Injured mum stranded in park after yobs steal her crutches

A WOMAN with a broken ankle was left stranded in a park with her children after yobs ran off with her crutches.

Emma Westmacott (34), a senior healthcare support worker, had her mobility aids stolen at the weekend while she spent time with her kids at Eling park near where she lives in Eling, Totton.

Emma had to call a friend to come and rescue her as she is unable to walk far without her crutches after ending up in plaster having injured herself at work in July.

She told the A&T: “I was a bit gobsmacked, to be honest.”

The single mum-of-two said had used the crutches to go to the park last Friday with her son (11) and daughter (7), and had taken the wheelchair so she could sit down.

But when the crutches were pinched she was stuck there as she was unable to get home using the wheelchair alone.

“I was in a bit of a panic,” Emma said, before calling her friend, Gemma Walker, to come and wheel her back.

After posting about the incident on Facebook, Emma was overwhelmed at the response from people offering equipment help and support.

She said: “A lot of people were really angry and a lot of them blamed teenagers but I think they would have to have been younger. I have no idea what they thought they were doing.

“People were messaging and offering crutches and to go and get some from Southampton General Hospital for me. It was lovely support, really.”

The story had a happy ending when a group of teenaged boys contacted Emma to say they had found the crutches dumped in bushes near the park.