As a person with limited vision, Amber relies on her tricycle to exercise her guide dog and go to the grocery store. She was devastated when the bike was stolen. As she explains in her letter below, she is grateful to the EPS, in particular Constables Andrew Jarvis and Matt Aasberg of Downtown Beats 1, for all their assistance returning the bike to her.
Andrew & Matt,
I am truly grateful for your efforts in not only recovering my tricycle, but also bringing it back in (better than) working condition.
I purchased this bike 2 years ago to regain some of the freedoms lost after losing my driver’s licence to an inherent retinal disease resulting in low vision.
It’s allowed me to independently haul groceries & travel faster than a walking pace.
Losing my licence limited so much from my previous way of living. This bike has given back some of those joys and freedoms. It allows me to move more than 3-5 kms from my house, which doesn’t seem like much, but it means a lot to me.
I felt so violated and angry when it was stolen. The one small joy that brought some freedoms back to a blind’ish gal - vanished. The additional slap to the face being, I couldn’t even go out to “look” for it, due to my disability.
I remember saying to Seth & his partner the day they arrived for the initial complaint, “I know you guys have bigger problems to solve than a blind girls stolen bike…”
They kindly reassured me my report was just as valid and important as other calls - I cannot tell you what a beautiful statement that was to hear.
A few days later, the communications team publicly posted about the loss & I was told it was shared with all units. The post received hundreds of shares and resulted in an offer for a tricycle donation. The kindness of strangers and officers attending to the case was overwhelming. Faith in humanity restored.
I hope you both know what a wild difference this wee bike makes to my life. Most importantly I can return to physically/mentally exercising my German shepherd. We’re big fans for the phrase,
“Run your dog NOT your mouth.”
I hope you don’t mind the occasional Bonsai/tricycle update along the way. Be sure to give Kevin a few pats on the head for keep’in 6 while it was in the shop.
Thank you all - from the depths of my Heart. I am grateful to have met such compassionate officers - protecting & serving our community.
Warmly,
Amber
