The two cement steps leading to Mary Jane Cannon’s front door in the 1300 block of Fairview Avenue are no more than 18 inches high. With her folding aluminum ramp — she has been in a wheelchair since a car accident at the age of 16 — it was easy access.
But in December, Cannon returned from her job at Carmax to find the ramp missing.
“When I came home, it literally looked like a grave because where the ramp was the grass hadn’t grown,” Cannon said.
She determined the ramp had been stolen between 8:30 and 11:30 a.m. on a Monday. A police investigation went nowhere. And Cannon, a mother of three, did not have the insurance coverage or cash to purchase a new ramp, which costs about $500.
She was forced to depend on family members and friends to help her into her house.
“A couple of times I crawled up the steps,” Cannon said. “I just figured it wasn’t going to change unless I got insurance again.”