Thieves steal car as dying mum gives birth

Brendan Wilson did not want to tell Nikki Reynolds about the theft before daughter Skyla was born. Photo / Supplied

A terminally ill woman desperate to have a child had her car and baby clothes stolen from outside the hospital as she prepared to give birth.

Doctors warned Tauranga couple Nikki Reynolds, 20, and Brendan Wilson, 22, they would not be able to have a child because of Miss Reynolds' cystic fibrosis, as her lungs and body would not cope.

But when she became pregnant last year, the couple decided to have the baby after speaking to specialists.

Her health deteriorated as she neared her due date and she was taken to Auckland City Hospital.

Her partner and sister Krystie, who also has cystic fibrosis, stayed by her side.

But as Miss Reynolds prepared to give birth, the couple's car was stolen from an underground carpark.

The vehicle contained Krystie's medication, including intravenous antibiotics, and new clothes for the baby, Skyla, who was born the next day.

Mr Wilson said: "I packed up the car with all my clothes, camera, our baby stuff like baby capsule, baby bag full of clothes and goodies Nikki had prepared before she got transferred there, and a few other things.

"[Krystie] was coming with me so she brought all her clothes and her medication, as she was on IV antibiotics at the time so had important antibiotics, syringes, needles in there, too," Mr Wilson said.

He said that when he found the car gone, his heart sank.

"I couldn't believe my eyes. "Whoever took the car would have seen all the baby stuff so it was even more of a low act."

Mr Wilson did not want to tell his fiancee of the theft before she had the baby but she was expecting him to get things from the car so he was forced to break the bad news.

"She was pretty upset," he said.

"She had organised goodies for baby and was in lot of pain. It was the last thing we needed at that time."

They had been slowly buying things for the baby throughout the pregnancy "and now it's all gone".

An eftpos card belonging to Nikki's mother was also taken and the thief tried to use it at an ATM in Avondale.

"We're struggling without the car - that was our main way of getting around - so now we have to try and save up get another one," Mr Wilson said.

His message to the thieves: "I hope they feel bad.

"We're just trying to start off and have a little family. It's sort of ruined the start of it, that's for sure."

Despite the theft, he said, he and Nikki were enjoying parenthood. "I have a little daughter ... she's perfect. Everything is going great with her."

Mr Wilson said anyone who has seen the car, a 1995 Subaru Legacy GT wagon, registration EQP116, should call the police.