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CANTON, Ohio (WJW)– A young BMX champion had his heart broken last week when someone stole his favorite bike from his family’s backyard, but Northeast Ohioans made sure there was a happy ending to the story.

Ryden Jakobsen is only 9 years old. With a name like Ryden, the Canton third grader was destined to be a champion in the world of BMX, bicycle motocross.

“He just eats, breaths and sleeps BMX. He’s number one in state of Ohio for 9 intermediate, he’s number three in the state for cruiser class,” said Jeremy Jakobson, Ryden’s father.

Even with his accomplishments on BMX racing bikes, Ryden Jakobsen’s favorite bike is the one his dad gave him on his birthday for BMX freestyle.

“It’s all he does, he would probably rather have his Xbox stolen than his bike,” Jeremy Jakobsen said.

(Family photo used with permission)

Last Friday, Ryden left his bike in his backyard for just a couple of minutes and went to ask his dad to take him to a skate park. But when he came back outside, the bike was gone.

“He broke down into tears and just cried, so we jumped in the van right away, tried to go and see if we could find it down the street or anything,” his dad said.

They had no luck, and later discovered that a neighbor’s ring camera captured images of two older boys sneaking into the backyard while Ryden was inside the house.

“I think the two kids were coming to get it, whether he was on it or not, I honestly think that.”

The family posted a story about the stolen bike on a Canton Facebook crime page. A number of people recommended that they create a GoFundMe page, and within a short amount of time, they raised enough money to buy Ryden a new bike.

Jakobsen said the generosity and compassion of Northeast Ohioans made quite an impression on his son.

“He’s like ‘Are you kidding me?’ He was absolutely just thrilled. He just couldn’t believe it, the amount of support was insane” he said.

The kindness of complete strangers has even washed away the hard feelings that the young champion had for the thieves who took his favorite bike.

His dad told us, “He said, ‘Whoever got it, I hope they enjoy it.’ That’s just my son right there.”