Porch Pirates Strike Family Battling Cancer
Dec 5, 2019, 6:19 PM | Updated: 6:30 pm
BOUNTIFUL, Utah – Patrick and Melissa Robison say they have some fairly modest plans for Christmas. It’s all they can afford as they continue to pay medical bills for Patrick’s cancer treatments.
“It’s been a long battle,” Patrick said. “It’s been tough financially. It’s been tough emotionally.”
Robison was diagnosed in June 2018 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
“I am in remission now, which is great,” Patrick said. “I’m going through chemo still. It’s called maintenance chemo.”
Considering the medical bills they still have to pay, the Robisons say a porch pirate struck with especially bad timing Wednesday. Melissa says she got a notification that a package had been delivered at 8:22 am. By the time she was able to check the porch at around nine, it was gone.
“We have such a limited budget for Christmas,” Melissa explained. “And people are just out there, and they don’t even think about who’s behind these doors, and what they’re dealing with.”
Melissa vented about the theft in a Bountiful community page on Facebook. She says the response from community members came pretty fast.
“People just went crazy,” Melissa said. “I’ve been just flooded with a lot just messages from people who are are either sympathizing, because it’s happened to them too, or who just want you know to say they’re sorry, or say that they understand.”
One of those folks also reached out to KSL, which led to this story. Melissa says she really has only one request.
“If I can take anything from this it’s just be aware that everybody is fighting a different battle,” Melissa explained. “Be kind, and keep your hands off of things that don’t belong to you.”
The Robisons say the gift in the package was worth about $60 dollars. They say they don’t have any plans to replace it.
“I believe it was a custom gift, so whoever took it probably wouldn’t have that much need for it, nor would it have much street value or resale value,” Patrick said.
“Bring it back,” Melissa added. “Can you bring it back? That would be great.”
