When a Forsyth County firefighter parked at a Newnan hospital to be by his wife’s side as she underwent chemotherapy, where he left his pickup truck was the last thing on his mind.
However, when he returned, his truck was gone.
Matt Clark, an 18-year veteran firefighter, told Channel 2 Action News someone stole his white 2002 F-250 on Tuesday morning. That’s adding extra stress to their family during an already tough battle with cancer.
“It was pretty stressful for her,” he said. “She took it pretty hard.”
His wife, Kari, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013. She was meeting a new oncologist at Cancer Treatment Centers of America off Celebrate Life Parkway on Tuesday morning. After that meeting, she underwent her weekly chemotherapy infusion.
Matt finished working a 24-hour shift before driving his wife, who he called the “sweetest, toughest woman” he knows, to the hospital. He told Channel 2 he’s positive he locked his truck after parking about 10 a.m.
When he returned to an empty parking spot two hours later, his first thoughts were of Kari.
“First thing I thought of is, ‘Matt, you’ve just got too much going on right now. You’ve got to keep your cool for Kari,’” he said.
Some of Kari’s medicine was in the truck. Matt also said a rescue knife that belonged to his father, who was also a firefighter, was inside the vehicle.
“Someone who has done this just has to be empty inside,” he told the news station. “They don’t think. They don’t feel — not good stuff at least, but ... we’re praying for you.”
Police told Channel 2 that surveillance video from the hospital shows a newer-model Chevrolet Impala with tinted windows and a tinted tag pull into the parking lot just after 11:45 a.m. A man got out, and both vehicles were seen leaving the lot two minutes later.
The video has not been released, and no description of the suspects were provided.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Newnan police at 770-254-2355.
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