Tony and Rosemary Harold are stranded and homeless in Sarina after motorhome was stolen
An elderly couple is pleading with NQ residents to keep an eye out for a unique 1979 motorhome after it was stolen from a petrol station while they were in hospital.
Townsville
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Tony and Rosemary Harold have been left with nothing but the clothes on their back after their motorhome was stolen from a Sarina petrol station.
The couple were in the Mackay Hospital at the time, getting treatment for Mr Harold’s stage four kidney disease.
They’re asking North Queensland residents to keep an eye out for the unique 1979 motorhome which contained all their worldly possessions – including essential ID documents and power tools.
“I’m hoping if this gets in the paper it will jog someone’s memory,” Mr Harold, a former truck driver, said.
“It’s a 1979 Mitsubishi Canter. I haven’t seen anything else like it on the road.”
The retirees were recently forced into their ageing motorhome when their Yeppon rental was sold.
“We were living on a 30 acre block, but the owner passed away and his grown children sold the property,” Mr Harold said.
“We had to get out.”
The couple put their furniture in storage and packed their whole life into their motorhome, which they’d once lived in for 18 years while travelling around Australia house-sitting and fruit picking until Mr Harold became too sick to travel.
The couple wanted to go north to Mackay were they’d lived in the ‘70s, but Mr Harold’s health deteriorated during the move.
“We’d always liked Sarina (outside Mackay),” the 87-year-old said.
“The plan was to stay in the van park while we looked for a new home, but I’ve got stage four kidney disease and 12 months ago I started dialysis. I couldn’t do a great deal and I collapsed a couple of times. I nearly carked it, I couldn’t breath, mainly because I wasn’t doing as much dialysis as I should.”
A friend drove the motorhome up to Sarina for the couple, but it broke down right at the finish line and was left at the Sarina AMPOL.
“Shirley the owner said we could park it there until we got the parts to fix it,” Mr Harold said.
It’s understood the truck’s belt broke and the engine had run out of coolant.
The couple stayed in Mackay Hospital as Mr Harold fought to stabilise his health, and thankfully they had their own car with them.
But when it came time to fix up the motorhome, it was gone.
CCTV footage shows on March 30 a car with false number plates pulled up next to the motorhome and a passenger got out.
This passenger than got into the motorhome and drove it off.
Two days later the motorhome was spotted on Sarina Range Road, but hasn’t been seen since.
“It must’ve been a professional job,” Mr Harold said.
“Because they had false number plates and they knew how to hot-wire it. They must’ve turned up with a lot of water to put into the engine too.”
Mr and Mrs Harold lost all their clothes, Medicare cards, bank cards, ID, cutlery and cookware, and more.
“The motorhome had everything we stand up in,” Mr Harold said.
“Plus there was new life jackets, an electric outboard motor and all my power tools. Nothing was insured.”
Right now the 87-year-old Tony and 85-year-old Rosemary are living in a caravan park in Sarina.
“With my kidney disease I can’t use the communal toilet block because of the germs, so we’re in a cabin with an ensuite,” Mr Harold said.
“We’ve got no savings. Me and the boss just have to sit here and save up.”
Mrs Harold works as a full-time carer for her husband.
The couple expects they’ll have to stay in the caravan park for 12 months to save up enough money to replace their stolen items.
“It’s no good sitting around and moping,” Mr Harold said.
“You’ve got to look on the bright side. I hope the police find them, but I don’t think they will.”
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Originally published as Tony and Rosemary Harold are stranded and homeless in Sarina after motorhome was stolen
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