Family shocked by theft of man's wheelchair in Antigonish
Bill Beaton is a father to two young daughters and a restaurant owner in Antigonish, N.S. He's a busy man, and relies on his custom wheelchair to get around when he isn't driving his truck.
So he was shocked to discover Tuesday afternoon his wheelchair appeared to have been stolen.
Beaton had left his wheelchair outside his Boston Pizza while he took his truck to run an errand at about 1:30 p.m. When he returned an hour later, the wheelchair was gone.
"At the time, I thought someone had brought it into the building because of a chance of rain," Beaton told CBC News. "But we looked all around and couldn't find it."
'Simply heartbroken'
Beaton, 40, has used a wheelchair for 13 years. He frequently leaves it outside the restaurant and has never had a problem before.
"I'm baffled. It's not something like a bicycle that everyone uses, it's a rare item," he said. "I'm kind of in shock."
Beaton and his wife, Alexis, reported the missing wheelchair to the RCMP. Alexis posted a photo of a similar model to Facebook in the hopes it might be recognized.
"This wheelchair is not a fashion statement — it is a necessity. I am simply heartbroken that someone in our community could do something like this," she wrote in the post.
Beaton said he's encouraged by the response on Facebook.
"It's spreading quite fast; I was really shocked at the numbers. People are really good about it and are keeping their eye out."
Custom-fitted wheelchair
Until he finds out what happened to his wheelchair, Beaton is using an old one to get around. "It will do for right now, but it's in rough shape."
It doesn't compare to the one he lost, which was custom fitted and will likely cost thousands to replace.
"We're supposed to go away to a Boston Pizza conference trip on Tuesday," he said, but he isn't sure he can go with the old wheelchair. "I'm not sure what's going to happen."
