A TEENAGER who spent two weeks in hospital fighting for his life awoke to find out that his £1,000 dirt bike had been stolen.

Reece Glass had spent a fortnight in the intensive care unit at the Royal Hopsital for Sick Children in Edinburgh after contracting sepsis following an operation before Christmas.

And when the 14-year-old, from Wallyford, woke this week, it was to hear mum Kelly-Ann tell him that his bike – which he bought with birthday money he had saved up – was gone.

East Lothian Courier:

The news of the theft – which took place between 11pm on Saturday and 8am on Sunday – “devastated” the Musselburgh Grammar School pupil, who is now “responding well to treatment” but is expected to remain in hospital for at least another week.

Reece, who has spina bifida, first went into hospital for an operation to have an infected bone in his foot removed on December 19 and was released on Christmas Eve so he could spend the festive period with his family.

The 14-year-old made trips to hospital for intravenous (IV) antibiotics.

But on January 11 doctors discovered that Reece had sepsis – a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body’s response to infection causes injury to its tissues and organs.

He went into septic shock and was rushed into intensive care, where he spent 14 days fighting for his life.

On Tuesday, Kelly-Ann told the Courier that she received a phone call from partner Paul Ferguson to say that Reece’s distinctive Funbike 125, which is bright green with a black trim, had been stolen from a shed.

East Lothian Courier:

She said: “It is just devastating – we are so gutted. Reece has spina bifida as well so he’s not really able to play football or anything – the bike is really his only hobby.

“We told him when he woke up from being sedated and he was just really, really gutted. He was in tears when we told him.

“After the operation he had been saying how much he was looking forward to getting out on the bike – he’s had a lot of problems with his foot so he’s actually not been able to get out on the bike that much since he bought it.”

Kelly-Ann, of Drummohr Avenue, revealed her son had saved up birthday money to buy the bike, which he was hoping to enter into racing competitions She added: “He had a party for his 13th birthday and he saved up money from that, and I think he had some from the previous year as well which went towards the bike.

“With his foot problems he’s not done any racing but that was the plan.”

Musselburgh councillor Stuart Currie said: “As if he’s not had enough trouble being poorly and being in hospital, to have had his bike stolen is just truly awful. I would hope that whoever has taken it leaves it somewhere that it can be found.”

And Mr Currie called on the local community to rally round the teenager.

He said: “There are a lot of bike shops in East Lothian and I just hope that maybe they can do something for the young lad.

“Maybe they could come together, and the community could rally round, to make sure that he has got a bike.”

Colin Gerrie, headteacher at Musselburgh Grammar School, said: “The whole school community wishes Reece a speedy recovery and we hope he gets his bike back soon.”

Inspector Andrew Harborow, from Tranent Police Station, said: “At this time we are working to establish whether the dirt bike has been stolen so that it can be sold on, or whether those responsible intend to use it for committing further crimes in the area.”

Call police on 101 with information and quote incident number 1294 of January 28.