A MOTHER has blasted vandals for making her poorly boy's life harder by damaging her car.
Jill Herdman's son, Sam Holmes, is currently undergoing chemotherapy for a rare type of bone cancer and she relies on her car to get him hospital.
Miss Herdman's Seat Ibiza has been damaged numerous times in recent months - including in the past week - and she is worried that it is causing her 10-year-old boy stress.
The 41-year-old mum, of Blackpole Road, Worcester, said: "Sam doesn't need me being stressed about this - with police coming round to our house. He's fighting cancer.
"He struggles to get around the house. I massively rely on my car to get him anywhere.
"I wish these kids [the vandals] could go to Birmingham Children's Hospital. There are young kids their age fighting for their lives and they are walking around the streets doing this."
The Worcester News previously reported on a gang of youths causing havoc around Fairmount Road, in the Brickfields area of Worcester. Miss Herdman said the youngsters are smashing windows, wing mirrors and pushing over bins in her neighbourhood.
Miss Herdman has CCTV footage of one of the vandals kicking her wing mirror off on Friday.
She added: "It's a massive problem. It's become a craze. I think they are just doing it for fun.
"All of the kids are drinking and out at night. It's different groups of lads and girls, they all congregate at McDonald's or the Lidl car park at night."
The significance of the latest crime hit home on Monday when she wanted to take her son to Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
She feared that Sam, who had an operation last week, had an infection, however she was not able to take him to hospital because of her broken wing mirror.
Her ex-partner came to the rescue and glued it back on so she could make the trip.
However, the mother-of-two is still worried about how she will pay for the repairs.
She said: "It will cost £380 to fix it. I can't afford it. I'm a single mum. I gave up work to look after my son."
Miss Herdman,whose mum died from breast cancer, has contacted Worcester's MP, Robin Walker, to talk to him about her son - a former pupil at St George's Church of England Primary School.
Mr Walker said: “I was shocked to see the vandalism that Miss Herdman brought to my attention – clearly it is totally unacceptable, and I have asked the local police team for an urgent update on the matter.
“It’s vitally important that any such incidents are reported to the police – as they have been in this case – so that evidence can be gathered and action taken against the perpetrators of this despicable damage.”
Worcester Police Constable Allan Figueiredo added: "We are aware of previous incidents involving damage to vehicles in the Blackpole Road area of Worcester.
"Each case that was reported to the police was investigated and pursued as far as reasonably possible but due to insufficient evidence we were unable to take further action.
"There are still ongoing investigations into the latest report of criminal damage and we are in contact with the victim.
"I would also like to reassure the local community that this area is subject to regular patrols."
Sam, who suffers from Osteosarcoma, started chemotherapy in March and hopes to follow in his parents' footsteps when he is older by working in the agricultural sector as a farrier.
Anyone with information about the latest incident of vandalism can ring police on 101 quoting incident number 498s of August 11.
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