Dani Oliver

In broad daylight, outside of the new Walmart at Guildford Center, you used a pair of what I can only assume are bolt cutters to cut through a thick cord bike lock. Congratulations to you for mastering this technique, as it was previously believed that this particular type of lock was a strong deterrent to thieves like you.

My husband pulled me into prayer when he returned home that day, after having his only means of transportation stolen from him. He prayed that you stole the bike in desperation to take care of your family and hoped it would help you. You see, he knows what it's like to live in desperation. As such, he has gone out of his way to help those in need when he can -- including replacing stolen bicycles for our friends and neighbours. He is a man of great strength and personal conviction. But while he may be taking this on faith and working hard to maintain a positive frame of mind, I am not taking this as well as he is.

I have a personal issue with you. You have caused my husband personal physical injury by stealing his bike. Let me explain. In 2007 he was seriously and permanently injured on his job work site when a steel work horse fell on his foot. He lives in pain daily, and is doomed to walk with a cane for the rest of his life. Regardless, he maintains a good heart and a positive attitude. After his injury, he was offered a scooter to help get him around. He refused it as he wanted to keep active, and having to use a cane was already enough of a deterrent. His bike was reviewed for appropriateness for exercise/transportation given his injury, and it was deemed sufficient. He had to modify the way he rode the bike, but it worked. My husband is 6'3" and 280 lbs (I'm sure he's going to be totally impressed with me sharing that), and is 36 years old. In case you aren't aware of the health implications here, let me enlighten you. Tall/large men are more prone to heart conditions as more blood is required to pump throughout their bodies. Regular exercise is a necessity to compensate for this. After his accident, my husband attempted to continue our long walks together in the hopes (and as recommended by the physical therapists) that this would eventually help alleviate the pain. It didn't. In fact, the more he walks, the more pain he suffers as a consequence. We found that the only way for him to get good solid exercise was his daily bike rides. And you have stolen that out from beneath him.

As I said, I take this personally. Perhaps you did steal the bike to feed or otherwise provide for your family. If that's the case, and you are that desperate that you would essentially cause someone bodily harm, then let us help you. We, ourselves, live on the verge of poverty (both of us subsist on Disability income), but we have learned how to survive. When he can, my husband tries to get out fishing (unfortunately due to lack of transportation he relies on friends to call him when they go fishing). Fishing isn't only a sport to him, it's a means of providing food for us. He also brings fish to other families in the neighbourhood who have their own financial challenges. Occasionally he would bike up the road to Green Timbers, but thanks to you, that is also now out of the question.

Let me give you an example of what we go through on a daily basis since you stole his only means of transportation. Last night our GST cheque was deposited into our bank account. We were in urgent need of a personal "monthly" item. It was 3:00 in the morning and I begged him not to go. He wouldn't hear of it. I feared two things: 1. for his personal safety as we live in a relatively high crime-rate area; 2. the pain he would suffer after the walk. He came home from the walk and soon after, started to feel the twinges of pain (on top of what he was suffering before the walk). He had to set the alarm to get up for our bi-weekly delivery from the local Food Bank. After the delivery arrived, he eventually returned to bed. He has been up and down with severe pain since. As I write this, he has just awoken at 4:30 in the afternoon. That may not seem like a big deal to you, being that we are both on Disability, who cares what time of day we wake/sleep? Well this is a prime example of why we try to keep "regular" hours: we need to deal with government offices, and now, since you stole his bike, we also need to deal with other individuals who are only available during "office hours". At 4:30 in the afternoon, this has now become yet again impossible.

I am severely agoraphobic, and experience difficulty with verbal communication due to a plethora of issues I won't get into. Most communication has to be handled by my husband. All of our grocery shopping and other errands are done by him. It was difficult before, but now it has become even more challenging. We have to rely on the availability and willingness of friends to help. All of our friends who help with transportation work long, full-time hours and most have families to care for. We have become even more isolated than ever. Even trying to do laundry has become an overwhelming task, and most of it now has to done by hand. I could go on, but I hope you get the point.

My husband is a well-known figure around this neighbourhood, known for helping others in a variety of ways. That bike was a part of him and is easily recognizable. We are confident that you have probably attempted to change its appearance by this late date. But I am making an appeal to you: if that bike is still within your possession and can any way be identified as his bike, could you please make arrangements to have it dropped off at a local police station so that they may return it to him? I bought that bike as a birthday gift for him approximately 5.5 years ago at the steep price of $299 + taxes. We are struggling to make ends meet as it is, and without the help of the Food Bank (and especially since he can no longer easily provide us fish as a last resort), we would be struggling even more so. Replacing that bike is out of the question for us.

Perhaps if you yourself are struggling with the same financial issues, you might understand our frustration with such comments as "well at least it wasn't a car that was stolen" and "bikes are easy to replace". First, even though people have to pay exorbitant amounts these days for car insurance, at least their modes of transportation are replaced. Secondly, not any old bike will do. Due to his physical challenges and size, he needs a sturdy bike -- much like the one you stole. A lot of folks just don't understand our predicament, but perhaps you can sympathize. If you are indeed desperate, even though you committed this crime against us, I can say with every confidence that we would try to help you in any way we could -- within reason.

I don't know what else to say other than: please return his bike.