Mom Makes Heartfelt Plea Over Son’s Stolen Wheelchair, Community Brings It Back

A family in Ohio was left in a difficult situation after a thief stole their SUV with a custom-made wheelchair in it for their son with special needs. But thanks to the power of social media they were able to quickly track it down.

The Findlay family of five had their Jeep stolen from the front of their house but the difficult part for them was to let go of the special wheelchair that was inside it that was their son’s lifeline.

Brittany Jackson and her family were at home on Tuesday when the incident happened, she says, “I went outside to get in my car that was not there. I ran upstairs hoping that my husband had left with it. He was still in bed. Right away we called the police,” Jackson said.

Her 5-years-old son Jayceon Jackson depends on the custom wheelchair for mobility, as Brittany says, “Jayceon has spinal muscular atrophy which he can move his legs. He can move around but with his lower body strength, he can not bear any weight. So the wheelchair is literally his transportation,” she said.

The mom-of-three quickly realized that she would need to act fast to get their SUV with Jayceon’s wheelchair back and so she put up a social media post asking the northwest Ohio community to help her locate it. The post drew the attention of a Fostoria police officer who found the Jeep with a tracking device in Fostoria.

The horrified couple would not rest till they found their son’s wheelchair intact and so they ran to the back of the Jeep to find the wheelchair, but it wasn’t there, according to Jackson. She again asked for help in the group and someone let her know that it was around 25 miles away in Seneca County.

Jackson was moved by the kindness her family had received from random strangers and the police during this terrible ordeal, she said, “It was just phenomenal to see so many people on social media concerned about the wheelchair. Like they knew how much that means,” Jackson said. “I mean, he’s an innocent little boy and to think that someone could do what they did to his wheelchair broke my heart.”

She is grateful to God, the community, Findlay, and Fostoria police for all the support her family received. Meanwhile, Jayceon too is thankful that his wheelchair was found. “Can you tell everyone ‘thank you for finding my wheelchair?'” Jayceon said. He is relieved to be able to go back to school after missing it on Tuesday because of the stolen wheelchair.

But Brittany has a strict warning for the thief who caused so much grief for their family, “I will never understand how you thought it was okay to throw my son’s wheelchair in a horse pasture, and his Easter egg basket,” Jackson said. “And just I hope that you find God and that he forgives you for what you’ve done because I know that it will be tough for me to do the same.”

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”