Paralympian turns to social media after losing ring
Quest goes viral as Paralympian reunited with his lost prize
Brad Bowden lost his prized world championship ring at a Calgary bar last week, and the Internet helped him find it.
The ordeal began Friday night when the assistant captain of the Canadian men’s sledge hockey team and two- time Paralympic gold medallist accidentally left the ring behind on a bathroom counter at Wurst in Calgary.
This is no ordinary piece of jewelry: this ring was awarded to Bowden as a member of Canada’s gold- medal winning sledge hockey team in 2013.
“It means the world,” the Ontario native said Monday. “They’re hard to win ... as an athlete, it’s something you take pride in.”
Bowden got in touch with the staff at Wurst, but it wasn’t looking too hopeful until he decided to turn to social media.
Bowden tweeted a photo of the missing ring early Monday morning in the hopes that someone might have spotted it at the bar in Mission. The tweet went viral, prompting # ring to trend briefly in Calgary.
Within just a few hours, someone who spotted the tweet reached out anonymously to Bowden.
Bowden said he’s delighted to have it back, even if he’s had to put up with some chirping from his teammates.
“They’re laughing at me,” said a sheepish- sounding Bowden, shortly before being reunited with his ring.
And as he prepares for sledge hockey training camp and tryouts next month in Calgary, Bowden said he’s impressed by the power of social media while at the same time hoping the news hasn’t reached absolutely everyone.
“I’m so glad my grandfather doesn’t have Twitter because he’s always telling me, ‘ you’re going to lose that thing. You gotta stop wearing it. You’re going to lose it.’”