Shawn Blystone, a 28-year-old Elderton man with special needs, was expecting a bike delivery last week from an anonymous person who had bought it for him after his yellow tricycle was stolen this month.
So it caught him off guard when he saw a woman he knew pull up in a truck with a brand new blue Schwinn adult tricycle in the back.
“Oh Tina,” he said, as he rushed toward his boss, Tina Miller.
Resident Linda Prugh was there to see Blystone's big smile when Miller, owner of Tina's Log Cabin in Elderton, dropped off the bike.
“He ran to her and he hugged her,” Prugh said. “It was worth it all.”
Blystone is a dishwasher at the restaurant.
The family had received a total of $85 in donations, as well as offers from people far and wide to replace the stolen bike – which was later returned with a broken sprocket. They hope to make repairs and donate it to someone who could use it.
Frank van Ameringen of Pittsburgh was among those who sprang to action after news spread about the bike theft. He also ordered a new tricycle – exactly like the one Miller purchased – for pickup at Wal-Mart in Kittanning.
Blystone's mother, Diana Arbuckle, said the family has plans to use the donated cash and van Ameringen's bike for a good cause.
“We want to raffle the bike off and use the cash to help put in an accessible ramp at Mohawk Lanes in Indiana,” Arbuckle said.
Arbuckle works with people with special needs and brings them to places like the Mohawk bowling alley for community activities. Her son is a frequent visitor there.
Van Ameringen, a Kittanning High School graduate, is pleased with the family's decision.
“I'm very happy that things worked out the way that they did,” he said in an email. “And that the donations and subsequent raffle money raised are testaments to the kindness of strangers and our willingness to help a neighbor in need. It's really wonderful to see some good come out of an initially unfortunate situation.”
Arbuckle said she is deeply grateful to him and Miller and to all those who helped her son.
“This is a way to pay it forward,” she said. “I wasn't expecting all that to happen. Something good came out of it.”
Brigid Beatty is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-543-1303 or bbeatty@tribweb.com.
