Auckland MS sufferer left housebound after thieves steal electric wheelchair

MS sufferer Jono Phillips is now housebound after thieves took off with his electric wheelchair sometime overnight Sunday. Photo / Supplied

An Auckland man who is battling multiple sclerosis has been left shocked - and housebound - after thieves stole his electric wheelchair.

The theft means Jonathan Phillips can't leave his house as he doesn't have the strength to use his manual wheelchair.

He also lives down a right-of-way among a set of units on King George Ave, Epsom, which also happens to have a slight incline, meaning a trip outside is currently out of the question.

But Phillips has been left flummoxed by the theft of his chair, which was left in his carport overnight on Sunday as he thought it was going to rain.

If not left in his carport, it would be on his deck.

When he went to get it about 10am Monday, it had disappeared.

He can't think why anyone would want to steal it.

"I'm down the end of a long drive where there are 12 units, so they need to come down a reasonable-length drive just to get to the place.

"It just annoys me that people would even think about it, you know, something like a wheelchair.

"It's just really frustrating because it makes you realise what scumbags are out there that will go and steal a wheelchair. It's not exactly a frivolous luxury item."

He's now hoping other residents may have seen it being ridden around the suburb late on Sunday night.

He's desperate to get it back as it took him about a year to save up the $900 to buy it in the first place.

Without it, he's unable to leave his home.

"I have multiple sclerosis so it's very difficult to get around without the chair. I can't stand very well, I can't walk.

"With MS, my arms are so weak I have real trouble using the normal chair ... I can barely push it up the drive."

He didn't have any photos of the chair but described it as a grey with a dark grey seat.

"It's basically just an electric wheelchair."

Due to not being able to walk he hadn't been able to go around to his neighbours to ask if they had seen anything.

* Phillips has asked that anyone who may have seen the electric wheelchair to email the Herald with any information: news@nzherald.co.nz