VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — For Terri Liestman, her recumbent three-wheeler was a vehicle to recovery from a horrific kind of stroke that few live to tell about. But the bike also propelled her to a sense of freedom and independence.

And now it’s gone, carried away last Friday morning in a pickup by two guys who got carried away with the thrill of making off with a niche bike that few people would be able to use.

Liestman, 69, suffered the stroke 10 years ago. “It was what they call a massive ischemic stroke — very serious,” she said Monday morning at her home near the Lesner Bridge. “The left side of my body was totally paralyzed. Only about 2% of people survived that serious of a stroke and even fewer walk.”

Her doctor offered little hope.

“He was afraid I would never walk again,” she said.

A couple years later, she began working with trainer Mara Bates of Chesapeake. A key part of Liestman’s rehab, which was already against all odds, has been the recumbent bike.

“It works all the muscles in both legs,” Bates said. “The strength it has built has led her to be able to walk without a cane.”

“I’ve recovered some movement, and that’s primarily through therapy and exercise as I do every day,” Liestman said.

She has a better state of muscle and a better state of mind.

“It’s exhilarating to be on the bike because you’re moving fast,” Liestman said. “Once you have a disability like mine, you’re always moving slow.”

But then early Friday morning, Liestman’s bike lane to recovery hit a wall.

“Mara and I came out and both of our jaws dropped,” Liestman said. “She said to me, ‘Where’s your bike? I don’t know.’ It was shock and surprise.”

Liestman’s building has security cameras mounted on the second story. She showed us grainy stills from the video of her prized bike being stolen.

“The images show a late model pickup truck and two Caucasian men,” Liestman said.

“I would strap it here sideways, and loop it here three times,” Bates said, illustrating how the bike was locked onto the bike rack outside the apartment building. “It’s not an easy chain to unlock, let me tell you.”

And Liestman said the recumbent three-wheeler weighs only about 40 pounds.

“They probably just lifted it over their shoulders, put it in the back of the pickup truck,” she said. “The whole interaction took about five minutes.”

So what good is a customized recumbent bike on the black market?

“I don’t think it has much resale value because it’s got all these odd things that would have to be switched back to normal for an unaffected rider,” Liestman said.

“It’s sad. It hurts my heart,” Bates said. “Terri’s a role model. She went from no independence to fighting her way to independence, to getting the driver’s license, to living alone. That doesn’t happen.”

Liestman said it will cost her about $3,500 to replace her prized therapy bike.

Anyone with information about the bike theft that happened about 3:30 Friday morning in the 3500 block of Shore Drive is asked to call Virginia Beach Police.