Dirt bikes stolen in Putnam include teen's Make-A-Wish gift after cancer battle

Police are searching for whoever stole two dirt bikes from a family’s garage in Putnam.

These bikes meant a lot to that family. One had been gifted to their son from Make-A-Wish after fighting cancer.

It was an unnerving night for the Deery family after they realized someone broke into their detached garage while they were home.

“We hit the panic button and started screaming and everyone's running around,” father Joe Deery, of Putnam, said.

The thief or thieves got away with two nice dirt bikes Tuesday night.

“I panicked because for some reason I was under the impression that since the bike meant so much to me it would never get stolen. I just thought no one would ever take that from me,” son Patrick Deery said.

Patrick was gifted one of the bikes by Make-A-Wish in 2022, a white-colored Husqvarna TE 250.

It came after a tough battle with leukemia for the now 17-year-old.

“I was going to the dealership and picking up a bike like that was something I never thought would have happened. And I loved it. And I rode it all the time and I had a bunch of plans with it and everything and then it just got taken and I'm still and it really hasn’t sunk in,” Patrick said.

“You're, you know, in a really bad place in your life to be taking a gift like that away from my son,” Joe said.

The father and son would ride together often. The other bike stolen was a red-colored Honda CRF250R.

Now, police are urging anyone who knows something about the theft to reach out to investigators to help catch whoever is responsible and get the bikes back.

“There always is hope. You know, I'm praying at least whoever stole it knows who they stole it from so they can live with that shame for the rest of their life,” Patrick said.

Amid this frustration, there is some good news. Patrick has not had any cancer cells detected in years and hopefully in a couple of years, can be considered completely cancer-free.