A CANCER sufferer – who has been given just months to live – has been left "stranded and devastated" after vandals trashed his mobility scooter.
Tony Bendell – who has been told by doctors he will not live until March – says he is "lost" without the scooter, which he used to travel between St Andrew's Hospice and his mum's house in Cleethorpes.
Tony, 41, discovered the damage on Boxing Day, after being allowed to spend two days at home with his mum for Christmas.
The scooter, which had been charging under the stairwell in Harrison Court, Grimsby Road, had been ripped to pieces, with the handlebars pulled off and wires cut.
Tony, who is currently back in the hospice, where he hopes to spend his final days, now has no way of travelling to see his mum when he feels well enough to do so.
He said: "I can't believe anybody would do this. A mobility scooter is obviously going to belong to somebody who is elderly or unwell.
"I've only got a few weeks to live and now I can't go and see my mum. There are no buses to here and she's elderly and can't drive herself. She says she's going to spend some of her pension coming to visit next week but she shouldn't have to."
Tony, who worked cleaning fish boxes on Grimsby's Europarc until his health deteriorated, was diagnosed with throat cancer a year and nine months ago after initially being misdiagnosed with thrush.
The former Matthew Humberstone pupil was operated on at Hull's Castle Hill Hospital and underwent both radio and chemotherapy but the cancer had spread too far.
He now has cancer of the brain, lungs, liver and ribs and there is no further treatment available to him.
He bought the second-hand electric scooter from a shop on St Peter's Avenue for £225 a couple of weeks ago after his mobility decreased.
"I can only walk about 50 metres now and then my legs just collapse," he said.
"It wasn't a new scooter but it did everything I needed.
"My friend has had a look online to see if he can find out how to fix it but it's in such a bad state he doesn't know where to start.
"I hope somebody will read this who can help us to fix it so that I can get back out again.
"I'm only 41 and my life is over but having the scooter gave me the freedom to travel to see my mum when I felt well enough and that meant a lot."
Can you help?
If you can help Tony get back on the road, call 01472 372236 or e-mail newsdesk@grimsbytelegraph.co.uk
