A “substantial donation” from an anonymous source is helping an Edmonton sledge hockey team replace some equipment that was stolen last month.
The team was missing about $35,000 worth of equipment after it was stolen while the Edmonton Adaptive Sports Association (EASA) Storm was in Irvine, California for a tournament.
Sometime overnight during the tournament, their U-Haul was stolen outside of their hotel with equipment for 27 sledge hockey players.
However, the equipment is in the process of being replaced, after the players received a donation from an anonymous donor in Newport Beach, California.
“In addition to this donation, support from local Edmonton businesses has helped facilitate replacement of the equipment. We are very grateful for the support,” said Dr. Ted Purcell, speaking for the team.
Some brand new Edmonton Oilers jerseys were also stolen, which was especially devastating as they all had a crest on them in memory of a player who had died.
Luckily, police in Irvine recovered one of the bags of missing jerseys, along with seven more of the missing equipment bags.
The equipment was designed for athletes with disabilities.
“It’s literally adaptive sport equipment,” EASA Storm player Karissa Eckenswiller told Global News in November. “Nobody outside of the disability community is going to get use out of this equipment.”
Police are still trying to find the remaining equipment.