LONGMONT, Colo. (KDVR) — A thief swiped an adaptive athlete’s racing wheelchair from her home in Longmont, leaving her out of thousands of dollars and unable to compete.
Despite all she’s been through, Julia Beckley is hopeful she’ll get her racing chair back. It’s not hard to spot: It’s lime green, has a QR code on the back and has a sticker that reads, “That’s a horrible idea, what time?”
“I have a lot to be grateful for, and that’s how I have to mentally approach things,” Beckley told FOX31.
Needless to say, she’s in good spirits despite something close to her heart being taken away last week.
“It would be really awesome if I got it back,” Beckley said.
The adaptive athlete is talking about the racing wheelchair she’s competed in nearly 25 races over the last few years. Last week, Beckley said she was home and noticed her garage door was open.
“I remember thinking, I know I didn’t forget putting my racing chair anywhere,” Beckley recalled. “It was gone.”
Her wheelchair had been stolen, along with several personal belongings. The lime-green racing wheelchair has gotten Beckley through a lot of tough times.
“I have weaker, softish kind of bones. They just kind of break,” Beckley said.
Adaptive racer ‘doesn’t give up’
Beckley broke her first bone at 8 years old and it progressively got worse with age. She was diagnosed with hypophosphatasia, which is a rare bone disorder that makes her prone to breaks and stress fractures. Slowly losing mobility, Beckley is also battling other severe health issues, like angioedema and necrosis, for which she has undergone multiple surgeries, often spending a lot of time in the hospital.
“I’d get intubated in high school and the next day be in chemistry class. It’s hard for me to slow down,” Beckley said. “It’s hard because I have to choose how I want to live life.”
The young athlete has chosen racing, which has become an outlet she excels at. She has become an inspiration to many, like her coach Bill Stahl, who was devastated to hear the news.
“She’s inspiring and doesn’t give up. She’s had a lot of setbacks and so it’s definitely a matter of being really flexible. It’s a victory just for her to stay out of the hospital,” Stahl said. “Oh man, another setback. It just seems to happen to her all the time, usually ending up in the hospital. Yes, it’s heartbreaking. We would love to see that chair back.”
How to help Beckley get back to competition
Beckley had a summer packed with races that are now up in the air. She shared that it could take anywhere from 6 months to one year to get a new chair and said it would cost upward of $10,000. Beckley’s friend has set up a fundraiser to help her purchase a new chair.
“My racing chair has no value to anyone. You can’t chop it up for parts,” Beckley said. “It’s likely that it will end up getting dumped somewhere.”
Hoping to get her racing wheels back, Beckley created a flyer that is circulating online and is hopeful someone will return it so she can get back to what she loves.
If you spot the lime-green racing wheelchair, call the Longmont Police Department.