'This bike has been important to me': Ukrainian teen reunited with stolen bike thanks to local community
CTV
A 14-year-old from Ukraine has been reunited with his stolen bike thanks in part to the Norfolk County community.
Illia Makysmenko has been an avid bike rider since the age of six.
“I like to ride my bike because it's very good for your legs, and it's very fast," said Illia . "It's like you are driving a motorcycle.”
The 14-year-old's passion for biking certainly didn't change when he made the move to Canada.
“In Ukraine, it’s very different riding, here you go on a road and it's very good,” he said. “In Ukraine, it was war and Canada is a beautiful place to live.”
Illia, along with his family, moved to Norfolk County last year to flee the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Shortly after arriving, Illia was given a bike from a local Ukrainian refugee support group as a way to welcome him to the community.
“Their family arrived, and like most of the families, most of them didn't have driver's license, didn't have transportation," said said Jennifer Rodger, a Norfolk County resident who is part of the group called Norfolk Support for Ukrainian Refugees."So I was trying to get bikes for everybody. We had managed to get about 35 bikes to different families and we had a really nice bike donated that I knew Illia would love because he's an active kid."
