HAGERSTOWN, Md. -
Ethan Paugh can throw a football, but he has trouble catching. But he works for everything he's gotten.
When he was a baby, Ethan was diagnosed with Prader-Willi Syndrome. It is caused by a missing gene. Kids with this condition are often developmentally delayed, have very little muscle tone and have rapid weight gain due to an insatiable appetite.
"He doesn't have the sensation of ever being full," says his grandmother Tammy Paugh.
Many families, including Ethan's, have to actually lock up the food that is in the house. Doctors have put him on a 1,500 calorie a day diet. But even so, at age seven, Ethan weighs 190 pounds.
He had never been able to ride a bicycle like the other kids in his Hagerstown neighborhood. But then, Maryland's Developmental Disability Administration and a non-profit called Service Coordination got him a mobility tricycle.
His grandmother will never forget the day it was delivered.
"When I first saw the bike, I had tears in my eyes," she says.
And Ethan can describe it in one word: "Happy."
The total cost of the bike was $7,800.
On June 30, Ethan went inside for lunch. Without anybody knowing, his five-year-old cousin decided to take the tricycle for a spin. She accidentally rolled the bike down the hill by their house. She didn't tell anyone because she was afraid she would get in trouble.
When the adults found out 15 minutes later, she led them to the spot, but the tricycle was gone. It was stolen right off the lawn of a church just 10 days after it arrived at Ethan's house.
"This was the one bike. This was Ethan's bike. This was Ethan's mobility. This was Ethan's Godsend," says Tammy.
Hagerstown Police are working the case, but so far have no leads. The family hopes somebody will see the unusual orange tricycle and notifies police.
