the wheelchair, but it will take a while to get a new one.
The wheelchair was custom-made of titanium and with special wheels, she said.
It took a year to get the insurance company to pay for the wheelchair and Abby only got it six months ago, the Marths said.
Nancy Marth asks people to call Nazareth police if they see a "really snazzy wheelchair."
She also has a message to whoever took the wheelchair: "Bring it back."
But Adolph Marth said he doubts the chair will be returned, saying it is likely damaged, disposed of or hidden by now.
As for whoever took the wheelchair, he said, "Either God forgive them or they ought to rethink their lives a little, because that's as brutal as it gets."
( Nazareth police ask anyone with information on the wheelchair's whereabouts to call 610-759-9575 or 610-330-2200.)
That is just distasteful and whoever took it should be beaten.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
By JEFF SCHOGOL
The Express-Times
Adolph Marth was shocked to discover Monday that someone had stolen his 8-year-old daughter's wheelchair.
"How could you violate a child who is totally paralyzed from the waist down and be that brutal, to stoop down so low?" the Nazareth man said.
He said he had left his car unlocked when the wheelchair was taken from it, but "it would be the last thing I would think anyone would take."
Nancy Marth said her daughter, Abby, suffers from spina bifida, a birth defect where part of the spinal cord is exposed.
Abby cannot walk and her upper body is very weak, Nancy Marth said.
She said her husband had taken their daughter to Heritage Day on Sunday and then left the wheelchair in the car parked outside their home on the 400 block of East Walnut Street.
When she went shopping the next afternoon, she noticed the $3,200 wheelchair was gone, she said.
"I couldn't believe it. Who would steal a wheelchair? You could tell it was a child's wheelchair," Nancy Marth said.
She said she immediately reported the incident to police.
Nazareth police officer Alan Koch said police have no leads in the case but still hope the wheelchair will turn up in someone else's front yard.
"That's pretty cruel, if you ask me. She's a sweet girl," said Koch, whose daughter goes to school with Abby.
Nancy Marth said the insurance company will pay to replace the wheelchair, but it will take a while to get a new one.
The wheelchair was custom-made of titanium and with special wheels, she said.
It took a year to get the insurance company to pay for the wheelchair and Abby only got it six months ago, the Marths said.
Nancy Marth asks people to call Nazareth police if they see a "really snazzy wheelchair."
She also has a message to whoever took the wheelchair: "Bring it back."
But Adolph Marth said he doubts the chair will be returned, saying it is likely damaged, disposed of or hidden by now.
As for whoever took the wheelchair, he said, "Either God forgive them or they ought to rethink their lives a little, because that's as brutal as it gets."
( Nazareth police ask anyone with information on the wheelchair's whereabouts to call 610-759-9575 or 610-330-2200.)
That is just distasteful and whoever took it should be beaten.
