AN URGENT appeal has been launched after the car belonging to former jockey and wheelchair tennis player Sarah Gaisford was stolen.

The car, a blue VW Golf Estate R-Line 1.5 eTSI , registration number WF25 SDO, contained specialist sports wheelchair, tennis rackets and essential sporting equipment and a freewheel she uses to walk her dog.

Sarah, from Buckfastleigh, was paralysed from the chest down following a devastating fall at Exeter Racecourse in 2007.

Since the accident, she has rebuilt her life and forged a career as a successful wheelchair tennis player.

The stolen car contained the specialist tennis wheelchair which is uniquely adapted and made to measure for Sarah and hugely expensive to replace.

Police say the car, which was stolen from Oaklands Park in Buckfastleigh between 9pm on Saturday and 11.30am on Sunday, has since been located.

However the specialist equipment has been taken from it and is still ‘outstanding’.

A spokesman said: ‘Our enquiries are continuing into the incident and anyone with information is asked to contact us via 101 or our website quoting 50260124473.’

Friends say the theft has taken away not just equipment, but Sarah’s independence, mobility and ability to compete and to train.

Sarah said: ‘I am absolutely devastated and in shock. This theft has taken everything from me that I need to live a fulfilling and healthy life.

‘It’s my socialisation as well. Tennis has given me a purpose, a goal and something to focus on.

‘I just hope I can get back to my life again.’

Friends believe the specialist wheelchair and mobility aids may have been dumped if the thieves realised how distinctive and personal the equipment was.

The appeal is now spreading rapidly across Devon’s racing, tennis and disabled sports communities in the hope the equipment can be recovered quickly.

The accident changed her life but Sarah she has gone on to become one of Britain’s leading wheelchair tennis players.

Before the accident, Sarah was a highly respected jockey who rode 50 point-to-point winners and 14 winners under Rules.

Following her spinal injury, she refused to give up on sport and eventually took up wheelchair tennis, where she rose through the rankings.

Sarah has previously been ranked ninth in Great Britain and was inside the world rankings for wheelchair tennis racing 70.

She has trained relentlessly for years and has become widely admired for turning unimaginable trauma into sporting success.