CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Joseph Faaleaoga, 10, navigated the wheelchair that was donated to him yesterday by Ramoda Anand of Maui. Faaleaoga's original motorized wheelchair was stolen while he was attending a class at school. Some students told police they saw a woman walking off with it.

Custom wheelchair
ordered for boy

For now, the young theft victim is using
a motorized one given by a Maui teenager

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By Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com

Just going outside became a chore for Joseph Faaleaoga after his motorized wheelchair was stolen.

The 10-year-old, who has muscular dystrophy, would crawl across the floor of his family's Kamehameha Homes apartment to let his mother know what he wanted to do. Tafa Faaleaoga would pick him up, put him on a borrowed wheelchair, then wheel him outside, she said.

The borrowed wheelchair, on loan from Shriners Hospital for Children, did not have wheels big enough for Joseph to push on his own.

His motorized wheelchair was stolen June 4 outside his classroom at Kalihi-Kai School.

Yesterday, Joseph Faaleaoga received a motorized wheelchair donated by 17-year-old Ramoda Anand on Maui.

Anand, who suffers from cerebral palsy, outgrew the chair and already has a new one.

Joseph Faaleaoga is happy he can get around on his own again, but not thrilled with the wheelchair's purple cushions.

The wheelchair that was stolen had electric teal cushions. A brand-new wheelchair with teal cushions is on order. People have already donated more than enough money to pay for it, said Duke Gonzales, Shriners spokesman.

"Somebody walked in (Wednesday) and wrote out a check for $3,500," Gonzales said.

The new chair will cost $5,500. When it's ready, Shriners will find another use for the donated chair Faaleaoga is using now.

The only lead police have in the wheelchair theft is that students reported seeing a woman walk off with it.