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An Auckland woman who lost her wheelchair after going for a short walk on the beach says her prized possession has been returned.
Denny Cavanaugh, who has been paraplegic for more than 30 years, says she is “really happy” to have her custom-made Triride wheelchair back after initially thinking itwas stolen.
As previously reported by the Herald, the 71-year-old – who is able to walk for short periods on crutches – went for a walk at her local Red Beach on Saturday morning and parked her Triride at the top of the boat ramp, only to discover that it was gone when she returned.
Cavanaugh was devastated, saying the Triride has given her freedom and independence to live a “full life”.
It turns out the wheelchair had been picked up by a man who mistakenly thought it had been abandoned.
“The police contacted me and said that the wife of the guy that took it saw it in the newspaper this morning and realised that it hadn’t been abandoned like he thought. And so she rang the police and the police contacted me,” Cavanaugh said.
Cavanaugh said the Triride was returned to her by police this afternoon in “good working order”.
“I didn’t know what to feel because I’d got used to the idea of what had happened and here it is,” she said. “Now I’m feeling really happy to have it back.”
Denny Cavanaugh is "really happy" to have her Triride wheelchair back.
Cavanaugh said police ruled out any foul play, with door cam footage from a nearby resident also appearing to confirm it had all been an unfortunate misunderstanding.
“[Police] don’t think there was any bad intentions on their part. They gave me the number of the wife and the name of her husband and I rang her to thank her for calling the police.
“She explained that her husband had seen it near an abandoned couch and thought that, and the footage confirms it, that he’d looked it over and figured that the person who was using it would be sitting in it. It didn’t occur to him that somebody might be using crutches because he just assumed it would be somebody who could only use the wheelchair.
“He picked it up and he took it home thinking that he’d keep it safe and take it from there ... I think that he genuinely thought it had been abandoned and thought he was doing the right thing.”
Cavanaugh said her local community has been “really supportive” throughout her ordeal. She was thankful her story in the paper helped with the “wonderful outcome”.
“It just makes my life so much easier. I guess I still feel a bit overwhelmed by it all really. It’s fantastic.”
