The Mill family fled their Christchurch home on Monday morning when a magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck New Zealand’s South Island.
But upon their return, the family of four found their New Brighton home ransacked and thousands of dollars worth of possessions stolen.
"Try to keep family safe and come back to this," mother Melissa Mill posted on Facebook this morning.
Her daughter Alisha has a rare form of muscular dystrophy and has hearing difficulties.
The 12-year-old relies on a system called a Roger to transmit her teacher's voice to a hearing aid when she's at school.
The $5,000 system, which the family told the NZ Herald was only a few weeks old, was stolen during the burglary.
Alisha's iPad, a television, and an X-Box were also stolen, as well as father Matt's silver Mazda work ute.
"They have been through everything," Melissa told the NZ Herald.
A GoPro camera containing photographs of a recent whitewater rafting family holiday was also stolen.
"They even [unzipped] Alisha's wheelchair seat," Melissa posted on Facebook.
"We took our family away to be safe and came back to all of this... it's just devastating."
