Natalie Kimzey doesn’t mean to be rude, but she’s been feeling poorly lately and can’t handle more than a short chat.
It’s the chemotherapy, said the 82-year-old Burbank woman during a visit to her apartment earlier this week, that makes her stomach churn in a way that makes her feel “miserable.”
Something else has her sick to her stomach: Last Friday someone stole her 1999 Dodge Intrepid, the car she uses to get to her chemo appointments.
“I’m just so upset — I guess I’m angry, too,” said Kimzey, who has pancreatic cancer and congestive heart failure. “I can’t believe it. Why would they take that car? I can’t understand.”
Kimzey said she was getting ready for the drive to Tinley Park for her chemo appointment, when someone stole the car parked behind her building. She didn’t witness the theft.
Burbank police say they are investigating the theft and are checking area video surveillance in search of clues. Anyone with information about the off-white Dodge is asked to call the police department at 708-924-7300.
Kimzey, who has lived in the same two-bedroom apartment for 40 years, was proud of the car that had “a couple of scrapes” and 90,000 miles on the odometer.
“It was going along good,” she said Tuesday of the car one of her three sons gave her six years ago. “Somebody must have known that. The heater heated up in two blocks.”
A dear friend gave her a ride to her chemo appointment last week, but she’s not sure how she’ll handle future appointments. Cars, new or used, are expensive, she said.
“How do you go out and get another car, and a dependable one?” Kimzey said.