By Sumeyya Ilanbey
For more than a decade, Kerrie Forber couldn’t enjoy the outdoors.
A stroke when she was 28-years-old left her paralysed on the left side of her body, which affected her mobility and dexterity.
After years of research and saving, the Braybrook woman bought a trike five years ago and had it custom-fit – it was her ticket back to independence.
However, on July 30, she was grounded again when the $5000 trike was stolen for a second time from the underground carpark of her apartment. There had also been two other attempts to steal it.
“It was like looking for a needle in a haystack,” Ms Forber said. “Where do you start to look?”
Ms Forber said she was “totally reliant” on the public’s goodwill to recover the trike.
She reached out to the online world, posting about the trike on Bike Vault. Her post was shared almost 2000 times, and the trike was eventually found five weeks later at a second-hand store in Melton.
“It’s hard to know why it was shared so many times, but I’m guessing because it’s a customised trike for someone with a disability – that would’ve touched a chord with a lot of people.
“Not being able to ride made me miss it too much.
“The trike enables me, obviously, to get out and participate.
“I used to ride a lot prior to my stroke and what I’ve missed the most since the stroke is the ability to get out and enjoy the outdoors.”
Ms Forber is back on the road again after recently being reunited with her trike.
