Woman’s three-wheeler stolen

Marisa O’Neil

When Tarah Wakeling lay in a coma for weeks after her car skidded of

a road, rolled at least five times and landed on its roof, doctors

told her parents not to hold out much hope for her recovery.

After nine years of hard work and patience, Wakeling, now 32,

battled back from injuries to her spine and brain stem, regaining the

ability to read, talk and walk with the help of a cane. A stable,

three-wheeled bicycle given to her two years ago by her boyfriend

gave her new mobility and the ability to get around town on her own.

But early New Year’s Day, someone stole that bike and with it her

independence.

“What a miserable New Year’s present,” her father, Alan Wakeling,

said. “That’s her only form of transport. She rides that bike

everywhere.”

A Corona del Mar High School graduate, Tarah Wakeling was

seriously injured after she apparently fell asleep at the wheel while

driving to a friend’s house in Arizona in 1995. A passing truck

driver found the wreckage and called police to report the crash.

When he went to her car, the engine was cold. She’d likely been

there for at least three hours before she was found, her father said.

She lay in a coma for nearly a month.

“I was resigned to the fact she’d be in a wheelchair the rest of

her life,” said Alan Wakeling, a white-bearded local fixture known as

the “Running Man” of Corona del Mar for his love of jogging.

Eventually, she worked her way back from her injuries, but she

isn’t at the same point she was before the accident. Her cognitive

abilities have vastly improved, but her balance and the sensation in

her right foot still haven’t returned to normal, making it unsafe for

her to drive a car, she said.

Steven West, now her fiance, gave her the black and chrome Torker

three-wheeler, complete with a basket, as a Christmas present two

years ago, so she could run errands and do shopping on her own near

their Clubhouse Avenue home.

“There’s no way she could ride a two-wheel bike,” her father said.

“I was so excited. She was so excited she could ride a bike.”

The bike, valued at about $500, meant she no longer had to take

the bus or rely on others to give her a ride .

“I’m thankful for the fact that I met Steven,” she said. “He got

me that bike, and it was a whole complete change of my life. It

brought independence. I could do things on my own.”

The couple came home early New Year’s Day from a night out and

parked her bike on the side of the house. West said he thought they

had locked the bike, but when he went outside later that morning, the

bike was gone.

“She cries because she can’t get anywhere,” West said. “She wishes

she could get places. It’s her car. If you had your car stolen, it’s

the same thing.”

If the bike doesn’t show up, she’ll try to get the money together

to buy a new one, she said, but because she’s on Social Security

benefits for her disability, it may take a while.

She’s hoping whoever took it will realize they took more than a

unique-looking bike. And because it was licensed in the city of

Newport Beach, it may be easier to track down.

“I’m kind of confident someone’s conscience will come back, and

they’ll return it,” she said.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety. She may be reached at (714)

966-4618 or by e-mail at [email protected].