- Rogers’ son Max was diagnosed with autism aged three
- Footy star and wife Chloe Maxwell left furious by incident
- Both published angry social media posts calling for action
Former NRL and rugby union star Mat Rogers has lashed out in fury after his autistic son Max had a precious possession stolen on the Gold Coast.
The ex-Cronulla Sharks and Wallabies star was joined by his wife, TV and radio presenter Chloe Maxwell, in calling for help finding the ‘grub’ responsible for the theft in a series of outraged social media posts on Monday night.
Rogers, 48, told his 62,000 Instagram followers that Max’s $1,000 electric scooter had been stolen from outside a school and posted CCTV footage of a man he alleged was the thief responsible.
‘My son @livingwithmax had his Scooter stolen from the Gym across the road from Miami High School by some little pric!’ he wrote.
‘That thing is his independence and has been amazing for him to get to school and work among seeing his friends!
‘If anyone here’s [sic] of some rat bag with a new scooter I’d love to hear about it.’
Rogers then posted the CCTV footage accompanied by the caption, ‘Here is the grub that thought it was ok to steal an autistic kids scooter! Please report anything you see or hear.
‘There will be no vigilante justice, we just want our boys scooter back! He is devastated!’
Former NRL and Wallabies star Mat Rogers has been left outraged by the theft of one of his son Max’s most important possessions
Pictured: Mat Rogers with his son Max and wife Chloe Maxwell, who also reacted furiously to the threat on social media
Pictured: Rogers’ first post about the theft. He later showed his Instagram followers CCTV footage of a man he claimed was responsible for stealing his son’s scooter
Maxwell also posted the footage to Instagram and wrote: ‘So our ASD [autism spectrum disorder] son’s electric scooter was stolen today. It is literally his independence.
‘Peekaboo punk! We see you! We have u on camera and not difficult to zoom in for facial recognition!’
She went on to say she and Rogers ‘will be happy if it’s just returned’ no questions asked to the gym or school near where it was taken.
The couple have been open about dealing with Max’s condition since he was diagnosed at three years of age.
Rogers (pictured) and Maxwell created the 4 ASD Kids charity in 2009 in order to help other Aussie families that have a loved one with autism
‘There was so much fear and not knowing what the future held for us,’ Rogers said, referring to the moment they learned their son is autistic.
‘It can be a pretty dark place in those early days, but there’s certainly a light at the end of the tunnel that we didn’t see.
‘But it’s so bright, and life is so great, and we couldn’t imagine it any other way.
‘Max certainly needed help in the early days, but he’s flying now.’
Rogers and Maxwell founded the 4 ASD Kids charity in 2009 to help other Aussie families who have a loved one with autism.
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