Why a Sudbury family is thanking their community after a special trike was stolen

A family in Sudbury has two words for their community:Thank you.

That's after a very special tricycle disappeared from the family's backyard andthe community shifted gears to turnthe story around.

The trike, which belongs toNatasha Therrien's15-year-old son, went missing on Sunday.

"He has autism. We just choose to say special needs though. He can't ride a typical bike [because] he has some other issuesas wellthat really affect his mobility. So he rides a three-wheel bike,"Therrien said.

"The bike has two wheels at the back... And there's a big basket in the middle of those. It has two chains."

Being able to get outside and go biking is a huge part of his life, she noted.

"It helps him get the wind on his face. He can't walk very good for long periods of time, so the bike helps him," she said. "We have a Boston terrier and she actually sits in the basket of the bike. So when it went missing, it was pretty devastating."

After a couple of hours, searching the yard and trying to figure out where it might have gone, Therrien said they broke the news to their son.

He was devastated.

"So then my husband said, 'well, let's just make a post on Facebook [and share it].Somebody has to see it'."

Within an hour of putting photos of the bike on social media, the Therriens were inundated with messages.

"People were messaging and messaging, people offering to help look for the bike, people offering to lend our son their bike, because they had a three-wheeled bike, until we found ours," she said.

"There werepeople that wanted to set up a Go Fund Mepage. There werepeople that outright wanted to purchase him a brand new bike. And all we wanted was for the bike to be returned."

By the following morning, Therrien saidher husband receiveda message on Facebook from a gentleman saying that the bike was found, and that his sons would bring it to them.

"So in a matter of hours, the bike returned home and that was really, really nice," she said. "We werethrough the roof. Happy. What a relief. So happy and so relieved."

Therrien saidit felt wonderful to know that there are "good people out there."

"The story really is Sudbury. Thank you, Sudbury. You don't think that people care ... but people that we don't even know, hundreds of comments and outpourings and private messages, willing to try and help our son because his bike went missing. I mean, it's just incredible. Our faith in humanity is just restored. It's incredible."