Thieves steal cars used to take boy with cancer to hospital
Heartless thieves have shattered a young cancer patient's spirits by stealing both his family's cars on the day he was due to undergo vital tests.
His parents needed one of the vehicles to take him to hospital, but instead a teenage thief crashed it after ramming a police car.
Life is already hard enough for Richard and Simone Clements, as their son Hayden is battling inoperable brain cancer.
On Wednesday night thieves made things a lot worse.
The couple's Audi Q7 is used to take their son and his wheelchair to numerous hospital appointments.
"It was quite distressing because we were on a schedule to come into the Royal Children's Hospital today for an MRI for our son," Simone said.
"And we had no means of getting here."
The car is now a wreck after one of the thieves crashed it following a dramatic police chase.
Their second Audi was found in Boronia.
"They don't know the impact they have on people," Richard said.
"They don't know what people's journey has been. They don't see the disabled sticker on the front of the car and think, 'oh, maybe we shouldn't take that car, it might really cause someone some pain'".
The offender's run came to an end on Burwood Highway when he lost control of the Audi Q7, hit an electricity pole and tried to run into the Knox shopping centre.
He was chased and tackled by police, and now faces serious charges. The other offender is still on the run.
"I just hope that if they're listening and if they've got any kind of conscience, they will never do this to a family again," Simone said.
