Disabled woman left
housebound after theftHer specially designed wheelchair
was taken from her mother's car
Thieves have made Jenni Lerback housebound by taking her specially molded wheelchair and an orthopedic stroller, says her mother, Flo.
"Jenni has lost her legs," Flo Lerback said.
Without the wheelchair, Lerback has to carry her disabled 30-year-old daughter around their apartment because the loaner wheelchair can't fit through the door and is not collapsible.
Lerback's car was stolen from their apartment in the Pearl Kai area, between Sunday night and early Monday, and later found abandoned in Kalihi on Thursday. But the thieves kept the wheelchair, which is more valuable to the Lerbacks than the car, she said.
Jenni, who weighs 75 pounds with a "tiny frame and is the size of an 8-year-old," is also deaf, blind, retarded and unable to speak, her mother said. She is essentially housebound, Lerback said.
The wheelchair, which cost $2,500, was designed with specially molded cushions to support Jenni's severely twisted body, caused by scoliosis (curvature of the spine), according to Lerback.
In the loaner wheelchair, Jenni is uncomfortable because Lerback is constantly making adjustments. Lerback's homemade cushions aren't firm enough to keep Jenni in an upright position.
Lerback said she is trying to get the medical supply house to help her replace the chair, but the federal government won't help pay for a second chair.
The only time Jenni really gets out of the house is the five hours she spends at a care center on workdays. The Research Center of Hawaii in Waimano has started sending a specially equipped van that can transport the chair to pick her up.
With the special wheelchair, which folded into the trunk of the family car, Jenni's mother was able to take her everywhere.
They would go to a nearby park -- "she loves the outdoors" -- or the apartment complex's pool, where Jenni could dip her foot.
But now, "I cannot transport that (loaner) chair, and we have no stroller," Lerback said.
"I realized how stuck we are. We are limited (in) any activity. If we go anywhere, I have to carry her to the car and she has to sit and wait for me in the car" while Lerback does an errand.
Lerback, who suffers from injured knees and constant back pain, is only 4 feet 11 inches tall. She said she has no help in caring for her daughter.
"I do it because it has to be done. There's no other way."
Jenni's orthopedic stroller, worth about $800, was also taken from their car.
The wheelchair is black, with specially molded foam-rubber, brown cushions; and a removable tray, covered with tapa-print cloth. If anyone has seen the chair, call Lerback at 554-0654 or Letha DeCaires of Honolulu CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.