Clowns to the Left, Jokers to the Right (or: Who Steals a Wheelchair? Part 2)

Sometimes it seems like I live in a world where I’m surrounded by clowns and jokers.

Or worse.

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about Moira, a seven-year-old Minnesota girl with cerebral palsy who had her wheelchair stolen from outside her house. Who could do such a thing as steal a child’s wheelchair, I wondered. Surely it wasn’t some thrill-seeking thief, I decided. It had to be someone who had a disabled child of their own. I told myself that it was without doubt someone with no money, no insurance, no means to care for their own child. Someone who was suffering such extreme distress, someone who had tried and applied and been rejected by every social services agency in the state and were left with no other choice but to steal. Subscribing to that scenario was the only way I could get my head around the idea of someone sinking so low as to steal a child’s wheelchair.

Here it is two weeks later and I’m back to pounding my head against the wall and asking the same question again: Who steals a wheelchair?

This past week an equipment trailer in Shakopee (accent on the ‘Sha’, not on the ‘ko’ for those of you who don’t speak Minnesotan) belonging to the Minnesota PowerHockey League was stolen from its winter storage lot.

The Minnesota PowerHockey League is the Minnesota division of the U.S. EWHA, the U.S. Electric Wheelchair Hockey Association. The U.S. EWHA is a hockey program for anyone, male or female, who requires the use of an electric power wheelchair in their daily life. The Minnesota PowerHockey League is a six-team league with four teams located in the Twin Cities metro area, one team in northern Minnesota and another team in southern Minnesota.

The trailer was stolen sometime in the middle of the night and the good-natured thieves dumped the contents of the trailer: sticks, nets, public address speakers, jerseys and a scoreboard – equipment valued in the thousands of dollars – in the middle of the road outside of a west suburban Minneapolis school. The items that weren’t damaged or destroyed from being hit and run over by cars was recovered by staff at the school. The trailer, valued at $3,000 is still missing.

The thieves didn’t steal wheelchairs this time, but they stole everything that allows the Blackhawks to play hockey. Their 2012 season starts on April 28th and right now their season is in jeopardy.

Anyone who sees a trailer with this image on the side –

– is asked to call Craig McClellan at 763-535-4736 or email him at:  craigm@powerhockey.com

The non-profit group is also accepting donations.

Moira’s story had a happy ending. Let’s hope this one does, too.