BOURBONNAIS – A GoFundMe page launched after a specialized wheelchair was stolen outside of a home Tuesday has raised $3,600 of a $15,000 goal as of Friday.
“I have a special needs daughter, she was born with Cerebral Palsy, which means she can’t do anything for herself. So in order for her to get around, she has a special wheelchair. And so we left the house, went to Chicago to take care of some things, and came back and found that the chair had been stolen from the front yard,” Bourbonnais resident Bobby Tucker told an area radio station earlier this week.
The wheelchair, belonging to Tucker’s 14-year-old daughter, was later discovered scrapped at a local junkyard.
“We did an investigation ourselves. I called all the scrap yards and called the police, and left my number with the scrap yard because I suspected that’s what might have happened. One of the scrap yards called me back and had found the chair. The chair was destroyed by then.” Tucker explained at the time.
The fundraiser began in an effort to help replace the chair. Both caseworkers and insurance companies have been contacted, but Tucker reported neither will be able to help until the beginning of the new year.
I have a Jazzy power chair that she can borrow until she gets her own. It doesn’t have any special features & doesn’t recline. Must have it back. Let me know if interested.