As southern California mom takes toddler to chemo, burglars ransack, vandalize her car
Girl, 14-months-old, suffers from rare pediatric cancer, her mother Magalli Jimenez said
DOWNEY, Calif. -- Magalli Jimenez was already dealing with the stress and heartbreak of having a 14-month-old daughter who is undergoing chemotherapy for a rare form of cancer.
Now the southern California mother is dealing with the outrage of thieves breaking into and substantially damaging her car. All while she was inside a medical center in Downey, California, accompanying her daughter Ava to her chemo treatments.
Jimenez posted her anger to TikTok in a video directed to the unknown vandals that is now going viral.
And the community is rallying around her, contributing to a GoFundMe page to help with Ava's treatments.
"You probably don't know, but I just found out my daughter has cancer four weeks ago," Jimenez said in the video. "She just finished her chemo treatment right now. We're coming into the car, ready to go home. She's crying because she wants milk."
"You broke into my car. You broke my entire ignition. You (messed) up everything. Everything. Everything is broken."
Downey police are investigating. A witness told Jimenez he saw three men possibly breaking into her car, and he alerted security guards.
Kaiser Permanente, the medical center where Jimenez was parked, said it is cooperating with police in the investigation.
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"We are committed to ensuring the safety and security of anyone who visits a Kaiser Permanente facility. Victimizing someone when they are most vulnerable is a despicable act. We are fully cooperating with the Downey Police Department in their investigation, and we hope they are able to find whoever broke into Ms. Jimenez's car."
Jimenez told KABC she also worried about what might have happened if she had returned to the car with her daughter while the criminals were still there. And that is something that will continue to weigh on her mind as she returns to the facility for Ava's weekly treatments.
"For me the most scary or frustrating part is that I have to go every week for treatments," she said. "And just to have another thing that I have to worry about on my mind - my safety, my baby's safety."
