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Elderly Woman Stuck In Her Room After Someone Stole Her Wheelchair On Christmas

CHICAGO (WBBM-TV) -- In a heartbreaking story, a Chicago woman told CBS 2 she can't leave her room. As WBBM-TV's Tara Molina reports, Lizzie Wallace is stuck because someone broke into her senior home on Christmas Day and stole her wheelchair.

Now she is hoping for help.

At 79 years young, Lizzie is as sharp as her Sunday best – and she is not afraid to tell it like it is. "It wouldn't have happened had we had security," Wallace said.

She would like to give the person who snuck into her building's community room and rode out on the wheelchair she depends on a piece of her mind. "You know where you stole it from," Wallace said. "Bring it back. I appreciate that."

It happened on Christmas, while Wallace was visiting with her family. "It's not going to serve them any purpose as of today, because I'm sure that battery has died by now," she said.

Diagnosed with COPD, a heart condition, and arthritis, Wallace says she needs that chair. With help, she left her building Tuesday using a walker for the first time since the chair was stolen, and held an outdoor interview with Molina. "My best friend's daughters funeral was today," Wallace said. "I couldn't even make that funeral."

She filed a police report, but she said, "I don't expect them to even find that chair."

And with no help from Medicare yet and no money to buy a new chair, Wallace and her church buddy of more than 40 years reached out to WBBM-TV. "I really need the chair to function," Wallace said.

Wallace told Molina she does not think she'll see the stolen wheelchair again. But she said she hopes speaking out about what happened on television helps someone else.

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