A "heartbroken" schoolboy is said to have not left his house after the bike which he saved £2,500 for was stolen. 13-year-old Kayden Ready's Trek Powerfly 7 electric mountain bike was reportedly taken from outside a shop on December 1.
The Netherton boy's dad Stephen has claimed that the bike "means everything" to his son and that is was his "life and soul". Speaking to the ECHO, the furious father said: "My son isn’t into anything other than bikes.
“Kayden gets money every month for ADHD and autism [through Disability Living Allowance payments]. He saved up for just short of a year to buy this bike.
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“When he bought the bike, it came standard but he saved up again to put handlebars on it, blue brakes, blue discs, blue pedals - all top of the range blue upgrades.
“Two weeks before it got stolen, he put it in the shop to have the back wheel fixed, which was £300. Two days before, he paid £100 for a new seat and grips. It’s more personal because it’s not ‘just a bike’; there’s nothing like his bike anywhere in Liverpool.
“To Kayden, the bike is everything. He won’t go out unless he has a bike to go on. He’s built little ramps outside the house."
On the morning of Sunday December 1, Kayden went to the shop. Stephen said: “He woke up and was really excited to have a guggy egg and asked his mum if he could ride to the shop.
“He got so far up the road and saw a fella riding behind him, shouting to him to ‘come here’. Kayden panicked and carried on riding. When he got to the shop, he jumped off his bike and leaned it against the shop wall.
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“He ran into the shop and about 10 seconds later, a woman entered the shop and told him that a man had robbed his bike from outside.
“He came back here, absolutely heartbroken. I was in bed when I heard him knocking and screaming.
"The woman with him said that his bike had been robbed. We haven’t seen it since."
Merseyside Police confirmed the incident when approached by the ECHO. Stephen continued: “To most people, a bike is just a bike and it’s just a case of replacing it. But in this case, it’s not just a bike, it’s personal because he’s done it all up himself.
“Everything he posts on social media is to do with his bike. I’ve offered to buy him a new bike but he doesn’t want one. He says: ‘I want my bike’. I keep explaining to him that there’s a good chance it’s not going to come back.
“He’s never usually in the house and loves to go out but, since the bike was taken, he hasn’t set foot outside the door, which is very strange for our Kayden. I think there’s nothing worse than a thief, it’s absolutely disgusting."
In an effort to help his son, Stephen set up a GoFundMe, adding: “We tried a GoFundMe and everything for him, but I don’t expect people to help. It’s the fact that it’s right on Christmas as well."