Thieves have stolen the only chair on Mindelo beach, in Vila do Conde, adapted to carry disabled people to bathe in the sea. The beach is one of the few with handicap accessibility available in Portugal.
The wheelchair, whose wheels function as floating buoys in the water, was stored in a shed on the beach, but the thieves cut the padlock that served as a lock. In winter, the services of the Vila do Conde chamber kept the cart / chair. A complaint has already been filed at the local GNR.
“The chair was used three months a year but the families with disabled people were already coming to this beach because it was the only way for children and adults to go to the water,” said Antonio Ramos, a beach bar employee.
With the help of two rescuer swimmers who put the bather in the chair and helped him stay in the water, some disabled people could “go to sea for the first time.”
“Our hope is that whoever stole the seat will return it and that it will be aware that it is fundamental to the happiness of many disabled people,” concluded Antonio Ramos.