Heartless Thieves Steal Beloved Bike of New Bedford Man Suffering from Spinal Disease
NEW BEDFORD — A 24-year-old city man with a debilitating illness is without his only means of transportation after heartless thieves stole his beloved bicycle from right outside his home early Sunday morning.
Perry Leduc suffers from spina bifida. He has had 31 spinal surgeries and his right leg amputated. He tells Fun 107 the one thing that keeps him going is his Aventon Mataro bicycle.
“It physically helps, and also, I can’t drive, so it’s my only way to get around,” Leduc said.
Early Sunday—Leduc estimates sometime between 3 a.m. and 11 a.m.—thieves cut the lock and stole the bicycle from the back of his cousin’s truck, directly across the street from Leduc's Allen Street home while he was sleeping inside the residence.
He took to social media to share out a request for the bike to be returned. He plans on filing a police report as well, but says he is waiting on a ride to get to the police station in order to do so.
Leduc is offering a $150 reward if the bike is returned. He said it is identifiable by “a bunch of stickers on it,” including one that says “Solstice” down one front fork, and “hockey” on the other.
Anyone with information on Leduc’s beloved bicycle can contact him at (774) 510-2071, or through his Instagram account @throughtheeverlookinglens.
He’s hoping someone can lead him on the right track to its safe return. One look at his Facebook page, and the kinds of posts he writes and others write about him, and you’ll see he’s the type of person that puts out a lot of good karma into the world without asking for anything in return—until now.
“I just want my bike back,” he said. “I just want to ride.”