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A Hamilton man who lost limbs to flesh eating disease just suffered a major setback. When he fell asleep in his wheelchair in front of Jackson Square mall, someone apparently stole his dog from his lap.

Wayde Darr can be seen motoring around Jackson Square pretty well every day, but something is missing from this picture.

“She’s tiny, black, got a white face and a white chest.

He got his morki, Sammi, from a breeder when she was a puppy. She rides everywhere in his lap.

“She’s my everything.”

Darr lost his left foot and right hand to flesh eating disease. Last thursday afternoon, after taking a newly prescribed pain pill, he fell asleep at the corner of King Street and James Street.

“I fell asleep on the corner for five minutes or so and I woke up and she was gone.”

Sammi had been sleeping in his lap, without a leash. He says people nearby saw the dog taken away.

“I heard they were thinking she was malnourished because she’s a thin dog, but that’s the way she is. She’s hyperactive. They figured I was mistreating her and took her.”

“He just had her clipped, and she looked thin and frail because she had no fur on her.”

Diane Burdiak noticed Sammi missing right away. She often serves Wayde at TD Bank in the mall.

“I said where’s Sammi? He said, someone took her. He started to cry. He was so choked up he could hardly tell me the story.”

“I cried all the way home. All the other girls cried all the way home.” said Burdiak.

“I brought in different treats for her. We love her. She’d curl up on my wicket when I was serving Wayde. She’s a beautiful dog. We love her, we miss her, we really want to find her.”

The bank staff have been helping put up flyers and they contacted veterinarians. Sammi has a microchip. But Wayde Darr’s family is worried about him.

“I can’t sleep. I live by myself. She’s everything I’ve got, she’s it. That’s it.”

‘I’m slipping into a deep dark depression and I’m starting to drink again. Which I don’t need in my life.”

Darr’s family and friends have cobbled together a cash reward for any information leading to Sammi’s return.

Wayde says he doesn’t want to see anyone charged or in trouble, he just wants his dog back.

Jackson Square officials say they can’t see anything on the security camera that points to where Darr was sitting, but police say they are collecting security footage in the area as well. They say they are investigating the theft of Sammi.