{"id":27394,"date":"2025-09-17T08:16:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T08:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/27394\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T08:16:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T08:16:07","slug":"ramp-theft-traps-whangarei-woman-with-disabilities-in-her-flat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/27394\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramp theft traps Whang\u0101rei woman with disabilities in her flat"},"content":{"rendered":"

But Schultz said that on Saturday, September 6, she went to go out and found the ramp was missing.<\/p>\n

This means she is locked inside her home and unable to do her usual activities, including attending Forget-Me-Not Adult Day Centre<\/a> three days a week.<\/p>\n

Her neighbour Kirikau De Laurier \u2013 who is a social worker student and advocate for t\u0101ngata whaiora \u2013 found CCTV footage showing two people on the street on the night of Friday, September 5.<\/p>\n

The footage shows the pair trying to take a metal cover from roadworks down the street, but they are unable to lift it, so they take the ramp instead.<\/p>\n

De Laurier believes the people might have thought the ramp was worth something for scrap metal, because it was not immediately obvious it was plastic.<\/p>\n

\"SholeenSholeen Schultz says she misses going to her programme at Forget-Me-Not Adult Day Centre, now that she can’t get out of her flat. Photo \/ Denise Piper<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never thought that somebody would want to take a disability ramp<\/a>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

De Laurier is frustrated that others\u2019 thoughtless actions have affected Schultz so badly.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s worked really hard to be in a good place. With all the challenges of being trapped in your body<\/a>, then being trapped in your home … it\u2019s upsetting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schultz said it was awkward not having the ramp, and she admitted to feeling a bit uneasy knowing it had been taken from outside her home.<\/p>\n

De Laurier acted on behalf of Schultz to encourage the ramp to be returned, including posting an appeal on social media.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe temporary ramp covered the three steps it takes to get up to Sholeen Schultz\u2019s flat, enabling her to walk up to the entrance with her walker. Photo \/ Denise Piper<\/p>\n

He is also encouraging fellow NorthTec students to help build her a replacement ramp.<\/p>\n

Disability advocate Jonny Wilkinson from Tiaho Trust was also incredulous at the theft.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow bizarre; who would steal a ramp?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a general lack of awareness about just how disabling an action like that might be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilkinson said people with impairments face a lot of barriers, and this has added a barrier to Schultz\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndividuals aren\u2019t disabled \u2013 they may have impairments, but it\u2019s the environment that disables them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this particular case, the individuals who stole the ramp have added to the disability by creating another barrier in their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denise Piper is a news reporter<\/a> for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But Schultz said that on Saturday, September 6, she went to go out and found the ramp was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,1558,13516,9639,71,1364,1345,78,101,111,43,139,69,14727,27217,12507,19554,204,14168,27218,1869,102,1354],"class_list":["post-27394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-been","tag-disabilities","tag-flat","tag-from","tag-her","tag-home","tag-in","tag-left","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-outside","tag-ramp","tag-stranded","tag-taken","tag-temporary","tag-theft","tag-traps","tag-whangrei","tag-with","tag-woman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}