Outraged footy great Mat Rogers reveals his autistic son has fallen victim to a ‘grub’ criminal
- Rogers’ son, Max, was diagnosed with autism at age three
- Footballer and wife Chloe Maxwell furious after incident
- Both posted angry messages on social media calling for action
Former NRL and rugby player Mat Rogers has been left furious after his autistic son Max had a prized possession stolen on the Gold Coast.
The former Cronulla Sharks and Wallabies star was joined on Monday night by his wife, TV and radio presenter Chloe Maxwell, who posted a series of outraged messages on social media asking for help in finding the “food” responsible for the theft.
Rogers, 48, told his 62,000 Instagram followers that Max’s $1,000 electric scooter had been stolen in front of a school and posted surveillance footage of a man he believed to be the thief.
“My son @livingwithmax’s scooter was stolen from the gym across the street from Miami High School by some scumbag!” he wrote.
“That’s his independence and it’s great for him that he can now go to school and work and see his friends at the same time!”
If anyone is here [sic] from some idiot with a new scooter. I’d like to hear more about it.’
Rogers then posted the CCTV footage with the caption: ‘Here’s the scumbag who thought it was okay 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’s devastated!”
Former NRL and Wallabies star Mat Rogers is furious over the theft of one of his son Max’s most important assets
Pictured: Mat Rogers with his son Max and wife Chloe Maxwell, who also reacted angrily 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 claims was responsible for stealing his son’s scooter.
Maxwell also posted the footage on Instagram, writing, “So our ASD [autism spectrum disorder] son’s electric scooter was stolen today. It’s literally his independence.
‘Peekaboo punk! We see you! We have you on camera and it’s not hard to zoom in for facial recognition!’
She went on to say that she and Rogers “would be happy if it just came back,” without asking questions to the gym or school in the area where it was taken.
The couple have been candid about how they’ve dealt with Max’s condition since he was diagnosed at age three.
Rogers (pictured) and Maxwell founded the charity 4 ASD Kids in 2009 to help other Australian families who have a loved one with autism
“We were so scared and didn’t know what the future held for us,” Rogers said, referring to the moment they found out their son was autistic.
‘It can be quite dark in those early days, but there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel that we haven’t seen.
‘But it’s so light and life is so wonderful, we can’t imagine it any other way.
‘Max definitely needed help in the beginning, but now he’s flying.’
Rogers and Maxwell founded the charity 4 ASD Kids in 2009 to help other Australian families with a loved one with autism.