“He has worked so hard to be in this,” said Linda Langlois, Cole’s grandmother. “This is his first time travelling by himself, he’s 19, it’s 2:30 in the morning in the airport, he’s scrambling.”
The competition began on Wednesday and will run until Sunday.
Cole qualified to compete in Calgary after crushing his personal best at the Oshawa Regionals in August.
To compete in these competitions competitors must wear full bunker gear which they supply themselves.
“He’s been borrowing gear from anyone who isn’t competing, which will cause issues when group races begin,” said Adam Cole, Liam’s father.
In addition to not having equipment for his competition, Cole is also missing all of his personal items and is now dealing with the stress of potentially losing thousands of dollars of equipment.
“Liam went into that first day of competition with five hours of sleep, no gear and no clothes.”
Adam says he has been back and fourth with Lynx Airlines since Liam landed in Calgary, trying to locate his luggage. He waited on hold for over an hour, spoke with a representative for two hours and has still received little to no help.
He has also has been in contact with the Calgary Airport, who he says has been helpful but unsuccessful in getting answers and has spoken with Toronto Pearson Airport with no success.
“It’s hard to understand that they can’t even give us an idea of where it was forgotten or the last time it was seen,” said Adam. “Luggage is tagged, it gets scanned, how does no one know where it is?”
Liam flew from Toronto Pearson to Calgary International Airport via Lynx Airlines.
