Newark woman's thanks after receiving replacement for stolen mobility scooter

A woman suffering from a severe spinal condition has thanked the community for its support after her mobility scooter was stolen.

Mrs Joe Hammett discovered on Monday morning that the scooter had been taken from outside her home on Whitfield Street, Newark.

Mrs Hammett suffers from a degeneration of the spine, which means she can walk only short distances with the aid of crutches. Without the scooter, she cannot pick up shopping or go into town.

After an appeal on social media, the scooter was found at Chatham Court but had been severely damaged.

When Mrs Hammett’s husband, Gray, went to pick it up later that day the scooter gone.

Its whereabouts are unknown, although a woman knocked on their door to tell them she had found its seat found near the Hammetts’ home.

A member of the public contacted the family on social media to offer them a refurbished scooter, which Mrs Hammett was due to pick up yesterday.

“I have had this condition for about six years and if I even sit upright for too long it is really painful,” said Mrs Hammett, 45.

“The scooter allows me to get out and about, to go to the shops.

“When I first found out that it had been stolen I was pretty calm because there was nothing I could do about it. But I got more stressed when I discovered it had been smashed up.

“I knew then that I wouldn’t be able to get out.

“Within an hour of putting out something on social media there was a lot of support and an offer from someone I have never met that they would pay for a refurbished scooter.

“Even before that, people were saying that they would set up a fundraising page and contribute towards a replacement.

“The thing that’s come out of this is the community support.”

Mrs Hammett said she did not understand why anyone would steal the scooter, nor why they would take it across Newark to Chatham Court.

She last checked the scooter was outside her house at about 5pm on Sunday.

It was given to her around four years ago by Beaumond House Community Hospice.

“You have to have a key to be able to drive it, otherwise you have to pick it up or release a little lever so that you can roll it, but you have to know about these scooters to know how to do that,” she said.

“I am going to put my new scooter inside the house.”