Suzy Knox didn’t have the heart to tell her daughter Lizzy what had happened to the ute she was so excited about.

The 15-year-old, who has Down syndrome, has been struck down by aggressive liver disease, her failing bone marrow and the ongoing threat of leukaemia.

Mrs Knox said Lizzy was adamant that when her father, Dave Knox, bought a new vehicle it would be a white ute, and when he brought it home on Friday she was thrilled. 

Mrs Knox said it was stolen from their house about 3.45am yesterday, and found ‘‘smashed and rolled’’ about 800 metres away. They had not yet insured it. ‘‘In hindsight we should have got a cover note on it straight away, but we decided to wait for Tuesday when Dave had the day off,’’ Mrs Knox said.

The family has struggled financially since Lizzy’s health deteriorated in February.

Mrs Knox said she had taken leave from her job at Youngtown Primary to care for Lizzy, and they had flown between Launceston and Melbourne eight times for various tests and procedures.

‘‘There’s no case study that they know of like Lizzy,’’ Mrs Knox said. ‘‘So to find a cure, and find treatment, is very difficult.’’

Mrs Knox said the family sold its second car – and many other possessions – to cover the bills when Lizzy first got sick, and had since been slowly saving for the $1100 ute.

‘‘To some people that’s not a lot of money, but to us, on one income and flying back and forth to Melbourne constantly, looking after a child who is very, very sick, it’s a lot of money,’’ Mrs Knox said.

‘‘And we’ve worked very hard to get that money.’’

The family has benefited from community fund-raising, but Mrs Knox said they needed to keep that money for Lizzy’s costs.

She said she was struggling to come to terms with the theft.

‘‘I don’t see the sense in taking our car that we’ve worked so hard to get, 800 metres down the road and wrecking it,’’ she said.

‘‘It’s just sad.

‘‘But our favourite saying in our house is, ‘the sun will come out tomorrow’, and it will.’’

Police said last night that no charges had been laid over the theft and investigations were continuing.

Anyone with information can phone Crime Stoppers on 1800333000.