A ten-year-old Orillia boy living with autism is feeling distressed after losing his beloved trike and EZ rider.
Three weeks ago, Buddy Graham went outside to play with his trike, as he does every day, only to realize it had gone missing along with his EZ rider.
“He went around the neighbourhood with a couple of kids that live around here, but they couldn’t find them,” said Rainy Barnard, Graham's mom.
“He still goes out now and again to try and find them; his trike is something he played with religiously.”
Graham is still trying to wrap his head around how his favourite toy has gone missing.
“He has had a lack of understanding as to why his stuff isn’t here. He just can’t fully comprehend it because it’s something he’s had for years now,” Barnard said.
Barnard fears that somebody has stolen Buddy’s prized possessions, and she is still hopeful that maybe they will be returned.
“We are in a neighbourhood where things don’t usually go missing, so we are pretty upset about it,” she said.
Former neighbour Christine LaChapelle has created a GoFundMe to help replace Graham’s trike and EZ rider.
“I know the family can’t afford to purchase new ones, and for Buddy, his trike is everything to him,” LaChapelle said.
“He has the most amazing imagination I’ve ever seen; he imagines it’s his spaceship, pirate ship, and he spends a good part of his day riding it.”
So far $375 of the $1,000 fundraising goal has been raised through the GoFundMe fundraiser, which is sort of disappointing for LaChapelle.
“It’s going slow so far, but we understand that there is a lot of people in need right now,” she said.
Barnard says every donation is appreciated and reaching the $1,000 fundraising goal would mean the world to Graham.
“It would be super wonderful and very helpful. These are expensive things to begin with, so to have help from the community with replacing them would be so amazing,” she said.
“I’m very grateful that people are going out of their way to help Buddy, it means a lot to him.”
