A lone flag is all a North Vancouver man has left of the special bike that helped him get around. Thieves struck overnight Wednesday, robbing Michael Twyman of his $15,000 custom-built tricycle and the mobility it gave him.
“It was shocking, I couldn’t believe it, just disbelief,” he said.
“Gutwrenching,” added his wife Jennifer.
Twyman suffered a stroke in 2008 and battled brain cancer last year. He can only walk for about 10 minutes before he needs to rest, so he relied on the bike to get around. That independence ended when someone got into his secure underground parking lot and cut through two Kryptonite locks to steal his ride.
“The guys that took my bike, what they don’t realize is that they stole my freedom and independence…what really hurt was suddenly realizing I was back to square one.”
The bike’s custom controls allowed Twyman to go anywhere, including following his friends along North Shore mountain bike trails. Unfortunately, the specialized Scorpion FS tricycle is too expensive for him to replace.
“He’s been through all sorts of painful rehab, you know, very tedious hours of it and now he was out doing something physical and he was having fun doing it and he’s been robbed of that……and I’m pretty angry about it,” Jennifer said.
North Vancouver RCMP are investigating the theft. Meanwhile, Twyman has a message for the bike-thieving scoundrels.
“I would really like you to return the bike so I can be free again.”
In case they don’t have a change of heart, Twyman’s friends have set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money to replace his bike.
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