Cruel theft Dad's work van stolen as he visited ill son in hospital

HERE are bad days. And then there are the days that leave you gasping for air - the ones that break something inside you.

- Lewis CLARKE

For Roy Townsend, 50, one such day arrived on a quiet Sunday evening in April, just as he and his partner were trying to hold it together for their seriously ill son. In a matter of minutes, their already fragile world was dealt a devastating new blow - a cruel theft that stripped Roy of his livelihood, just when he needed it most.

This isn't just a story about a stolen van. It's about a family already pushed to the brink, facing tragedy with grit, dignity, and a quiet plea for help.

It was Sunday, April 27. Roy from Wells, and his partner, Ally, had been at Bristol Children's Hospital, spending precious time with their son Dylan. After saying goodnight to him, they returned to their temporary accommodation - a routine they've sadly grown used to over the years. As they settled in to watch a film, Roy received a strange notification on his phone.

"It wasn’t a text tone," he'd later tell his sister. "It was just a message from the Ford app saying that his access had been removed." At first, he thought little of it. Only after the film ended did he glance at his phone properly.

The app alert still sat there, quietly hinting at a disaster that was already unfolding.

Stepping outside, Roy turned left - towards where he had parked the van. It was gone.

He turned around in disbelief, hoping maybe he'd parked somewhere else, maybe he'd made a mistake. But the space was still empty. "That's when he noticed it was gone," said his sister, Kim Todman, who lives in Street. "He believes he might've even seen a van driving off, but he can't be sure."

Inside that van was everything Roy needed to work as a self-employed plasterer hand tools, power tools, mixing drills, site lights, laser levels, and more. Years of hard-earned investment, all vanished in an instant.

Worse still, some of the items carried sentimental value. "His darts were in there," Kim says. "And a couple of tools he'd had from the beginning of his career."