Mother appeals for return of blind boy's bike

Whanganui High School student Darcy Britton, who is blind, and his mother, Colleen Lee, are appealing for the return of Darcy's tandem bike (photo below of similar bike).
PHOTO / Anne-Marie McDonald

They use it to get groceries. And 17-year-old Darcy Britton to school. But thieves have made off with the tandem bicycle that was Darcy and his mum's main mode of transport. They want it back. No questions asked.

A Whanganui woman is appealing for the return of her son's bike.

But this is not just any bike. Darcy Britton, 17, is blind, and his bike is a tandem - a bike for two - which he rides with his mother, Colleen Lee.

On Saturday night the pair were not at home. The bike was not locked up, but it was in a locked shed on their property. They arrived home to find the shed door hanging open and the bike missing.

"I couldn't believe it," Darcy said.

The bike was given to Darcy by ACC. Colleen doesn't drive, so the pair used the bike as their main form of transport - including doing their grocery shopping.

"It's horrible that anyone would do this," Colleen said. "We just want whoever has it to give it back."

The tandem also provided some measure of independence for the young man who loved to ride dirt bikes when he still had his sight.

Darcy went blind in 2014, thanks to a tumour the size of an apple in his brain. He'd always had poor vision, but one morning he woke up to find his sight almost completely gone.

"I'd had the tumour since I was 4, and it had been misdiagnosed for 10 years. If it had been left for another four months, I would have died," Darcy said.

The tumour is still in Darcy's brain, but it's not growing. However, the loss of his sight is permanent.

"I really enjoyed riding the tandem, although sometimes I felt dizzy on it because I couldn't see," he said.

Colleen said there was no way she could afford to buy another tandem, as they were much more expensive than ordinary bikes.

She does not want to press charges against whoever stole the bike - she doesn't even want to know who it is.

"I just want the bike returned, no questions asked, for Darcy's sake," Colleen said.

The bike is a dark grey, 10-speed tandem, with a Pedal Pushers sticker on it, white foam rubber on the handle bars and blue foam rubber on the back seat.

The bike can be dropped off at 3 Smithfield Rd.

By Anne-Marie McDonald
Wanganui Chronicle 17/10/17