HEARTLESS thieves have snatched a special machine which could mean life or death for an asthmatic Bolton youngster.

Burglars who raided Joanne Hurst's home made off with a nebuliser, used to help her 12-year-old son, Gareth, breathe when he has an asthma attack.

Now his distraught mother is urging whoever stole the machine to return it.

She believes the thieves may have taken it by mistake, thinking the carrying case contained video tapes.

Joanne said: "Gareth has to have a special spray four times a day to help with his asthma but if he has a bad attack he needs to use his nebuliser.

"Before he had the machine he had to go to hospital when he was really ill and that will have to happen again if we don't get the machine back.

"He's only just had an operation on his nose to help him breathe so he's not in the best of health anyway. I'm so worried that he'll have another bad attack. These machines can be the difference between life and death."

The machine cost £400 when it was first bought and they are now available for about £160.

But they are still too expensive for Joanne, of Jedburgh Avenue, Heaton, to buy a replacement.

The callous thieves even stole children's piggy banks as they ransacked the house, as well as making off with a TV, video and dozens of tapes.

Gareth's grandmother, Val Vickery, slammed the thieves.

She said: "I'm furious about what they have done. When they realise that the nebuliser isn't any use to them they'll probably just throw it away.

"All we're asking is that whoever has taken it should hand it in somewhere.

"We're not bothered about the other things which have been stolen. They're the kind of items which always go in burglaries.

"But we're desperate to get the nebuliser back. They can even hand it in at a shop - anything so as long as Gareth gets it back."

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