Thieves swipe 16 basketball wheelchairs

REGINA, Saskatchewan, May 12 (UPI) -- A Canadian paraplegic wheelchair-basketball coach in Regina, Saskatchewan, appealed Monday for the return of 16 special chairs stolen during the weekend.

A white Dodge Caravan and utility trailer filled with the specially designed chairs with two sloped side wheels and a smaller central one was stolen from outside the home of coach Mike Brady Saturday night, the Regina Leader-Post reported Monday.

"They have absolutely no value to anyone other than the kids in my program," Brady told the newspaper. "Without (the chairs) it's done. We'd have to start all over from the beginning, worse than the beginning ... everything that I've done for so long is gone."

Since 2000, he has been running a disabled basketball program for disabled youth, and he said the chairs are put to use five days a week.

Each chair costs $3,000, he said.

"We can deal with the loss of the trailer and the van, but to lose the chairs, I just can't deal with that," he said.

As of Monday, Regina police had no leads, the report said.