Canberra teenager Jed Rowe, who has autism and ADHD, just over a week ago had his new bike stolen on the same day he got it.
Long story short, Belconnen business Bike Culture on Friday gifted him the same model bike to replace the stolen one. Co-owner Brent Miller reckons it was just the right thing to do.
And Jed's dad Ian says his son has learned an important lesson - that "there are a lot more kind people than bad people" in the world.
Jed, who will be soon starting year nine at the Black Mountain School, originally picked up his new Trek Dual Sport 2 from Bike Culture in Belconnen last week, January 12, after he and the family had saved up for the $1200 bike.
That same day, he excitedly rode it from his home in Dunlop to the Charnwood oval, and lent it against the discus cage as he played in the long-jump sandpit, a favourite thing he likes to do.
Dad Ian said someone then came along and stole both Jed's bike and helmet.
"Someone must have seen him and decided they'd take it," Ian said.
"Another couple walking by saw that Jed was in distress and he was able to give them my number so they could give me a call. He was confused. He couldn't understand why someone would take something that was his. He doesn't understand the concept of theft. He was saying, 'why can't we go to their house and get it because it's mine?'."
The helmet was later found in bushes but the bike was gone. The theft has been reported to police.
The family couldn't afford to buy the same bike again, so bought a cheap bike from Kmart and asked Bike Culture to assemble that.
Mr Miller agreed to assemble the Kmart bike - on the proviso the Rowe family give it to someone in need and he would instead replace the $1200 Trek bike free of charge.
Mr Miller, who owns Bike Culture with Caroline Muldoon, said Trek also helped in the effort to get a new bike for Jed.
"The family had saved up, it was to do something as a family, the kid was so excited about it," he said.
"In small business, there's good times and bad times and when you have a good time, there's an opportunity to give something back to the community.
"This was the right thing to do. Whether it was expensive or cheap or anything like that, it wasn't about that. It was, 'This is the right thing to do for a family'.
"As soon as it happened, I rang my business partner Caroline, at our sister store in Gungahlin, and said, 'this is what's happened' and we were just both in 100 per cent agreement this was what we were going to do."
Mr Rowe was angry that Jed was probably targeted by the thieves because he did have special needs. "But then you get the kindness of Bike Culture and it's just amazing," he said.
Bike Culture has been around for 23 years, starting in O'Connor. Mr Miller has owned it for 14 years with Ms Muldoon. He was always happy to share his passion for bikes with others.
The new bike is also fitted with a GPS tracker.
"I love this bike. It's the best bike I've ever had," Jed said.
