FERNDALE, Mich. (WXYZ) — Eight-year-old Holden Christensen loved riding the bright blue bike his parents got for him a few months ago.
"He learned to ride not that long ago. He loves it," said Holden's mother, Ericka Christensen.
But then the night of Halloween, someone went behind the family's home in Ferndale and stole Holden's bike.
"I was sad when I found out," Holden said.
Ericka wanted to make people aware of the theft, so she posted about it on the Fabulous Ferndale Forum Facebook page along with a picture of the bike, asking people to keep an eye out for it.
Ericka and her husband told their son that they would eventually replace his bike but not right now.
What the Christensens didn't know is that the Facebook post about the stolen bike touched Mike Frank, owner of Frank's Outdoor Services.
"I remember when my bike got stolen," Mike told 7 Action News, recalling a bike he had when he was a kid.
Mike said he often looks for ways he can give back in the community so he found the exact bright blue bike online and bought it for Holden.
Ericka said she saw a screenshot of the order for the bike that had been posted in the comment section of her post with Mike asking her to message him so they could coordinate delivery.
"I was really surprised," Ericka said. "That was not the aim of this post. Like, how generous, oh my gosh."
"I knew of his business. We weren't even his customers," she said. "I know he's really present in the community and he does great things. That was just amazing. He just wanted to make a kid happy."
Ericka and her husband didn't tell Holden that someone bought him a new bike and when Mike delivered it, Holden was speechless.
"I was shocked that I got a new bike," said Holden.
After Holden got his new bike, Jon Hughes, owner of the Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop, actually spotted the stolen bike. A man was riding it to a nearby bus stop.
Jon, who makes a mental note of bikes he hears have been stolen, has helped recover a number of stolen bikes in the past.
Jon said he hopped on one of his bikes and went after the man and when he caught up to him, he gave the stranger two options. He told the man he could either call the police and let them sort it out or the man could give up the bike to him.
Jon said the man told him that he found the bike at a bus stop and he didn't make a fuss giving it up.
Jon returned the stolen bike to Holden and his family. But now, the Christensens had two identical bikes.
Ericka went back on Facebook to let people know that she would be gifting one of the bikes to another child who loves bikes as much as her son does.
"Maybe others will be inspired and may also want to pay it forward to the (presumably) many deserving kids that would love a bike," she wrote in the post, encouraging anyone else who has an extra bike and is in a position to donate it to someone, to do so.
Ericka said they're now making sure their bikes are kept in a secured area.
Jon Hughes of the Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop encourages people to spend money on a good lock and use it. He said it's important to be proactive about keeping bikes secure at home or even if you're just running into a store for a few minutes.
Jon said stolen bikes are rarely recovered and it doesn't matter what city you live in. It can happen anywhere.
And if you do live in Ferndale, check out Frank's Outdoor Services Facebook page for a generous offer to someone in the community. It's not related to bikes but will certainly make someone smile.
