A TERMINAL cancer sufferer’s final road trip has been devastated by a callous thief who stole his four-wheel drive from Morphett Vale overnight.

Steve Hughes and his partner Lynne Woodcock, of Darwin, have been staying at Mr Hughes’ mother’s Morphett Vale home while he undergoes radiation treatment for his small-cell cancer.

The couple had planned to leave for Kangaroo Island tomorrow on the first leg of a bucket list road trip while Mr Hughes, 56, is still able to.

Mr Hughes, who has been given six to 24 months to live, said he was shocked this morning to find their 1997 Toyota Landcruiser had been stolen from the front of his mother’s Cole Court home.

“You think you’ve had your allocation of bad luck, and then this happens,” he said.

“This afternoon we were supposed to be packing the car up and heading to Kangaroo Island tomorrow for a week ... then over to Eyre Peninsula to swim with the white pointers and then over to Western Australia.

“The plan was to just keep going, go until we couldn’t anymore.”

Thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment and cooking and camping gear that was inside the vehicle was also stolen.

“Basically I’ve cashed in all my superannuation so we could buy this vehicle and do this trip.

“As soon as I was diagnosed we made the decision that we weren’t going to sit around, we were going to live life to the maximum ... a no-regrets philosophy.”

Mr Hughes was diagnosed with cancer at the start of this year and has undergone radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Two weeks ago they drove down from Darwin in the 4WD for precautionary radiation therapy in an effort to stop the cancer reaching his brain.

“It is small-cell cancer, so it will come back ... and it is terminal,” he said. “It floats around the body and turns up anywhere.”

The couple believes the 4WD was stolen by a professional thief, because the immobiliser was circumvented and they had made minimal commotion.

Mr Hughes said he had spent six months finding the immaculate Landcruiser, eventually spotting it in Melbourne and travelling there to buy it.

He has since spent thousands of dollars to add “all the bells and whistles” and said the 4WD was decked out perfectly for their trip.

Ms Woodcock, 51, said she was hopeful the thief would have a change of heart when they learnt the full story.

“Just look into your heart and return it, no questions asked,” she said.

“We don’t know how much longer Steve has ... we were just going to go for as long as we can.”

The distinctive Landcruiser is silver/gold in colour and has a roof rack, bull bar, snorkel and Northern Territory registration CB2 1LR.

Police confirmed the car was stolen and anyone who spots it or has information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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