‘Heartbreaking’: Man robbed of independence after thief steals $11k mobility bike from man with cerebral palsy
Alex Ma hasn’t let his cerebral palsy stop him from going to concerts, meeting friends and supporting his NRL club, the Manly Sea Eagles, with whom he has traveled to England twice for the World Club Challenge.
Mr Ma, known in the rugby league world as Big Al, challenged people’s ideas of what disability looks like, with his mother Louise describing the Sydney-born man as incredibly strong and independent.
But suddenly her independence went out the window and was stolen from her after a thief broke into the garage of her Melbourne flat and stole her mobility bike.
The bike, which Ms Ma described as the “Harley of mobility bikes”, is worth about $11,200 and had been modified to fit Mr Ma.
“If you take away the independence of anyone with a disability, you are more or less depriving them of their freedom to live,” Ms. Ma told NewsWire.
Mr Ma said in a social media post that cycling was “everything” to him.
“This bike is my life, it means everything to me,” he wrote.
The thief struck at around 3pm last Thursday, while Mr Ma and his family were away to celebrate the life of his grandmother, who died just before she turned 101.
Mr. Ma was very close to his grandmother, and the timing of the theft added to the ordeal.
“She is unusual in her attitude of getting on with each day, but this really upset her. I think it was the loss (and theft) of Nan… in just a few days,” Ms Ma said.
Mr. Ma was supposed to go to a concert the evening they returned home, but had to stay indoors without his bike for the entire weekend.
“He didn’t go anywhere. He loves live music and was going to meet his friends to go to a concert that night and canceled everything,” Ms. Ma said.
“(The bike) is really his independence because he can ride straight through most venues and people recognize him and he’s an incredibly strong, determined man with cerebral palsy. He really challenges what people typically see about disability.”
“He was born with an attitude towards recovery and is a tribute to people in recovery.
“He doesn’t deprive himself of anything he wants to do because of his disability; he takes trams… he takes trains all over Melbourne to do the things he wants to do.
“It’s heartbreaking to know that he was sensitive to this situation.”
Ms. Ma claims that the police did nothing but take reports, and she told NewsWire that she no longer feels safe in the city she has called home for the past four years.
“They are not interested in investigating this,” he claimed.
“Being in the city… you do your best to be safe but it makes me want to give up. “It’s a safe building… this person comes in at 3 in the morning and does this and nobody cares.
“I feel in my heart that this is no longer a safe place for me and it seems to be falling apart very quickly.”
Ms Ma slammed the thief and told NewsWire that she could somehow tell if the thief was an ignorant teenager, but that was not the case.
NewsWire has reached out to police for comment.
At the time of publication, no one has been arrested or charged in connection with the theft.
