'Porch pirates' steal 4-year-old boy’s supply of life-saving medicine - a week before Christmas

They call they porch pirates - people who cash in on the popularity of online shopping and the resulting large number of packages that get delivered and left outside people’s doors.

Presumably, the people who stole a package that had been delivered and left outside the home of four-year-old Austin Taylor did not realise what they were taking - a three-month supply of life-saving medicine he needs to stop his body rejecting a transplanted kidney.

Either way, the package containing medicine worth $5,000 was taken from outside his home in Riverdale, Utah, a week before Christmas. If was the first time the drugs had been been stolen off the porch.

The boy’s father, Cody Taylor, told NBC that he received a notification that a new dose of medicine had been delivered.

“Usually as I get that, I expect to see the boxes as I pull up, but there was nothing there,” Mr Taylor said.

Very quickly, he realised the package had been stolen and he panicked that the insurance company would not cover the cost of replacing it.

“Luckily my SUV is paid off. I was prepared to take out a loan and pay for the medication outright,” Mr Taylor said.

As it was, his insurance company did pay for new medicine and Mr Taylor said he was been overwhelmed by the support he received from the community.

One company, called The Porch Locker, donated a lock box for the little body’s medication to be delivered to in the future.

The youngster was born with a host of both defects and doctors were unsure about how long he would live.

When he turned four over the summer, his father wrote a message on Facebook about his son’s tenacity.