When a Gwinnett County family left church services last week in Decatur, they discovered their van with a nearly $10,000 specially equipped wheelchair had been stolen.
DeKalb County police have found the van, but it was trashed and the wheelchair was gone, Channel 2 Action News reported.
James and Batoya Clements, whose 9-year-old daughter, Aysia, has cerebral palsy, are pleading for someone to turn in the wheelchair.
The couple said Aysia functions at the level of a 9-month-old and must be fed through a tube.
"That chair was part of normalcy for her and when somebody took that chair away from her, they took a part of me as well," Batoya Clements told Channel 2.
Aysia hasn't been able to go to school without the chair, her mother said. She also is scheduled for surgery in about two weeks, the report said.
The family hasn't given up hope.
"I'm a man of faith and I believe that what you do in these situations is what determines your character," James Clements said.
Email the family at jclem21@gmail.com with information about the wheelchair or to help.
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