Plea Over Wheelchair Taken From Birmingham Garden

A woman has appealed for the return of her wheelchair after it was taken from her front garden.

Laura Birchenough said she had been left “trapped at home and devastated” without the chair.

It was taken from the front garden of her home in Kings Heath, Birmingham, on Sunday after accidentally being left on the drive by her husband, James.

The 29 year old said she would have to pay around £2,500 to replace the wheelchair and wait up to six weeks.

“I’m getting all emotional because it’s an extension of my body,” she said.

“I feel like I’ve lost a leg.”

Mrs Birchenough said she suffered from a chronic condition that makes her tired and leaves her dizzy and shaky if she has to stand up for more than a minute.

She said she would not be able to go out with her two sons, aged four and five, without the wheelchair.

“I got it in the first place for them,” she said.

“I can normally take them around the park and things like that, but obviously that’s going to be a bit of a problem now.”

She said she believed whoever took the wheelchair and her sons’ bikes, which were also left on the drive in Topsham Croft, did not steal them deliberately.

“In my mind, it was just an accident and someone thought it was being given away,” she said.

‘People have rallied’

After posting an appeal on social media she said she had received huge support.

“People have really rallied around, which has been lovely,” she said.

Anyone with information about the missing wheelchair can contact her through her business’s website.