Cancer boy's treasures stolen

Tyler Lobb, 5, and mother Linda with a mouse the burglars left. Picture / Laurene Boyd

Five-year-old cancer patient Tyler Lobb and his mother, Linda, are wondering when life is going to give them a break after burglars cleaned out their Tauranga home.

The pair were away on holiday when thieves smashed in to their Windermere home through a lounge window, stealing nearly everything they owned - right down to personal medication, toilet paper, washing powder and videos on loan from the Child Cancer Foundation.

Most of Tyler's toys also were stolen, including a guitar - a recent birthday present from his grandparents - and a children's computer, except the mouse.

His bike and scooter and a precious greenstone, given to him by his aunt, were also taken.

The thieves also took the dryer, gas heater, gas bottle, clothes, computer printer and scanner, cutlery, wedding necklace and tiara, blankets and pillows, and food from the freezer.

The burglary happened between last Tuesday and Friday.

"I can't figure why they would go to that extent. I really can't," Ms Lobb told the Bay of Plenty Times.

It has been a turbulent year for the 23-year-old mother and her son.

In the three years since Tyler was diagnosed with cancer, Ms Lobb's marriage to Tyler's father has broken down, she's had to drop out of her architectural course because of financial hardship and now she has lost nearly all her possessions in the burglary. She has no home or contents insurance.

Tyler featured in the Bay of Plenty Times in 2003 after doctors diagnosed him as having an advanced stage-four Wilms tumour. At that time he was not allowed to have contact with other toddlers and even had to wear a mask when he went outside.

A scheduled four-hour operation turned into eight hours after surgeons discovered the tumour was attached to the liver and diaphragm. Eventually the tumour was removed, with one of Tyler's kidneys.

Today Tyler is in remission but still has to have three-monthly scans on his chest and six-monthly ultrasounds at Tauranga Hospital until October.

Tyler also suffered learning problems after radiation and chemotherapy and, on top of that, has ear trouble and has been referred to a specialist.

Tyler said he was "sad" thieves had robbed him of the few things that made him happy.

"They've taken all my stuff, my train and my big bouncy castle. I'm gonna put those baddies in jail," he said.

Ms Lobb and Tyler went on holiday in someone else's car and their Subaru WRX, which was left at home in the carport, had its wheels stripped by the thieves, the stereo, the steering wheel and the front seats stolen and a full tank of petrol siphoned.

The fridge inside was also found unplugged, indicating the burglars might have intended coming back.

Ms Lobb said it would have marked their third visit, because her landlord visited after the first break-in and only two of the car tyres were gone. When Ms Lobb and Tyler got back from holiday, all four were missing.

After returning home they heard a car engine running in the driveway and believed it might have been the thieves returning again.

The Lobbs have now moved to central Hawke's Bay to be closer to family, a move they had already planned.

Tyler's grandmother, Barbara Lobb, said she was devastated that everything for which her son Ben and daughter-in-law had worked so hard had been ripped away.

"Tyler is missing all his things and I hope the people who did this feel really guilty," said. "His resistance isn't high and he needs his things to keep him happy. Family and friends will rally around ... that little boy has already been through so much.

"He has suffered enough."