A family has been left heartbroken after "wicked" thieves stole a nine-year-old boy's wheelchair.

Brae Sewell has lived most of his life with ataxia-telangiectasia, a rare genetic disorder that will ultimately shorten his life.

Because of this, Brae has had to increasingly rely on a wheelchair to get around.

But when his family woke on the morning March 29, they found the family car had been stolen from their South Croydon home, along with Brae's wheelchair.

His mum Siobhan was beside herself.

“It’s devastating to lose our only transport," she said.

"We are totally reliant on the car to get Brae and his twin Broghan to school and Brian to the hospital.

"The insurance company have told us to take taxis or hire a car, but we aren’t able to do that."

To make matters worse, father and husband Brian was due to start start radiotherapy for his cancer this week.

"The insurance company have told us to take taxis or hire a car, but we aren’t able to do that," Mrs Sewell said.

"As a carer I can only work part time and Brian’s cancer means he had to leave his bus driving job.

"I don’t have money to hire a car for three weeks or replace Brae’s wheelchair. It’s really desperate for us.”

She had no doubt in her mind that the thieves would have seen the wheelchair in the car when it was stolen.

“They have no idea of the damage to our family” Mrs Sewell said.

“This isn’t a victimless crime, these wicked people have done untold damage.

"Someone knows who they are, and anyone with a shred of decency will want to return Brae’s wheelchair and help us get our lives back on track."