Young boy’s bike stolen following death of grandparents, family dog and broken bones

She told Lethbridge News Now that last year, she separated from Landyn’s father. Radisic then moved Landyn and his 15-year-old brother Bryson to a building that allowed cats, but not dogs. This forced them to move the family dog, Lexi, to her parent’s home in Warner.

“She was able to come and visit us once, and unfortunately we weren’t able to get out there as often as we would have liked,” she said, adding that the dog was Landyn’s ‘best friend’.

The 12-year-old had even taught Lexi the art of parkour and played with her every day.

The string of unfortunate incidents continued, when Radisic’s stepfather had a heart attack. This happened on a Friday last July and while he was at Foothills Hospital in Calgary, the home in Warner burned down.

Landyn and his brother with their grandparents (Photo courtesy Mindy Radisic)

“My mom – so my son’s grandmother and his dog (Lexi), and their (her parents) roommate and all of their pets passed away in that fire,” Radisic said.

“My dad, so my son’s grandfather, was doing better in the hospital and it looked like he was going to make a full recovery. Unfortunately, the following Friday, he had a stroke and they couldn’t detect any activity in his brain, so the Saturday morning he passed away.”

VEHICLE INCIDENT

Last October, Radisic said Landyn was riding his bike in Lethbridge and was struck by a vehicle.

“He had the right of way, he was in the crosswalk and he waited for the walk sign and unfortunately, somebody was not very safe, took an unsafe left turn and hit him,” she explained.

Landyn’s leg was broken in two places as a result.

“Physically he’s made a full recovery, but mentally and emotionally he’s not been doing so well. He’s been a little bit worried about getting back on the bike and what could potentially happen. You know, that’s always in the back of your mind when you’re out riding,” she said.

“So, he hasn’t been himself and going out as often whereas he used to be out every day.”

Landyn using crutches after being hit by a vehicle, which broke his leg in two places (Photo courtesy Mindy Radisic)

Radisic said they went out and bought Landyn a brand-new bike. She added he just started riding regularly again, when on May 28, the new bike was stolen along 1 Avenue North.

“He was at his friend’s house. He put it (the bike) in the front yard – like he brought it into the yard, left it there for about two minutes, went to the back, came out to the front and it was gone.”

She said they reported the theft to police and spent most of the night searching for the bike, to no avail.

COMMUNITY FEEDBACK

Radisic also made a post on the Facebook page ‘Lethbridge Roasts Toasts & Chit Chat’ the evening of May 28 and said the response from the community has been tremendous and heartwarming.

“It’s quite amazing to see that there’s been about 600 shares, maybe even more and lots of comments, lots of likes. I’ve had people message me asking if I would like for them to donate a mountain bike. However, my son’s a BMX-er so I would hate to take that and have it not be used,” she said.

“For Landyn, it’s sad because it was something that was so sentimental too, because it’s not just about the money…it was something that meant so much to him.”

She said the overall feedback from the community has been varied, with some people showing anger over the theft and many sending along messages of sympathy.

“It’s interesting to see all these strangers, people that we’ve never met, show so much support,” Radisic said, with a smile.

Fortunately, she said they haven’t received any negative comments towards the family.

“Sitting there reading the comments to my son, it definitely keeps him a little bit more positive I think, because he sees that there is good as well, especially after something so bad happening to him.”

She added that Landyn has moments where he’s “very positive” and where he is “pretty upset” but is trying to stay strong through the tough times the family has faced since last summer.

“I think he’s trying to put on a happy face because he doesn’t want us to feel sad for him. That’s kind of his personality, he tries to make other people happy all the time,” she said.

“I’m excited to see that his attitude has shifted because after he was hit by the car, he wasn’t really going to school as much. He’s still struggling, and fell into a bit of a depression, but to have him make positive comments now is encouraging that he is getting slightly better than what he was.”

Radisic is asking that whomever stole Landyn’s bike return it.

“If they wanted to return it, there would be no questions asked on this end,” she said.

“It’s just something that means so much to my son, and to anybody that’s offered those positive words of encouragement, my son is holding on to those, and thank you very much for all of it.”

An account has since been set up at Ascent Cycle in an effort to get a new bike for Landyn.

by Justin Goulet

Young boy’s bike stolen following death of grandparents, family dog and broken bones

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