The gold medal-winning goalie from Canada's sledge hockey team has had his most prized possession stolen.
Paul Rosen of Thornhill, Ont., was signing autographs at a fundraiser for spinal cord research at Downsview Park in north Toronto Saturday when he turned away to grab something.
When he turned back, his medal was gone.
"Originally, I didn't even realize what happened," he explained to Canada AM.
"I looked over, started to get undressed and I said to one of the organizers, 'My medal's not around.' We started to look and 15 minutes later we started to panic."
Rosen says he has a theory about what may have happened.
"One of the organizers saw two kids, 14 or 15 years of age running through the parking lot. They didn't know why they were running though, but that's probably why. One of them has my medal."
Rosen, who lost his leg in 1999, made 18 saves to help Canada defeat Norway 3-0 in the Paralympic Winter Games gold-medal games last march in Turin, Italy.
Now he's appealing to the thief or thieves to do the right thing.
"It's very straightforward. I just want my medal back. The police won't be involved. There won't be any prosecution. And I don't care, I really don't care why you did it. It's over with, just give it back. I worked very hard to win the medal and I'm a Canadian athlete like all of us, women or men, we're very proud to represent this great country. I just want my medal back."
Rosen says police are investigating the theft but adds there won't be a reward involved.
"I don't want to reward somebody for stealing my medal," he says.
"As crazy as it sounds, I'd rather not have the medal than to know that a thief was paid to give my medal back."
