A break-in and theft from her car in Napier left a young dancer no time to wear in new shoes before she took to the stage in Dannevirke last Friday.
Dannevirke's Morgan Kernaghan, 19, is currently studying sports massage at EIT in Hawke's Bay, but returns to Dannevirke once a week to teach dance at her sister Melissa Martin's Academy of Dance.
But last week the cruel theft of all her dancing gear, including her ballet and jazz shoes, in Napier left Morgan with little time to "wear" in a new pair of pointe shoes before she stepped out onto the stage of the Dannevirke Town Hall for the Melissa Martin Academy of Dance end-of-year production, A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes.
Morgan has had her ouch pouches in her ballet shoes for seven years and they would have been of little use to anyone else, Melissa said.
"To have this happen on the eve of the production wasn't good," she said.