Ben Sweet plans to cycle across Canada in 11 days
Coldwater's Ben Sweet plans to cycle 5,800 kilometres across Canada in 11 days to raise funds for cancer research.
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CTV News
20 minutes ago
- CTV News
‘I'll remember it for the rest of my life': Bridge patrol officer's life-saving actions earn her multiple awards
For Payton Deeble, more than one life was changed after a medical emergency on Halifax's Angus L. Macdonald bridge. 'It really kind opened my eyes to how just a small action can make such a big impact in somebody's life,' said Deeble. On Feb. 8, the 27-year-old bridge patrol officer with Halifax Harbour Bridges (HHB) was in the middle of her Saturday night shift when she responded to a stalled Dartmouth-bound vehicle on the Macdonald. 'When I approached the car, I noticed that the driver was kind of slumped back with his eyes open,' she recalled. 'He didn't give a response. I tapped on the window, and nothing. Knocked, nothing.' Deeble alerted HHB's operations centre that there was a driver unconscious in his vehicle and to call EHS. 'I started to get a lot more aggressive on the car, just banging on the window. And then luckily enough, a driver that was going through the other lane stopped and asked if I needed any help, and I said, yes. So, he got out with me, and we smashed out the back window in his vehicle.' Payton Deeble Payton Deeble is pictured with an Automated External Defibrillator. (Courtesy: Halifax Harbour Bridges) From there, Deeble and the Good Samaritan unlocked the doors and placed the unconscious man, a senior, on the bridge deck. Deeble grabbed the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) from her patrol car, while a passenger with the helping stranger performed chest compressions. 'He had no pulse,' adds Deeble. 'We got his shirt off, placed the AED on him, and started going through the motions. We did the first shock on him, and we still didn't get a pulse. And second shock, we still didn't get a pulse. And by the third shock, we did get a very weak pulse on him. And by that time, luckily enough, EHS was arriving.' From there, paramedics took the senior to hospital where he was treated for a blocked artery. 'I knew I couldn't even have a second thought about how intense the situation was or about if I was scared or nervous or anything. I just knew I needed to act, and I needed to act right away because seconds were vital. I knew I needed to do something right away, and I needed to help this man.' Fortunately, the senior made a full recovery and celebrated his birthday a few days later. He and his wife later met with Deeble privately to thank her for her actions. 'It was surreal,' adds Deeble. 'It was such a heart filling moment, from seeing him in such a state on the bridge deck to seeing him doing better. It was amazing.' It's also rare. Deeble has been with the HHB for four years. 'I know there's been a few people there who have been there for a very long time. We've seen some really, really intense situations. But from most of the people I spoke with, this was a very, very one-off situation that a lot of people haven't seen on the bridges before.' Steven Proctor, the communications manager for HHB, says it's a 'very uncommon' situation. 'Bridge patrol responds to a bunch of different things that are often unexpected,' explains Proctor. 'Their routine is broken down vehicles, distracted driving, speeding, that kind of thing. They also respond to incidents on the sidewalk, but it's very rare to come across something like what Peyton experienced.' Payton Deeble Payton Deeble is pictured with a Canadian Security Lifesaver award. (Courtesy: Halifax Harbour Bridges) Months later, Deeble has received two security awards for her actions. The GardaWorld Award of Excellence, and a national award from the Canadian Security Lifesaver Association. 'It was such a nice feeling just to have that recognition. I never expected anything like that, you know? I just was doing my job.' Her coworkers say the accolades are well deserved. 'What a life experience to keep it together in a life-or-death situation,' says Proctor. 'To face it head on, having all your training kick in, and have a positive result? I think it's fantastic. She's learned she can stand up to just about any critical situation. Bridge patrol is more than an enforcement tool, they're actually out there helping people.' While she doesn't know who stopped to help her that night, she says she appreciates them. 'If it wasn't for that teamwork, I think it would have been a lot more challenging for me,' adds Deeble. 'I'll remember it for the rest of my life. One hundred per cent.' For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CTV News
22 minutes ago
- CTV News
Organization aiming to end Winnipeg homelessness releases strategic plan
A charitable organization looking to end chronic homelessness in Winnipeg released a five-year strategic plan on Thursday to tackle the issue. End Homelessness Winnipeg (EHW), founded in 2015, brings together the homelessness-serving sector to provide leadership, support and coordination to end homelessness in the city. 'The critical underlying theme that we are focusing on over the next five years, and forever, is we want to be rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing,' said Jackie Hunt, senior director of strategy and impact for EHW. Hunt said the organization has been Indigenous-led since 2018, adding that there is an over-representation of the Indigenous population in the city's homeless demographic. The underlying theme of the strategic plan is followed with four strategic priorities, including role clarity and relevance, such as developing an advocacy roadmap and evaluating the organization's governance model. 'We try and bring community partners together to try and solve some of these issues as efficiently as we can,' said Hunt, adding that the group does a range of tasks ranging from advocacy work to research to offering support. Other strategic priorities include creating a 'culture of well-being' across the sector by focusing on resource sharing and training, as well as building trust and creating transparency through communications. 'We want to make sure that we're building trust with our community partners, our government, and our funders, to make sure that we're able to work really collaboratively,' she said. Another identified priority is adaptability and reciprocity, with goals including developing engagement strategies and exploring sustainable funding mechanisms. All four strategic priorities include a list of 'key actions' for the next five years. 'We all probably know somebody who has experienced or is experiencing homelessness,' said Hunt. 'It's everybody's job to take care of everybody, and we all have to work together on this.' For more details, EHW's five-year strategic plan can be viewed here.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
How Montreal Victoire's Erin Ambrose is using fashion to stand up for the 2SLGBTQ+ community
Social Sharing In a photo shoot, Montreal Victoire defender Erin Ambrose sports a bucket hat and a grey t-shirt that shows a fist in the air, covered in a hockey glove and draped in a rainbow flag. "Be you," is written on the glove. It's an eye-catching shirt, and in her second year of creating her own Pride apparel line with CCM Hockey, it's the defender's favourite design so far. "I just think it's a very powerful thing," Ambrose said in an interview with CBC Sports. "You think of just the symbol of a fist up in the air and what that does stand for." For Ambrose, it's not just a fashion statement. The hockey-gloved fist in the air is a sign of protest, an act of standing up for a community that's increasingly been under attack over the last couple of years. It's the boldest item that's been released as part of Ambrose's collaboration with CCM Hockey so far, and one that Ambrose is proud to wear. "It's so important because as welcome as I feel in the community, as accepted as I feel in my day-to-day life, I know that I am still a minority in saying that," Ambrose said. For Ambrose, it's also a way of merging two parts of her. There's Ambrose the hockey player, an Olympic gold medallist and 2024 Defender of the Year in the PWHL. You're probably used to seeing her in Team Canada colours or a Victoire jersey. But there's also Ambrose the person, an openly gay woman who wears her heart on her sleeve, and is always thinking of ways she can make the 2SLGBTQ+ community safer for everyone. The shirts, hats and sweat suit that are part of her clothing line reflect that part of Ambrose — someone who's grown in what she wears and how she feels comfortable representing herself. Making a statement "As I've gotten older, I also am getting more comfortable wearing the rainbow around," the 31-year-old from Keswick, Ont. said. " There are still places I might think twice about it and I wish that wasn't the case. But at the same time, I have no problem walking my dog with the [Pride] graphic T-shirt on." The hints of rainbow are subtle in some of the designs, ranging from the boldness of the gloved fist to bright colours highlighted in the CCM logo. Erin Ambrose on the importance of embracing Pride in the PWHL 16 hours ago Duration 2:53 Montreal Victorie's Erin Ambrose talks about the impact of celebrating Pride and sharing her identity off the ice. But it may actually be the rainbow CCM logo, one that's historically been associated with men playing sports, that says the most. "I think it actually makes the biggest statement because CCM allowed for their logo to be put in rainbow, and we're talking about a hockey company that has been around for over 100 years," Ambrose said. "That doesn't usually happen." Ambrose was approached to create the line by Dale Williams, CCM Hockey's global sports marketing manager. The company wanted to create a Pride line and wanted Ambrose, who CCM Hockey describes as "a force who's transforming her sport," to be the face of it. Year 1 was about creating the basics, but Year 2 of the line takes it a step further. "With the 2025 Erin Ambrose 23 collection, we wanted to bring hockey into a space where it hasn't traditionally had a strong presence," said Marrouane Nabih, CCM Hockey's CEO. "It goes beyond the rink, showcasing authenticity, style and a sense of belonging." A life-changing fan interaction The league launched at a time when the NHL moved away from wearing custom jerseys for Pride and other causes, and for a brief time, barred players from using Pride tape in warmups. But the PWHL is different. A significant number of players in the league are part of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Some, like Ambrose, Boston Fleet forward Jamie Lee Rattray and Ottawa Charge forward Emily Clark, have used their platforms to advocate for the community they are part of. It's created a different atmosphere at PWHL games. Last year, a fan drove from New York to Montreal for that team's Pride game. They dressed in a full rainbow onesie, which caught Ambrose's eye. She gave them a puck and tracked them down after the game to give them a stick, too. That fan later wrote Ambrose a letter to say how much that night changed their life. "It was such a little moment, but I was like, no, this is actually way bigger than just one fan making the drive because I know they're not the only person that would feel more comfortable coming to a PWHL game than an NHL game," she said. When a teenaged Ambrose was rising through the hockey ranks and struggling with her own sexuality, she couldn't have imagined her favourite player wearing Pride gear. As she progressed in hockey, she's been around more teammates who are out and open. She thinks about how much of a difference that might have made for players years ago. She can't go back in time, but she knows she has an ability and a platform now to help other people feel more comfortable or even just develop more understanding.
