WINNIPEG

Pity is the last thing David Leitch wants.

He’s not looking to bring bad publicity to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, either. After all, this is a football team that saved his life a few years back. He owes it.

But what about the people who run the Bombers — do they owe Leitch more than they’re willing to give him?

You decide.

Leitch’s story began — almost ended, actually — in 2008. That’s when he tried to kill himself.

Born with spina bifida and confined to a wheelchair, Leitch, 22, doesn’t know his father, was abandoned by his mother because of his disability and was beaten by his grandmother, who raised him.

That left him with little hope.

In 2009 he discovered a place where he felt special.

Initially befriending the late assistant coach Richard Harris at training camp, Leitch became one of the most loyal Bomber fans you’ll ever find, attending not only every home game, but every practice for the next four years.

Players and coaches became his friends, quarterback Alex Brink his closest.

The twinkle back in his eye, Leitch began taking photographs of players at practice, using his cell phone.

Players saw his knack for photography and pitched in to buy him a Canon camera, and he’d post photos on Instagram and Facebook, where players’ families often provided feedback.

Well, the pictures have stopped.

It seems somebody has decided Leitch can’t be on the sideline during practice, anymore.

“Some people thought I was dead or something,” Leitch was saying, Tuesday. “I didn’t show up for a few days, and they were, like, ‘Where you been at?’ I’ve been OK. I just wasn’t invited.”

Oh, he was allowed to park his chair in the tunnel for one practice, much too far away for a decent photo. Generally, he’ll be banished to the wheelchair seating area, up in the stands.

“And there’s another issue — the wheelchair seats,” Leitch said. “There’s a railing, so I can’t even see the game. It looks like I’m watching the game through a prison cell.”

While able-bodied people could at least get down to the front row for practice, Leitch can’t even do that.

Leitch says players have told him they’re disappointed he’s no longer allowed to do his thing as the unofficial team photographer.

Brink, no longer a Bomber, took to Twitter to express his feelings.

“Sad to see the #Bombers are restricting occasional field access to a wheelchair bound kid who wants to take pictures at practice,” Brink tweeted. “Apparently ‘tough, new security policy’ is high on the priority list this yr.”

Now, Leitch is fine with having less access at the new stadium.

What he would like is a proper explanation, and maybe a compromise, instead of a simple, “That’s the rules.”

“If you can’t give me field access, fine,” he said. “But there’s no way for me to get down to any part of the lower arena to take pictures.

“I’m not asking for it every day. I’d make a compromise with them. I’d just like to get some field access. Even if they only let me on the field for 30 or 40 minutes of the practice.”

I asked communications director Darren Cameron for an explanation, and was told “for safety reasons we are no longer able to grant him, or any other fan, regular sideline access.”

Asked who made the call, Cameron simply said, “the organization.”

It’s interesting that Cameron referred to Leitch as “a fan,” because many see him as more.

“David is a Bomber,” veteran receiver Terrence Edwards said in an interview, last year. “He’s a part of the team.”

This is a case that screams for an exception to “the rule.”

But are the Bombers listening?