Syrian refugee boy gets donated bike from parents who lost their son
Couple responded to video appeal from Syrian boy for a bicycle
The parents of a Calgary boy who died as a result of the "choking game" have donated their late son's bike after they saw a video request from a young Syrian refugee asking for a bicycle.
Malcolm Eyjolfson and Kerri Workman's 11-year-old son Bryce died in October 2014. He had been playing the "choking game", which involves youth asphyxiating each other for a temporary, drug-free high.
Workman says she has been keeping the bicycle as a way of holding on to her son's memory. But she says she decided she was ready to part with it after seeing a video appeal for a bike made by 12-year-old Abdo Al Oeteke, a Syrian refugee living in Calgary.
Workman and Eyjolfson brought the bicycle, as well as a helmet and a football, to a warehouse where the Syrian Refugee Support Group is storing items for arriving refugees. Workman says it was her first contact with the group.
"Everybody made us feel very welcome, everybody was so happy that we came to bring this bike," she said.
"It would make my son very happy," Workman said, "Bryce would be very happy with our choice."
As for Abdo, his grin says it all, but he does manage one word in English when asked if he likes his bicycle.
"Yes," he said.