For 81-year-old Jack Simpson his scooter was a way to be able to keep a big part of his independence after a heart operation in 2014. Photo / Warren Buckland
For 81-year-old Jack Simpson his scooter was a way to be able to keep a big part of his independence after a heart operation in 2014. Photo / Warren Buckland
An 81-year-old man living in a Hawke's Bay rest home is devastated after thieves stole his mobility scooter.
Jack Simpson said it was as if someone had stolen his entire independence.
Simpson was coming back home to Brittany House Residential Care in Hastings on Friday night when he decided topark the scooter next to an aviary on the grounds near his living quarters.
He said he did this rather than park it inside the building where scooters are securely stored because of his previous troubles accessing the building late at night.
"They get upset if I ask for them to help open the door because I can't do it myself, so I parked it by the aviary which I've done a couple of times."
"I went outside I could see wheel tracks all over the grass because it was a frost that morning so I followed them for as long as I could and even went up the road trying to track it down."
Simpson said he looked for it for almost two hours when he gave up because he was exhausted.
Brittany House Residential Care Manager Nicky Davies said in a statement it was disappointed by the theft "though sadly it is reality".
"We provide Jack a secure place for parking his scooter (which on this occasion he chose not to use). Let's hope the police are able to recover it quickly."
A picture of an exact model and colour of Jack's scooter, the only difference being stickers added around the blue base. Photo / Supplied
Police said on Tuesday inquiries into the theft are still ongoing.
Daughter Helena Simpson she said it was upsetting.
In 2014 her father went through a triple bypass and had a new valve put in his heart, which Helena said made him more dependent on his scooter, which he received from a friend shortly after the operation.
"We could never get him to sit still or slow down. He is just always doing things, even now when he should be slowing down, he still wants to keep on going," Helena said.
Jack said he had been looking for his mobility scooter for almost two hours when he gave up because he became exhausted. Photo / Warren Buckland
Simpson said his scooter was a way for him to keep his adventure going, an adventure that has seen him work a range of jobs and do so much work for people around the country, earning him the nickname "the Jack of all Trades".
He did everything from being an engineer, working with troubled youth, a tour guide on the Whakatane River, police diver and even a beekeeper, after he bought his first bees from Sir Edmund Hillary's father.
