Paralympian Shelley Chaplin pleads with thieves to return stolen specialised bike

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Paralympian Shelley Chaplin pleads with thieves to return stolen specialised bike
ABC Online
Melbourne, Australia - Australian wheelchair basketball Paralympian Shelley Chaplin has called on thieves who took her custom-made handbike from her Melbourne home to return it, saying it's of no value to anyone else.

The Handcycle was taken from her carport in Seaford in Melbourne's south-east overnight.

The bike was made for her in the United States and is worth about $10,000.

The athlete, who competed in the Athens, Beijing and London Paralympic games with her team the Gliders, uses the handbike to keep fit and get around.

"Basically this one's set up for me and nobody else would really be able to ride it."

She believes the thieves may have thought it was a regular recumbent leg bicycle which can be expensive.

Her partner's regular bike was not taken.

"I didn't understand why anyone would bother taking mine. It has such a unique look that I'm guessing someone just thought it was valuable," she said.

Shelley purchased the handcycle after the London games for a fundraising ride in Fiji called Cyclepower to help people with disabilities in Victoria and Sri Lanka.

She has also used it on trips to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

"Obviously nobody's going to buy it, and probably they [the thieves] are going to realise pretty quickly that there's nothing they can do with it, it's of no value to them," she said.

The theft has been reported to police.

Shelley says she is talking to her insurance company but the handcycle was not specifically covered under her policy.
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