GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Muscular Dystrophy Association goodwill ambassador Damon Kaneakua, 10, and his mother, Waylin Ashley, had their minivan stolen yesterday while it was parked in Moiliili.
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Van theft puts hurt on disabled boy, 10
Damon Kaneakua of Kaneohe is a goodwill ambassador for MD
Thieves stole a van yesterday that a 10-year-old goodwill ambassador for muscular dystrophy relied on to get to school and activities.
Damon Kaneakua's family and supporters made a plea to get back the family van, which was taken from a parking place along Bingham Street in Moiliili.
"Who steals a minivan with two car (child) seats in front?" said Waylin Ashley, Damon's mother. "That is so depressing."
"I hope that somebody can find my van and, if they do, call the police so they can call me and return it," she said.
Damon, the Muscular Dystrophy Association's goodwill ambassador, has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disease characterized by general weakness and muscle wasting affecting the pelvis, upper arms and upper legs, and uses a wheelchair.
"They needed this van so much, and for someone to have taken it away from them is taking away something from the entire family," said Jennifer Li, health care services coordinator for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Ten-year-old Muscular Dystrophy Association ambassador Damon Kaneakua and his mother, Waylin Ashley, recently had their minivan stolen while it was parked overnight. Here, wheelchair-bound Damon works on pictures of cars and trucks after school.
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Damon's family hopes that with the public's help they will find their white 2002 Dodge Caravan sport van, with license plates MHY 578. Ashley last saw the van on Wednesday at about 11:30 p.m. after parking it outside her apartment and locking its doors. She returned at 7:30 yesterday morning and found it was missing.
Damon, a fourth-grader at Benjamin Parker Elementary School, remained upbeat despite the theft.
"I like getting a ramp for my van," he said by phone yesterday.
Only three weeks ago, Damon's grandmother and uncle bought the van for Ashley and her three children so they would not have to use the bus.
She used the van to take Damon and her daughters, ages 6 and 2, to the beach from Kaneohe, where Damon lives with his grandparents.
"It's not easy to take all the kids on the bus," Ashley said. "It was so much more easier (with the van), and all the kids were happy."
Ashley's mother, Sophia Kaneakua, said she cried when she heard the news, remembering how she had planned to install a ramp in the van for Damon.
"It's like losing a family member," Kaneakua said. "She needed it for Damon."
Ashley also used the van to drive Damon to his MDA appearances. Last weekend, he appeared on the 2007 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon on KITV.
"He really is a perfect ambassador for us," said Li of Damon.
She said people have come to know Damon as the face of MDA and also his story. "He is lovable and animated. He is like everyone's family member."
Along with the van, Ashley said she lost Damon's collection of state quarters, which he began in 1999.
