‘We now have a new hockey family from all over Canada and the United States.’ Card collectors, coaches, teams, and fans have all embraced Wynston!
A Canadian family has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love from strangers both at home and abroad after their young son was bullied and lost his prized hockey card collection. Wynston Martin’s story went viral after his grandmother, Carleen Denell Fosseneuve, posted a plea for help on Facebook last week. “Last week while he was waiting to get on the bus Wyston was bullied and two young men stole his hockey card collection he was carrying and ran off with them. He had been building his hockey card collection for years and is a true St. Louis Blues fan. I am asking if anyone would like to donate a card or two it would help Wynston rebuild his collection,” Fosseneuve wrote on Facebook. “The act of generosity and kindness would be so appreciated.”
Fosseneuve told CTV News that the 7-year-old Opaskwayak Cree Nation member was heartbroken when his collection was stolen from him. . “We were all pretty upset. Seeing him upset like that, I guess anybody would relate, have empathy for their child and their grandchild being bullied like that. The intention was to just try to make him feel better,” she explained. The response to Fosseneuve’s Facebook plea for hockey cards was immediate and far-reaching. “We had some kids up in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, they were collecting cards for Wynston. We had messages from Vancouver. Some messages from the States in Chicago,” she revealed.
Meanwhile, in light of the recent incident, friends and family who had been collecting cards in the hopes of giving them to him for his birthday gave them to him sooner. According to Fosseneuve, Wynston has also heard from a major hockey card manufacturer who has offered to replace some of his lost cards. “I think a lot of people share that joy of card collecting, and just that hockey spirit that everybody has for watching their favorite teams,” she said. “The outpouring of support and kindness—it’s been really overwhelming.”
In addition to the cards, Wynston and his family were given the opportunity to travel to Winnipeg to watch the Winnipeg Jets play his favorite team, the St. Louis Blues. Fosseneuve revealed that, despite his team’s 4-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, Wynston was blown away by the opportunity to watch the Blues play live and in person with family members at Canada Life Centre on Monday night. “This is amazing, the utter spirit of hockey, the love of the game,” she said of the support her grandson has received since she made her post. “We are so thankful for the messages and output of love that you’ve shared with Wynston. We’re so appreciative of all of the love.”
Fosseneuve thanked everyone for their support of Wynston in his time of need on Facebook: “We now have a new hockey family from all across Canada and the USA. Card collection families, coaches, teams, and fans alike have embraced Wynston wholeheartedly! You’ve shared a card or two from your own private collection, Wow!
Thank you for standing with Wynston. You’ve helped to rebuild his collection and more importantly rebuilt his love for card collecting and the belief that great people like YOU exist! We are so humbled and I extend my gratitude to you all for the love and support, Kindness always WYNS.”
Strangers across Canada step up after Manitoba boy’s hockey card collection was stolen https://t.co/ANacn9FWBd
— Dawn Walton (@CTVdawnwalton) October 25, 2022