News

Actions

Utah teacher’s $25,000 wheelchair stolen, needs help replacing

Posted at 8:39 AM, Nov 12, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-12 08:39:43-05

SANDY, Utah- An eighth grade teacher from Taylorsville is in need of your help after his $25,000 wheelchair was stolen this week.

Joseph Olson says he put the wheelchair in his car port to charge but when he woke up, it was gone.

“I use it to really live a normal life, really, it means everything,” Olson says.

Olson suffers from a rare congenital condition and relies on his custom-made wheelchair to do things like take his daughter to the zoo and even coach soccer.

Without his customized wheelchair, Olson is left with an old wheelchair that is falling apart, covered in bungee-cords and duct tape.

Olson says the wheelchair will cost as much as $30,000 to replace so his friends have set-up a GoFundMe page in his name.

“Really in all honesty, I am not even interested in filing charges or anything,” Olson says. “I just need my mobility, I just need my independence back which is what they really took.”