Help Find These Special Helmets!

Cambridge, ON - September 9, 2014
Photos via Jason Cherry & Racing With Autism

There are some posts that just make your insides turn and this is one of them, unfortunately.

Sometime in the last 24 hours, thieves broke into the race hauler for Racing With Autism and stole both of Austin Riley's helmets and the team's laptop with all their race setup and data on it.  It's a crippling blow to a young man that has struggled so hard to get to where he is.

While both the laptop and the helmets can be replaced with new ones, the memories associated with those two helmets can't be replaced, nor can the data on the laptop.

You see, Austin was wearing one of those helmets the day Brooke and I met him.  He was wearing one of those helmets when he met retired Formula One driver Rubens Barrichello.  He was wearing one of those helmets when he became the first driver with Autism to graduate from Skip Barber Race School.  Austin was wearing one of those helmets when he won one of his championships.  The top picture for this post is a special photo taken when Austin met Jason Cherry of the Pirelli World Challenge Series.  Jason supports the American Autism Society and has a brother on the Autism spectrum.

Those helmets aren't just race helmets.  They are a treasure trove of special memories for a young man that needs those memories far more than most of us do.  Those helmets are worth far more to Austin than they could ever be to the thieves that stole them.

It's a cruel and heartless thing to take away a young man's memories like this.  It's like ripping out a part of his soul.  What MUST happen here is that these helmets are found and returned to Austin Riley.

Any other outcome is completely unacceptable and completely unthinkable.

NOTE:  If you have information on these helmets, please contact Racing With Autism.

~Colene~