DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Greg Nutt, who lost both legs due treatment complications, awaits prostheses. He is currently in St. Francis Medical Center. He was robbed last month of about $3,000 of his belongings as well as his laptop computer.

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Amputee a victim
of theft in hospital

The patient wakes up to find
his cash and laptop missing

Throughout a two-year hospitalization, which included recent surgery to amputate his legs below the knee, Greg Nutt had used his laptop to connect with faraway friends by e-mail and escape the confines of his hospital room through the Internet.

But a burglary of his St. Francis Medical Center room last month left him without that "connection to the outside world," he said. Taken in the March 18 incident were Nutt's laptop, along with about $3,000 in other items, including his wallet, cash, passport and personal photos.

"It was a little punch in the chest," Nutt said, with a gruff laugh.

Nutt, 57, has been at St. Francis' skilled nursing facility since June.

Doctors were forced to amputate his legs around Thanksgiving because of complications in his treatment.

He was still recovering from the operation, going through rehabilitation and awaiting prostheses when the burglary happened.

On the night of the burglary, Nutt had gone to sleep about 11 p.m. and had tucked his wallet, passport, photos, cash and other items under him.

"I always sleep with them because I thought it would be safe," Nutt said, adding, "I sleep like a log, unfortunately."

When Nutt woke up the next morning, the first thing he noticed was that his computer was missing.

"I looked around, my bag is gone, my CD player is gone," Nutt said. "I thought I was seeing things at first."

Police handling the case could not be reached yesterday for an update on the investigation. But Nutt said that before they were canceled, his stolen credit cards were used at a bar and gas station.

Nutt, a former helicopter pilot, broke his back more than two years ago after slipping on a heliport in Thailand, where he worked for 17 years.

After spending about a year and much of his savings in Asian hospitals, Nutt decided to come back to the islands, where he had grown up and been active in the Hawaiian music and disc jockey scene before taking up flight instruction.

St. Francis spokeswoman Teri Tanaka could not say if the burglary is a first for the hospital and its skilled nursing facility.

She did say that the facility has security and that its doors are locked at night.

"The incident is under investigation," she said. "We're concerned for any skilled nursing facility resident and we take these allegations seriously."