A Claremont family is pleading for the return of a $1,700 beach wheelchair stolen last week from their son who suffered a brain injury three years ago and loves being near water.
Patrick Freeman, 26, and his family were in Seal Beach for a sports camp for individuals with disabilities at Marine Stadium in Long Beach. One day in, Patrick Freeman suffered severe seizures and had to be taken to the ER, prompting the family to head home.
"The next morning, I went out with our stuff to load up the trailer and take him back," Patrick's dad, Mike Freeman said. "And the trailer was gone."
The $3,000 trailer had been parked near the Hampton Inn at 2401 Seal Beach Blvd. when it went missing on the night of Aug. 3.
Inside was a specialty wheelchair the family recently bought for Patrick Freeman. In addition to facilitating travel across sand, it has armchairs that act as flotation devices.
"One of the things that brings him and his mother just a great deal of joy is to be able to be on the beach and in the water," Mike Freeman said. "We were going to use it to even help others — we had plans with another family to take their disabled son down to the beach."
Mike Freeman said his son decided to move to California for college partly because he loved beaches.
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Patrick Freeman was studying at Santa Monica College and hoping to transfer to UCLA when a driver talking on a phone ran a red light and struck him at a crosswalk. He was in a coma for nearly two months and now requires constant care.
"We had to move here to take care of him," Mike Freeman said. He and his wife lived in Colorado when the crash occurred.
Now, the family hopes to bring awareness to the need for better-quality wheelchairs at SoCal beaches in addition to getting their son's wheelchair back.
A YouCaring page has been set up to assist with covering the cost of a new wheelchair for Patrick.
