Stolen electric wheelchair returned to Whangārei woman Jasmine Fraser

Jasmine Fraser is chuffed her stolen electric wheelchair has been found safe and returned to her. Photo/Imran Ali

When Whangārei woman Jasmine Fraser fielded a call to say her stolen electric wheelchair had been found, she "jumped out of bed and rushed to the door" to await its arrival.

It had been a difficult five days for Fraser, who has cerebral palsy, after her vital, custom-made wheelchair of 10 years was stolen from her Kamo home sometime early morning on May 20.

The 21-year-old had left the wheelchair to charge overnight just outside the door, as usual.

Staff at SaveMart in Kamo found the wheelchair outside the store on Saturday morning and messaged her on facebook but police contacted Fraser before she picked up the message.

When Fraser said she could not pick up the wheelchair, a store employee offered to drop it off at her home.

"It's a huge relief for me. I jumped out of my bed and rushed to the door when SaveMart people rang to say they were bringing my wheelchair.

"I was going to create a Givealittle page to help me get another one but that's no longer needed. I probably didn't expect to get it back."

Fraser reckons whoever took her wheelchair got scared by the widespread publicity and dropped it somewhere safe. The Northern Advocate first featured the theft on Wednesday, which gained plenty of interest on social media.

For the first three days after it was stolen, Fraser said she remained indoors before going to a gym, using a manual wheelchair, with the help of a caregiver.

Her wheelchair clocked 14km during the time it was missing and she thought it was a lot.

She hopes surveillance cameras around central Kamo were able to help identify the person who stole it.

Her message to that person is: "Own up. Why would you do such a thing?"

Fraser moved to Whangarei from Christchurch four years ago and has used that electric wheelchair for 10 years.

After she discovered it missing, she initially thought one of her siblings was playing a prank on her.

She has a manual wheelchair for emergencies, but she tires easily and can't use it for long.

Cerebral palsy impairs motor function and movement, and can affect arms, legs and the entire body.