PRAISE: Community stepping up for boy with stolen arm

A single-mom is beyond thankful after some generous Winnipeggers stepped forward to help out after her sons prosthetic arm was taken.

"On Tuesday I accidentally left my kids prosthetic arm in the car. Somebody went through my car and took some stuff including a bag with the arm inside of it," says Lyra de Fatima.

Shortly after it happened, Fatima asked a group of friends to watch out for it.

"Then other people started looking for it and I think some people even came to the area."

While CHVN asked listeners on Thursday to help locate the red bag, it still has not been located.

However, this weekend, Fatima received some heart-warming news.

"Someone started a 'Go Fund Me' page for the arm and it raised $7,000 in under 5 hours," says Fatima.

This all happened on November 8. She got even more good news after that.

"On top of that, I found out that where Davy gets his arm made, they're going to cover the cost of getting it made."

Anderson Orthotics is the company that is making Davy's new prosthetic arm. Davy was born with a congenital limb amputation.

"Now that it's being covered, I have some extra money for other devices that Davy might need. You can get things like swimming devices later on."

Fatima mentions that she also has student loans to pay off, so this will be one less thing that she has to think about for now.

"The person who started the campaign, his daughter has a disability as well and he said, 'people have helped me out, I'm going to help you out'."

Just before Davy's arm was stolen, Fatima had started donating to some Christian charities.

"The whole idea that God will provide has really been sticking with me. It's something I've been hesitant to do initially but it's already come back many-fold."

This blessing is coming at the right time for Fatima. She works in health care in the mental health field and she says it's taken a toll on her.

"I've been feeling like 'what's the point?' and feeling quite angry lately. I've been feeling frustrated and this is just one of those things that made me realize the great community that I'm apart of and that Someone else is looking out for me."

While the bag being stolen was hard for Fatima, especially with all the stresses of working in mental health during a pandemic, seeing the community step up to help her and her son has offered this family renewed hope.

"What happened recently really brightened up my day and I hope Davy's smile can brighten someone else's."