Hamilton man replaces boy's stolen Christmas bicycle

Five minutes a quick break to run into the washroom was all it took for someone to snatch12-year-old Jakob Labonte's brand new bicycle on Boxing Day.

And a video on Facebook with that story was all it took to convince Lee Robbins to restore the boy's faith in humanity.

Jakob had just received the Supercycle bike with camouflage the day before as a Christmas gift.

His mother, Jamie Labonte, posted a video showing her son and his 10-year-old sister getting their new bikes on Christmas morning.

"My son freaked," she told CBC Hamilton, laughing.

He rode his new bicycle around the neighbourhood on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Every time he had to go inside their home, he took it with him.

Imagine getting something like that and then losing it.- Lee Robbins

Except once.

It was in that five minutes someone stole the bike, she said.

"My son was really, really upset," Labonte said. "We were so hurt and crushed."

Labonte said this was the first time she and her boyfriend, Ron Neal,were able to buy the children new bikes. They didnot want to buy cheap locks, so they were waiting until the expenses of the holidays were over to buy better ones. If Jakob had a lock, she said, he would have secured it before running inside, even for a few minutes.

"That's why we felt so bad," she said.

Labonte mentioned on her Facebook video from Christmas morning that her son's bike had been stolen. Labonte's step-sister works for Robbins at Good To Go Tires. Sheshared the video on her own wall, where he saw it.

"Let me fix this for your son," he commented.

Labonte said she and her family were overwhelmed by his offer.

"I was like, you've got to be kidding me," she said. "He said, 'It would really make my Christmas.'"

Found the exact same kind of bike

On Sunday, Robbins showed up at Labonte's home with a new bike for Jakob the exact kind of bike that was stolen, including the camouflage as well as two locks for the children. The Kryptonite locks come with a guarantee that if the bikes are stolen when the locks are used, the company will replace the bicycles.

Robbins said in a way, getting the boy a new bike was a selfish move because he likes the feeling he gets from helping people.

"It's a pretty good feeling," he said. "Imagine getting something like that and then losing it."

Robbins took his own son with him to pick up a new bike in Dundas, and then deliver it to the family's home.

"I wanted to show my son something positive," Robbins said.

New bike, new video

Labonte's newest video showing Robbins arriving with the bike and locks has since received attention on her Facebook page. She shared it to the Only in Hamilton page, where it has received more than 450 likes. People on the page are also commenting on the good deed by Robbins.

"What a great guy," one person wrote."Too bad there weren't more people around like that."

"Knew I had a super awesome neighbour," another person commented.

But Robbins did not buy young Jakob a bike for the publicity. He said he likes to help people out when he can because people have been good to him in the past.

"I didn't do it for the credit," he said. "I like to give back."

Labonte said her son was amazed a stranger would do something like this for him.

"Out of something so bad came something so good," she said. "We are speechless."