It was supposed to be just like every other Tuesday.
Once a week 89-year old veteran John Frank meets up with friends for lunch at Ottawa’s Jadeland Chinese restaurant on Somerset Street, “It makes for a very pleasant time for eight retired guys”, says Frank.
But April 1st was like no other Tuesday.
Frank, who had a stroke six years ago, depends on his walker to get around, “I’m helpless without it”.
He can usually get up the stairs of the restaurant with his walker, but when he leaves he needs a little help.
“One of my chums is good enough to carry it down the steps for me to the bottom of the steps, and yesterday we did the same routine. The walker was left there.”
But before leaving the restaurant, Frank made a quick pit-stop in the bathroom, leaving the walker outside unattended for just a few minutes, and when he went outside to leave his walker was gone.
Initially Frank thought it was a prank “I’m first thinking it’s April Fool’s Day and it must just be around the corner”.
Jadeland restaurant owner, Betty Chan, rushed to help Frank looking outside for the walker, asking neighbours and checking alley ways, but the walker was gone.
Chan says she was shocked, “this has never happened before”.
Chan then helped John Frank back to his car. He says thankfully he had a spare walker at home.
Frank says the stolen walker was a “top of the line Nexus walker” worth more than $500 dollars.
“it’s not so much the loss of the walker, it’s the notion that someone would take it away from someone who needs it”, Frank says. “I’m not very proud of my fellow Canadians that would do that. I wonder whether they’d steal a wheelchair.”
“It offends me that someone would stoop to that level to deny someone their ability to be mobile.”
Frank figures the thief sold the walker off for drug money “to go and buy reefer”, he goes on to say, “If he needs twenty bucks, my name is on the thing, call me and I’ll give him twenty bucks to get it back.”
Ottawa company Canada Care Medical has offered to replace Frank's stolen walker.
