$4,000 Donated for Child’s Transplant Is Stolen

Thieves broke into a school and stole $4,000 that students had raised to help pay for a liver transplant for a 7-year-old classmate, officials said Thursday.

The boy, Ronnie DeSillers, had received a phone call Wednesday from President Reagan, who urged him to “keep the faith” and had promised a donation.

The money was taken later in the day from a school closet, said Elaine Patterson, principal of St. Anthony’s School in Fort Lauderdale.

‘It’s a Sickness’

“I’m sorry that this is the lesson my children in this school have learned after a lot of hard work and all the money they’ve collected,” Patterson said. “Who would come and do such a thing? It’s a sickness.”

The money was part of approximately $100,000 raised so far in the community for Ronnie, who is in Miami Children’s Hospital waiting for the $162,000 necessary for the transplant operation at Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital. Final costs could raise that figure to $300,000, which the family cannot afford.

Police said Thursday they had latent fingerprints in the case, but had not made an arrest and were still investigating. The thieves gained entry to the accounting office where the money was stored by breaking a window, police said.

The stolen cash, donated by students from lunch money, bake sales and other activities, was to have been turned over to the child’s fund today.

‘We’re Shocked’

At the White House, presidential spokesman Rusty Brashear said: “We’re shocked. I can’t believe it.”

Reagan called after learning of Ronnie’s case from Vice President George Bush, who heard of the case from his son, Jeb, Florida’s commerce secretary, and had called the boy earlier Wednesday.

Ronnie was ecstatic at the President’s call, even though he was sedated before undergoing a bone-marrow test, his mother, Maria DeSillers, said. He wanted to speak to Reagan because they share a name and the experience of spending a lot of time in hospitals, she said.

‘Not Enough Money’

“He said to the President he was not feeling well, and the President asked him why, and he told him that he did not have enough money to go to Pittsburgh to get his operation,” DeSillers said.

Ronnie ended by thanking the President for calling, and then handed the phone to his mother.