Kamloops teen helps ‘frozen puddle goalie’ achieve dream

KAMLOOPS – When Bailey Monteith heard the story about an Abbotsford boy’s dream of playing hockey he stepped up to help.

The 14-year-old goalie from Kamloops created a fundraising campaign online to help Markus Stewart’s family pay for goalie equipment and the hockey fees so he could play.

Stewart’s plight grabbed the Internet’s attention when a video of the boy — practicing hockey on a small frozen puddle in a parking lot in Abbotsford — went viral on Facebook. It has been shared almost 5,000 times and has been viewed over 500,000 times.

Monteith created a GoFundMe page for his fellow goalie with the hopes of raising $2,000 and after just a day it raised almost $3,000.

“Wow! Thank you EVERYONE! This is so awesome! Markus is set up,” he posted on the GoFundMe page.

“Affordability shouldn't stop a kid from his or her dreams,” Monteith posted. “I know that's a reality for a lot of kids but after watching Markus on that ice, I wanted to see if I could help.”

To contact the reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander at halexander@infonews.ca. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.