The community has come through for a 14-year-old Fort McMurray teen who had his bike stolen.
Last Friday, Connor Bromfield had his bike taken after he had forgotten his lock on a trip to the mall.
A Facebook post from Connor’s mom, Elizabeth Green lead to a flurry of support from businesses and residents wanting to pitch in to get him a new set of wheels.
Green tells Mix News one moment her son was walking through the doors – the next the bike was gone.
“He saw two gentlemen standing outside the mall and he decided he was going to ask them to watch his bike. Him being 14, naive, trusting, I guess before he made it through the second door, the one guy was on the bike and the two of them were just gone.”
The Facebook post had caught the attention of several business owners, including Christine St-onge of McMurray Carpets and Marty Frost.
Before too long, it crescendoed to Connor getting a new bike.
“I just saw Christine had said that her company would donate $50,” Frost said. “I know a lot of business owners, so, I thought hey, fifty bucks. I have the power to do that, I’m the boss. So, I’ll send $50, I’ll contact everyone I know who owns a business and we will get him a new bike.”
Green notes times such as these make you appreciate the community spirit of Fort McMurray.
She says the support has been unbelievable.
“Next thing you know, I’m getting a message from a Brett McDonald, saying he was in SportChek at that moment, looking at bikes and sending me pictures of whatever bike Connor wanted. He said he was going to grab it right then and there.”
Green adds while she’s worried this may damage her son’s trust in humanity – she feels it is a good outcome to a bad circumstance
“The thing I was really worried about was it’s going to change Connor’s perspective on people. It’s a crappy lesson to learn. He depended on that bike. That was his form of independence and it got him back and forth between work and school.”
Now that Connor has his new wheels, Green says she’s over the moon with gratitude.