Milwaukee Woman Asks Thief to Return Power Wheelchair

A young woman in Milwaukee makes a plea -- asking someone to return a wheelchair that was stolen from her earlier this week.

Rayquetta Lawrence believes someone rode down the sidewalk of North 39th Street with the most important thing in her life -- her independence. 

Her power wheelchair was stolen on the block of North 39th Street and Hopkins St. Monday morning as she was getting ready for work.

Rayquetta put the chair in her front yard, tucked behind a fence. Because getting down her front steps is the most difficult part of her morning routine, she did that first.

"This is like them taking my legs away. How you guys walk, my power chair is like my legs to me. This is my legs to me, and when my power chair got stolen it's like now I can't walk. Now I'm not able to do anything i was able to do," said Lawrence.

The power chair gave Rayquetta complete independence. She was able to do almost everything on her own. Rayquetta has a job and was able to get to work, do her job and get home independently.

"I was able to drive myself out of my house in the morning, go to work, drive all around at work, go on my lunch break whenever I felt like it, clock out whenever i felt like it... now I have to have to have someone with me at all time," said Lawrence.

Rayquetta spoke with CBS 58 Thursday sitting in her standard wheelchair. 

She has cerebral palsy and cannot push this wheelchair on her own. She tells me she lost all of her independence the moment someone took her power chair from her front yard.

She hopes the person who did this will return the chair, and understand what it means to her.

"I don't understand why you or whoever would take my power chair. I don't see the point if you're not disabled i don't see. There's no fun in this. I understand that you might think it's fun or entertainment, but I actually need this. this is my life," said Lawrence.

Rayquetta wants your help looking for her wheelchair. It is a purple power wheelchair with a silver letter "Q" on the back.

Rayquetta says the chair may have run out of battery already, and could be stuck at a location.

She filed a police report but hasn't gotten any leads on the chair's whereabouts. 

She say she just wants this chair back. No questions asked, no charges pressed.

If Rayquetta is not reunited with her chair, she will have to purchase a new one. A go fund me page has been set up at https://www.gofundme.com/help-me-replace-my-wheelchair