Toddler Has $10,000 Prosthetic Leg Stolen

When 30-year-old Illinois mother Brie Rainey realized her son’s black backpack had been stolen out of her vehicle overnight, she was devastated. Inside the backpack was a prosthetic leg that her 3-year-old son, Josiah Rainey, uses on a daily basis.

The customized prosthesis cost $10,000 dollars, causing Rainey’s heart to sink in despair. The leg was stolen from the mother's car and the hospital says it will cost $10,000 to create a new one. The family won't pay a dime but asks for anyone who knows where the leg is to return it. "It was the small things that shocked me.

But thanks to the generosity of Shriners Hospitals for Children in St. Louis, Illinois, little Josiah will be walking again very soon. Josiah was born without his left leg, the result of a rare birth defect called VACTERL syndrome which can cause limb abnormalities and other body system anomalies.

Josiah has been using a prosthetic since he was a year old and continues making progress with his physical therapists to gain as much independence as he can. Rainey told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that someone broke into her car sometime in the middle of the night on Feb. 28, stealing her wallet and Josiah’s backpack. In her hurry to carry her sleeping 4-year-old daughter inside, she had forgotten to return to her car to grab her wallet and lock the doors.

Rainey filed a police report and asked friends and family to help spread the word about Josiah’s missing prosthetic. Her parents, Karen and Keith Stephens, even checked local dumpsters for the leg, but never found it. Josiah’s doctors at Shriners Hospitals for Children, who have treated Josiah for two years, offered to donate a new prosthetic leg to the boy.

On March 4, just days after his prosthetic leg was stolen, Josiah met with prosthetist Darren Rottmann to get fitted for a brand new leg. Community members have also donated to a GoFundMe campaign on Josiah’s behalf, raising enough funds to buy a wheelchair that the insurance company would not cover.

GoFundMe Campaign has also raised enough funds to buy a much-needed wheelchair! The campaign raised $4,500 in just five days. “We had an overwhelming response from the community and it is wonderful that such good has come out of this,” said Brie.

As for Josiah, he is doing just fine, bouncing back with the resilience he has shown his entire life. “He takes everything in his stride,” Rainey said. “He is so happy, regardless of what he has been through.” Rainey is confident that as soon as her son receives his new prosthetic, he will be back to walking without missing a beat.

“He takes everything in his stride," she said. “He is so happy, regardless of what he has been through. “It has not affected him at all. As soon as he gets his new leg, he’ll be right back at it.” He was walking better than ever.”