Disabled mum's specialist equipment stolen from James Cook hospital car park as she underwent surgery

A disabled mum about to enter trials for a major competition was left devastated when her specialist equipment was stolen from a hospital car park while she underwent surgery.

RAF veteran Anna-Therese Pollock, 32, was delighted to be offered a dream opportunity to enter trials for The Warrior Games, an international Paralympic-style multi-sport event for veterans held each year in the USA.

But as Anna, a fitness fanatic and veteran of Iraq, underwent surgery at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, the car containing her new specialist kit was broken into and every item of her kit was stolen.

Anna, who is originally from Middlesbrough but now lives in Catterick, said: “Everything was in there. The special pedals I need for my bike, all of my swimming kit, specialist boots - everything. It’s all very expensive but that’s not what bothered me most.

“It’s just so upsetting that people think they’ve got the right to take other people’s things.”

Anna-Therese Pollock pictured on a specialist bike, left

After serving for seven years in the RAF in a career that involved two tours of Iraq, Anna left to settle with her husband Scott, 33, and her three children Sophie, eight, Sean, seven, and James, five.

With Anna having just qualified as a fitness instructor, the family was getting ready to start a new life in Gibraltar when, in the early hours of August 31 2013, the very morning they were set to leave, Anna woke in agony.

“I woke up with a huge pain in my back,” said Anna, “I was rushed into hospital where they told me I needed to have an emergency operation.”

Anna had suffered a bleed on her spine resulting in nerve damage which massively restricted her ability to walk and left her relying heavily on the use of a wheelchair.

Anna said: “They didn’t think I would be able to ever walk again at all but I can a little bit with crutches.

“The nerve damage will never repair but I’m so lucky to have the mobility I have got.”

By concentrating on her sport, Anna has stayed positive and the Warrior Games are a real opportunity.

Thankfully, thanks to her friends who set up a Go Fund Me page to raise enough money to replace all her stolen items, Anna is back on track to taking part in the trials.

• To donate, visit http://bit.ly/1BlK3ZO .