COURTENAY, B.C. – The custom electric bike that was stolen from a young man with special needs in the summertime was found yesterday at the top end of Lake Trail Road.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t completely whole.
In mid-August, 22-year-old Matthew Cadwell was working at the Courtenay White Spot, where he is a dishwasher, when someone made off with his BionX model bike that was worth in the neighbourhood of $4,500.
It was a crushing loss for Matthew, who will never drive and used the bike as his only mode of transport.
When the bike was found by the animal rescue group Kitty Cat P.A.L. Society on Thursday night, it was stripped of many of its parts, including one of its tires.
“There’s quite a bit of stuff missing off of it,” Matthew’s dad Mike said. “I guess they cut (off) the major parts: the motors and the batteries… and switches, and lights. They stripped it.”
The frame was left intact.
There is good news, however.
Thanks to donations from a GoFundMe page as well as from local individuals businesses, including a notable contribution from Fitness Etc., Matthew’s family was able to collect the funds necessary to purchase a new bike.
Matthew received his new bike a week-and-a-half ago, after it was shipped to Vancouver Island from Ontario.
He also has a more secure padlock and chain for the bike.
In the meantime, Matthew was the recipient of a mountain bike that was donated to him from Gravity MTB in Comox and now, according to Mike, “the folks that gave it to him want us to donate it to someone in need.”
