Nine-year-old Aaliyah Faulknor used her pink wheelchair to get around and her "entire life" revolved around the chair, according to her family.
That was until Tuesday morning, when the chair was stolen and eventually destroyed.
Aaliyah has cerebral palsy and can only move very short distances without the help of her wheelchair.
"We checked the video surveillance and saw the person come up to the porch and take it and then ride away on a bike," said her 21-year-old sister Haley Fair. "The chair is so valuable to her, the chair, to someone else, is worth a few dollars at the scrapyard."
London police recovered the chair on Wednesday, but it had been stripped for parts and can't be fixed.
"It looked so different when they took it out of the police car that we didn't think it was her chair," Haley said. "We said 'that can't be her chair', but when we got closer we realized that it was her chair. It was completely destroyed. Spray painted."
The family will need to replace the chair, which cost $7,000.
"There is government funding that will pay for 75% of the chair, and we pay the remaining 25%. It took us 14 months the last time we did that," Haley said. "That (wait for over a year) can't happen."
However, a GoFundMe set up by the family has already reached their goal.
"We see a lot of the other side, people not caring, lack of accessibility," Haley said. "It's really nice to have the community care and have so much help."
The family will put any funds beyond the goal towards a lift at the side of the house for Aaliyah.
Haley spoke to Blackburn News Podcast host Craig Needles. You can hear that interview below.
[audio mp3="https://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Haley-Fair-Interview.mp3"][/audio]
Meantime, London Police say they recovered the wheelchair while investigating another robbery. Officers seized a knife, and a suspect is in custody.