Advertisement Thieves take paralyzed man's off-road wheelchair Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A Valencia County man said the theft of his off-road wheelchair is like losing his legs for the second time.Raymond Abeyta became paralyzed when he was three years old as a result of spinal meningitis and transverse myelitis.He refused to sit in a wheelchair and learned to hold himself up on crutches when he was four. However, he no longer has the strength or balance to support himself with crutches."I've had a couple of mini-strokes the last couple of years, and just getting older now, my legs aren't what they used to be," Abeyta said.He started using a standard wheelchair, but that doesn't allow him to get along his rural property in Valencia County. He struggles to roll across his gravel driveway, and can't get in the fields at all.Abeyta got a special off-road wheelchair about a month ago, which cost several thousand dollars. It was a ticket to freedom, which means a lot to him."This was so liberating where I could actually get out. I was cutting the edges where the tractor couldn't reach, with a sickle, I was cutting some small trees and saplings down that were just growing everywhere," Abeyta said. "I was able to work and actually also get exercise without inconveniencing anyone else, just get in my chair and go."During a visit to Albuquerque last week, Abeyta and his wife loaded the wheelchair onto their car after an event on San Mateo. He said they noticed it was gone as the drove along Central towards the interstate.They called police.Abeyta said officers told him someone reported seeing a chair in the road near the intersection of San Mateo and Marquette. Police said a caller said someone told dispatchers a person grabbed the wheelchair, put it into the back of a red SUV and drove away."I just wish people would consider that they're stealing someone's independence, like taking someone's legs, their movement," Abeyta said. "This is not a luxury item this is something that moves your person, through moving you. Without it, you're stuck."Abeyta said he hopes the person with the chair will realize how much he needs it and give it back, so he can get his life back.