Stolen Christmas bicycle returned to Hamilton boy
Jakob Labonte wants to give away the bike a stranger gave him as a gift
A 12-year-old Hamilton boy who had his bicycle stolen one day after receiving it for Christmas has been reunited with it.
Now, Jakob Labonte, who received a new bike from a complete stranger, wants to pay forward the kindness he was shown.
Jakob received the Supercycle bicycle with camouflage paint on Christmas Day and rode it around his neighbourhood on Boxing Day until, after stepping inside for just five minutes to use the washroom, someone stole it from the family's front yard.
Jakob's mother, Jamie Labonte, said after the story was told in the media, someone found the bike Tuesday behind a Shopper's Drug Mart on Main Street in the central part of the city — just a few blocks from their home — and she connected with him on Facebook.
"We were so happy. This guy who found it messaged me and said, 'Your husband has tears in his eyes he's so happy,'" Labonte said in an interview Wednesday.
The man who found it told Labonte he thought the abandoned bike looked pretty new and he wondered if it had been stolen.
There is a large scratch on one side, and the padding from the handlebars is missing, but Labonte said, to Jakob, none of that mattered.
"Jake is OK with that," she said.
Kindness of strangers
After Jakob's bike was stolen on Boxing Day, Labonte posted the story on Facebook. A video her son and 10-year-old daughter getting their bikes on Christmas morning, along with the note about how Jakob's bike was taken, was shared by Labonte's step-sister on her own wall. That is how Lee Robbins, the owner of Good To Go Tires, found out about it.
"Let me fix this for your son," Robbins commented on the video.
"It's a pretty good feeling," Robbins said Monday of replacing Jakob's bike. "Imagine getting something like that and then losing it."
Jakob said what Robbins did for him was "amazing" and it made him "very happy because I could ride my bike again."
'Paying it forward' to another Hamilton child
Now that Jakob has his Christmas gift back, he wants to pay it forward and give the bike Robbins gave to him to another child in the city. Labonte said Jakob and Robbins have posted the bike to a Facebook group called Pay It Forward Hamilton and the administrators of the group will do a draw from those who say they are interested in receiving the bike.
Labonte said they also have a brand new helmet they will give to the winner.
People on the Facebook group commented they were pleased to hear the story had a happy ending.
"Glad to see someone returned Jakob's bike back to him! Also very impressed that (they are) finding a new home for the bike they received. Happy holidays and a positive way to start the new year," one man said.
A boy of few words, Jakob said he'd like to say, "Thank you so much" to the people who found his bike and also to Robbins.
Labonte said the whole experience has taught her son about the good in the world.
"I was happy Jake said he wanted to give the bike away," she said. "What Lee did did make a difference because now my son wants to pay it forward."