Mother’s heartbreaking letter to the ‘callous’ thieves who stole her son’s wallet after pretending to help him when it fell from his wheelchair
- Heike Fabig has penned an open letter to the thieves who stole her son’s wallet
- Her son Bodhi was in Chatswood, Sydney when the item fell from his wheelchair
- She claims a couple saw it fall out and walked off with the prized possession
- The devastated mother is urging they return a sentimental item that was inside
A devastated mother is pleading with a pair of ‘callous’ thieves to return a wallet they stole from her son after it fell from his wheelchair.
Heike Fabig said her son Bodhi, 14, was outside the Mandarin Centre in Chatswood, on Sydney’s lower north shore, when his water bottle and wallet fell from his bag on the side of his wheelchair at about 11am on Thursday.
She said a young couple saw the items spill from the chair and quickly offered their assistance – before walking off with the prized possession.
In an open letter on Facebook, Ms Fabig begged the thieves to return the wallet because of a sentimental item inside.
Heike Fabig said her son Bodhi, 14, was outside the Mandarin Centre in Chatswood, on Sydney’s lower north shore, when his water bottle and wallet fell from his bag on the side of his wheelchair at about 11am on Thursday
Heike Fabig is pictured with her son Bodhi, 14. She is begging for a student card in her son’s wallet to be returned
‘This is Bodhi (officially Billie). Bodhi is learning independent train travel and shopping,’ Ms Fabig wrote, alongside a picture of Bodhi in red shirt and rainbow socks.
‘Today, Bodhi also learned that some people are really quite nasty.
‘A young couple stopped. They picked up the water bottle and put it back in the bag – which is very nice. But for some reason, they held on to the little blue wallet and walked off.’
While she admitted the wallet itself held very little value, Ms Fabig asked for the thieves to return the student card which was inside.
‘This has been a monumentally difficult and important year at school for Bodhi – who is really quite upset at having lost it,’ she wrote.
‘I do not know how people can be so callous as to steal from a child, but folks, you are welcome to the wallet.’
In an open letter on Facebook, Ms Fabig begged the thieves to return the wallet because of a sentimental item inside
She has asked the offenders to put the student card into an envelope and mail it to the relevant high school – with no further questions asked.
‘Your conscience may be a bit clearer. Please?’ she wrote.
The incident occurred as Bodhi went to buy himself a treat after successfully completing a difficult year at high school.
Ms Fabig said the student card held strong sentimental value because Bodhi had been planing to collect and store them in a box as a memory of his school years.
‘He’s planning to put all his student cards in there and have a bit of a collection so that one day, he can look back on the years,’ Ms Fabig told Yahoo News Australia.
Bodhi made the news last year after being forced out of his electric wheelchair by Jetstar staff to board a flight
‘It’s (2020) gonna be one of the most important years really.’
While she said the event was upsetting for both of them she is hopeful her plea on Facebook will prompt whoever took the ID to return it.
‘So it hasn’t shaken his (Bodhi’s) faith in humanity really but, yeah, if he got that card back that would probably make his Christmas,’ she said.
Ms Fabig added the response from strangers on social media has been ‘really really sweet’.
Bodhi made the news last year after being forced out of his electric wheelchair by Jetstar staff to board a flight.
Ms Fabig had shared a picture of the teenager looking distraught and petrified, sobbing as he leaned into his mother’s arms while strapped into a manual wheelchair modified to navigate the thin aisles of an aircraft.