A prosthetic leg was stolen in San Francisco during the early hours of Tuesday. The owner, a United States Paralympian, is now asking for help to find his valuable prosthetic leg.
According to NBC Bay Area, Paralympian Ranjit Steiner woke up on his birthday to find that his prosthetic sprinter's blade-style leg was stolen. It is very important to him since he is currently training for the upcoming 2016 Paralympics in Rio De Janeiro next year.
"It's just so low," Steiner told reporters. "You never think anybody would take something like that."
According to him, the thieves stole his prosthetic leg in San Francisco by smashing his car window on Cesar Chavez between Mission and Valencia streets.
Aside from his leg, the thieves also took his laptop.
His prosthetic leg is said to be valued at $25,000 and Steiner only realized that he had left the valuable item in his car when he woke up on Tuesday, reports CBS Local San Francisco.
"I never thought that someone would steal my running leg. I'm searching under the seats and in every corner hoping it might magically appear," he said.
Despite the incident, the Paralympian who finished third in last year's nationals is still optimistic.
"I can't do my sprint workouts, but I can cross-train, and use my walking leg. I'm limited, but I can at least stay in shape," he said.
Since the news about the prosthetic leg stolen in San Francisco surfaced, it has caught the attention of a lot of people. Hence, it is not surprising that Hidden Cash has started an indiegogo campaign on Wednesday to help replace Ranjit's blade-style prosthetic.
"We were moved by this story of a cancer survivor who lost his leg and is training for the Paralympics. His prosthetic leg was stolen from his car in San Francisco and a replacement would cost $30,000. We are starting this Indiegogo Life fundraiser, giving ourselves and urging all who are also moved by this man's courage to help us raise money for him to get a new prosthetic leg," the campaign reads.
San Francisco Weekly has learned that since the campaign started, it has raised $200.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
