Team Canada wheelchair basketball player frustrated after airline loses custom gear

An elite Manitoba para athlete is frustrated after he spent a month begging WestJet to find his lost equipment, only to have the airline return it within hours of being contacted by CBC.

Joshua Brown is a wheelchair basketball player with Team Canada's U23 lineup, which is headed to the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation's men's world championship in Thailand this year.

Brown, who has cerebral palsy, has spent much of his life working toward that goal.

"I only get one chance to play in the junior world championship," he said. "This is my chance."

But he hasn't been able to prepare as he would have liked, after WestJet lost key parts of his gear on a direct flight from Winnipeg to Toronto.

The 21-year-old from East St. Paul, who now lives and trains with the national team in Toronto, said his heart sank when he realized the equipment hadn't made it.

He had all his other bags, so he waited more than an hour for his gear to show up.

"I'm pretty patient. I don't like to cause a huge scene. So I waited and waited and waited."

That wait continued for a month, as Brown and his parents made numerous calls to the airline and multiple trips to the airports in both Winnipeg and Toronto.

The missing bag held his specialized sports wheels and other custom wheelchair parts Brown said would take months — and thousands of dollars — to replace.

"It's not just like going to buy clothes or toiletries," said Brown, who said he tried to explain to WestJet agents how important those wheels are. 

"There are only a few companies that make them," he said, adding that each athlete has equipment built to their specific measurements and needs.

"So you can't just go to any guy and ask him to lend it to you," said Brown. "It has to be a