An East Bay family already struggling with their toddler’s cancer diagnosis was dealt another major blow this week when someone stole their van from a hospital parking garage in Oakland.
On Monday, Dena Kim and her family parked on the sixth floor of the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center parking garage. When they came back hours later, their van, which was locked and only had two car seats visible, was gone.
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WATCH HERE"We deserve to feel safe when we're going through these really difficult times, and it's just really sad and frustrating that we can’t," Kim said.
Oakland police found the car days later, but it's been anything but easy to get it back. To make matters worse, the Kim family learned Thursday that their child Jia, who's battling neuroblastoma, has severe hearing loss from chemotherapy treatment. This week the family will also find out how effective chemotherapy treatments have been.
"Haven’t had time to process that," Kim said. "I just hate that I can't be with her right now because I have to get this form from the police department, I've got to go to the tow yard, I've got to release the car to the insurance company."
Kim got a first look at her van on Thursday. The interior was trashed and all of the family’s possessions were gone. The thieves damaged the key system so it can't be driven and left a bag of T-shirts that read “gang violence" inside.
"It honestly was just like watching somebody kick her when she's down," Debbie Nederhood, Kim's mom, said. "I don’t know what it's like to have a child fighting for their life and nothing that you can really do about it, and then to have somebody do something that just adds another layer of pain."
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The Kims don’t know when they will have access to or be able to fix the van. A prior GoFundMe set up by friends to cover the cost of Jia’s hospital treatments will be used to help the family recover from the theft.
Kaiser Permanente released the following statement: "We work hard to make sure our members and visitors are safe and that their belongings are secure on our medical campuses. It is disgusting that car thieves would target a place of healing, where families are getting care and are often at their most vulnerable. Our security teams are investigating this theft and are working with the Oakland Police Department. We extend our thoughts to the family and welcome the opportunity to connect with them further to offer support. We have invested heavily over the past few years to increase security at our Oakland Medical Center as well as in the downtown area as part of a collaborative effort to increase security and reduce crime incidents in Oakland. We have increased the number of highly-trained security staff and installed advanced technology, and will continue monitoring the effectiveness of these and other measures."
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