‘It breaks my heart’: London toddler’s wheelchair and other special needs equipment stolen with minivan

London mother upset after her minivan was stolen containing her young daughter’s specialty wheelchair. CTV’s Bryan Bicknell reports.

A single mom and her five children have been devastated after a weekend theft at their west London home.

Someone stole the minivan out of their driveway.

But it’s not the vehicle they’re concerned about- it’s the loss of the custom wheelchair and other special needs equipment belonging to one of the children that was inside the car when it was stolen.

“So basically, a little energizer bunny.”

That’s how Kirsten Collingwood describes her youngest, Winter Gates.

Winter will turn three next month.

And the little, “energizer bunny” has had a rough start to her young life, to say the least. One of five children, and an identical twin to her sister Wednesday, Winter was born premature.

She has been diagnosed with intrauterine growth restriction, respiratory disease, a severe form of epilepsy and suffers from a host of other medical issues that restrict her mobility.

“Now she can’t roll around in the yard with her peers. She’s going to have to be held,” said Kristen.

Winter can’t roll around because her custom-made, toddler-sized wheelchair and all of her other special needs equipment was inside the family’s 2015 Dodge Grand Caravan when it was stolen the morning of Thanksgiving Monday.

Kirsten says that equipment was incredibly difficult to acquire, taking many months and many medical appointments and fittings.

“It breaks my heart,” she said.

“Something that we’ve worked so hard to get so that she can be with her peers, so she can do everything like everybody else, just sit there and play and be able to get around on her own, working towards mobility, and using those wheels on her own. It’s like, heart-wrenching. Anybody with a special-needs child will know just how difficult it is to just get the equipment, let alone how devastating it is when they don’t have it any more when it’s become a daily thing for them,” said Kirsten.

In addition to her wheelchair, Winter also lost her custom ankle foot orthosis, prescription glasses, her wheelchair bag full of her favourite toys, and more.

Kirsten is also worried that if Winter is without this equipment for very long, it will slow her progression.

Desperate and frantic, Kirsten has canvassed her neighbourhood, hoping somebody might have security footage that could help.

She’s also posted her story on social media, looking for tips. And, she has filed a report with police. So far though, she’s come up empty-handed.

She’s not so concerned about the loss of the vehicle. Rather, it’s the equipment that matters - an essential lifeline for Winter. The estimated total value of the missing equipment is about $15,000, and is not covered by insurance at this time.

Kirsten says she’s hoping, somehow, if word gets around, it will find its way back to her little energizer bunny.

“So, my hope is that they’ll just discard it, they’ll leave it somewhere, maybe an alleyway, and maybe somebody in the city will see it,” she said.