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LAST WEEK WE brought you the news that the parents of a little girl in Wexford were appealing for information after their car which contained their little girl’s pink wheelchair and special adapted car seat was stolen.
The car was taken from outside their house in Enniscorthy after their house was broken into at about 2.30am on Thursday morning and the keys were taken.
Five-year-old Lauryn “needs her wheel-chair to get around,” said her father, Gavin Tracy, who said he didn’t care too much about getting the car back but that it was Lauryn he was worried about.
Overwhelming
One week on, the response from the public has been “overwhelming” said her father.
“The reaction the article by TheJournal.ie has been great. It was all over Facebook and Twitter and many people got in touch to offer their help in anyway they could. Other newspapers picked it up and radio presenters like Ian Dempsey and Ray Darcy got in touch – I think it has been the most talked about stolen car ever!” said Mr Tracy.
Stolen pink wheelchair
He said he was very surprised, as all he wanted to do was hopefully bring it to people’s attention in case someone spotted Lauryn’s pink wheelchair dumped somewhere.
He added:
I think the car is long gone now, but I had hoped that someone would spot the wheelchair.I don’t think the people who took the car realised what was in the back, but I had hoped that once they had realised they would have done the decent thing and left it somewhere or even rang in an anonymous call about where we could find it.
Public’s help
Since the appeal, people have contacted Lauryn’s family in their droves. One man offered to put in place a reward of €1000 if the wheelchair was returned, while another person who heard about the specially adapted child’s seat being stolen wanted to make contact with the family to offer his assistance.
Meanwhile, Lauryn is no longer without a wheelchair as Fred Storey – a medical, mobility and rehabilitation supplies company has given her a loan of a wheelchair so she can still go to school.
TheJournal.ie received a lot of emails with people asking where they could donate money to Lauryn’s cause.
Donations
Thomas Curran, a family friend, wanted to do something constructive, and said he “was inspired by the kind comments of many of your [TheJournal.ie] readers of the article. With that in mind, I set about opening an account where people could donate to the cost of replacing the wheelchair”.
The account became active at 3pm yesterday. Anyone who wants to make a donation the details can be found at the bottom of this article.
All of the money donated will be used for the purpose of replacing the chair that was stolen along with the family car last week. Should the donations exceed the money required, all surplus funds will be donated 100 per cent to the charity, Irish Dogs For The Disabled.
Celebrities
Mr Tracy said that loads of celebrities had been eager to help also, with singer Bressie retweeting the appeal to more than 140,000 fans.
Lauryn only recently appeared on TV3′s Ireland AM, as she is on the waiting list for the Irish Dogs for the Disabled.
“Just like when she was on TV3, which she recieved a great response to, I think Lauryn just has a capability of warming peoples’ hearts. I never expected there would be such a big reaction, but she is a very special girl and I appreciate everyone’s help and assistance,” said Mr Tracy.
Charity night
A charity night, Blue Light Fight Night, is taking place on 22 November in Wexford in aid of the Irish Dogs for the Disabled. The local gardaí and fire officers will be fighting each other in a while collar boxing tournament. Bernard Dunne and Adam Nolan will be team captains and Enda Brady from Sky News will be the host.
The account, ‘Lauryn’s Wheelchair Fund’ is held in Bank Of Ireland, Main Street, Swords. Sort Code 900703 and the account number is 44897788. This account was set up by friends with a desire to help, and was not requested by the family.
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Thanks a mil for publishing the details Christina. TheJournal have been fantastic helping raise awareness on this! Much appreciated! :)
Irish people have heart of gold when they work together good on yas well done all involved
Thick scangers obviously dint have heart to leave it back then , lucky the good people outweigh these people, :)
What a nice story to read on a Saturday morning.
I can never understand the mentality of the people who commit these crimes it saddens me greatly. I take solace in the fact that in these situations people rally together showing their support. Great to see the good natured side of humanity shine bright.
Excellent Gavin I wish you and your family the very best of luck. Tell Lauryn that a lot of people think she is a very special lovely little girl
alan…i was so taken in by the story that the spelling error went completely un noticed…..if that was your only input…. why would you even bother!!!? the mind boggles
Cue the red thumbs down but the headline should read “whose” not “whos”
Seriously Alan you read a really nice story about that girl and all you do is point out one spelling mistake?
Tis lovely.
You know there is a way to be less obnoxious? Either say nothing, or just click the ‘send tip/correction’ button and privately send it to the author.
THE ability to spot a minor grammar error is proof that you are amazing, it has been confirmed. Professor Henry Brubaker at the Institute for Studies said: “In no way are any of these people vain, arsey pedants
Alan, shouldn’t that be ’tis?
If you’ve nothing good to say say nothing at all ! Grammar police
True, Morticia. Not in the slightest!!!
If details of the car, make/model and reg. no were posted, we could all look out for same and hopefully the wheelchair and other items are still in boot.Lovely gesture by Fred Storey to provide a wheelchair in the meantime, people still care.
The details are all in a previous post on the Journal, Thanks
I hope the air head skumbags who stole the wheelchair need one themselves at some stage in their lives.
I really hope that Lauryn gets her wheels back , Is there anyplace that you can donate online – maybe set up a Mycharity account ?
Any chance the guards might get involved and actually go and look for the stolen goods for a change…maybe they might even spot it on one of their flash for cash grab checkpoints….even as i speak there is a garda on o connell bridge flashing down the north quays….disgraceful !
Cold day to be flashing,sure he’d have a willy like a button mushroom
John, what’s disgraceful about a Garda doing his job. Get a life you muppet
Great news! Heart warming.
The car reg is 132-wx-200 it’s an hyundai i40 estate in Silver/ Grey this link shows you a picture of a car very similar https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQDM-79Kk7rniCEsRRiYG-5qt_nY5hksTtE0AMIj0h5hRLOJKMFXA everybody keep a lookout for it we may it it’s probably Parked up somewhere where I live there was once a stolen car on the road for five weeks we thought it belonged to one of the neighbours and they were thinking the same thing
There is so much good in people we should ignore the obvious creeeps who stole the wheelchair and didn’t care.
what absolute animals to steal a child’s wheelchair. Caught and hung I say.
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