Thieves take disabled girl’s trike during funeral

A MOTHER has told of her disgust after callous thieves stole her disabled daughter’s exercise trike.

Elizabeth McMahon, 61, said 19-year-old Krystal, who suffers from cerebral palsy, had been “devastated” by the sudden loss of her beloved Kentex Classic adult tricycle.
The full-time carer said she and her daughter felt doubly sickened by the theft because they suspect the trike was taken from their garden when they were out at the funeral of a close friend of Krystal’s, also disabled, who died recently.

She said: “For someone to take the trike like that was just the lowest of the low – it was a life-saver for my daughter.”

Ms McMahon said she noticed the trike was not in its usual place on Wednesday night and phoned the police.

She revealed the trike, which is blue with silver handlebars and has 24-inch wheels, had made a huge difference to her daughter’s quality of life by providing her with a means of getting out and about regularly.

She said Krystal was prone to depression, mood swings and other mental health problems, and that the trike had helped improve her state of mind without the need for powerful medication.

“The loss has been devastating for us,” she said.

“It’s part of the physio treatment for her cerebral palsy and it’s something that gets her out into the fresh air. She loves going out on it and it’s given her a different outlook on life.

“When we were living in Portobello, Krystal liked nothing better than to cycle down the prom. If it was one of her off-days and she was feeling down in the dumps, I would always let her go out on the trike and she would feel better.

“The loss of it has floored her and she’s blaming everyone just now. She even thinks she was targeted because she is disabled.”

Ms McMahon said the trike, worth £500, was bought privately and that she will have to save before a replacement is found for her daughter to enjoy.

Krystal said: “I am in shock and feel so sad – I just want the trike back.

“This hasn’t helped my mental health either and I feel like I am the bad one, like it was taken because I have cerebral palsy.”

A police spokesman said: “Lothian and Borders Police are investigating after a mobility tricycle was stolen from an address in Magdalene Drive, Edinburgh.

“The incident happened between 8am and 9pm on Wednesday, January 30 and anyone who remembers seeing anything suspicious in the area is asked to contact police immediately.”

Anyone with information should call police on 0131 311-3131.