Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
A Montreal man diagnosed with multiple sclerosis is set to portage 700 kilometres in order to raise money for MS research.
At the break of dawn Thursday, Félix Jasmin and his team are set to embark on Le Grand Portage, an 18-day canoe-camping expedition from Toronto to Montreal via Ottawa.
"I thought that portaging a canoe is quite a Canadian way to fight back at a disease, and it hasn't been done yet, not that I know of," Jasmin told CTV's Your Morning on Monday.
Money raised from the trip will benefit the MS research projects led by Dr. Jack Antel of McGill University's Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital and Dr. Alexandre Prat of the University of Montreal's Health Centre. Antel and Prat are planning on using the funds to build partnerships with Toronto institutions, such as the BARLO MS Centre at the Toronto-area St. Michael's Hospital.
Last year, the Le Grand Portage was held virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions, but Jasmin was still able to raise $370,000.
"It really got anchored in people's calendar and it grew in momentum and I'm hoping to do the same this year with building momentum," he said.
An avid Habs fan and canoer, the young father of three first started to feel symptoms back in 2015, but doctors couldn't figure out what it was at the time.
"I start not feeling well and I see a bunch of doctors in Montreal doing tests and everything seems to be normal," he said.
Four years later, Jasmin started to lose vision in his right eye and developed bladder issues and difficulty balancing. He finally received his diagnosis in October 2019.
"Surprisingly, the first feeling I had was relief. Relief that I had not been crazy for four years," he said. "It was quickly taken over by fear, by anger, by sadness."
Almost immediately after his diagnosis, Le Grand Portage was born.
"My wife and I met, and we decided to fight back at it. And our way to fight back was through research and research needs way more funding than we have," Jasmin said.
This year, organizers hope to raise $300,000 and are inviting all Canadians from coast to coast to participate in Le Grand Portage virtually on Oct. 17.
"All the viewers, wherever you might be, you can do your own version of Le Grand Portage, whether it's walking, running, writing or dancing," Jasmin said.
Jasmin also offered some advice to Your Morning host Lindsey Deluce, who will also be carrying a canoe for one of the legs of Le Grand Portage.
"It's really not about strength. My wife can really out-portage as me because it's all in your head. So, I'm convinced you're going to do fantastic," he said.
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.