The van a Cicero family depends on to take their disabled daughter to medical treatment was recovered after it was stolen a week ago—but it’s been damaged and needs hundreds of dollars in repairs, the family says.
Cicero police found the van over the weekend but it was in bad shape.
“It is drivable—yes. Safely? No,” said Bill Upton, the father of 9-year-old Lisa, who has cerebral palsy.
The family used the specially equipped van to take Lisa to doctor’s appointments and to receive vital medical care.
In addition to Lisa’s doctor appointments and therapy sessions, Vanessa Serman, said she also used the van to get her son to school when she did not have a nurse to stay at home.
“This whole week, it was like a nightmare,” Serman said. “My daughter missed two appointments.”
The wheelchair ramp and sliding door equipped on the car were badly damaged, the family says.
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“It was very messy, very dirty, it had reeked of marijuana inside it,” Upton said of the inside of the vehicle after its recovery. “It saddens us that there are people that would do things like this that people that are unfortunate as well.”
Cicero police say they have solid leads on people they think might be responsible for the theft.
Some donors have stepped up to help the family with the cost of what needs to be fixed.
