One dead after potential wrong way crash on Highway 401 in Milton: OPP
One person is dead and another is in life-threatening condition after a driver was travelling in the wrong direction on Highway 401 in Milton Sunday, according to police.
Researchers are trying to determine if a number of Canadian veterans are suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
CTE is often accompanied by psychiatric symptoms, which could develop into suicidal thoughts, according to researchers. However, little is understood scientifically about a possible link, nor how widespread CTE is among veterans.
Standing inside a brain imaging lab at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, researcher Isabelle Boileau says it’s possible that armed forces members who’ve been exposed to explosions could be suffering from CTE.
The challenge is detection. Currently, CTE can only be discovered once a person has died. Boileau is leading a research study that examines traumatic brain injuries in military veterans. So far, about 25 people have volunteered to take part. She hopes more people join.
“There are certain documented cases of (military) individuals who've died by suicide that had proof in their brain that they had CTE,” said Boileau.
A military suicides report released in 2021 outlined that, over the previous decade, 191 Canadian military personnel died by suicide. By comparison, 158 service members were killed in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014.
Brendan Hynes served in Canada's military for nearly 30 years. (Image courtesy of Brendan Hynes)
Brendan Hynes served as a member of the Canadian military for nearly three decades. For 11 of those years, he was a member of JTF2, Canada's top-tier special operations force. Dispatched to Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, Hynes estimates that he's been exposed to approximately two thousand explosives.
He says the physical toll of working with explosives is akin to “being in a boxing match each day,” though he never thought his work in the military would take the toll it did on his brain.
While still enlisted, he began to struggle with his focus and temperament. After being discharged, the father of two nearly died by suicide. He recalls thinking about it one day while driving home from shopping with his daughters: “I was going to go home with my kids and I'd come up with a plan for how I was going to take care of that, how I was going to end my life,” he said.
“That institutional abandonment that our soldiers and veterans suffer, I say that's one of the greatest factors we see in the epidemic that is veteran suicides,” says Hynes.
In a written statement to CTV News, Canada’s Department of National Defence told CTV News they welcome the research being done and are doing their part to put in new safety procedures, saying in part that "the unique nature of injuries resulting from military deployment creates specific challenges for both CAF personnel and the medical community responsible for providing combat casualty treatment and post-deployment care."
Hynes says more needs to be done. He’s learning about far too many members of the military who haven’t received the support needed.
“Someone, [from the military] about every four to six months, who I know… who I'm close to, takes their own life,” said Hynes.
Hynes credits the love and support of his wife and daughters as one of the only reasons he’s still here to tell his story.
Brendan Hynes credits his family's support for helping him overcome suicidal ideation. (Image courtesy of Brendan Hynes)
The former special forces soldier is demanding more support from the Canadian Military for those suffering from a traumatic brain injury.
CTV News asked the Department of Defence if they’ve followed any recent medical research recommendations to prevent brain trauma in members of the armed forces.
“While multiple studies on brain injuries have been published with various conclusions over the past decade, the Department of National Defence (DND) has erred on the side of caution by decreasing training exposure limits in terms of round counts with high-caliber weapons, and increasing the safe distance to explosives during training," wrote the department in an email.
"Several research initiatives are still ongoing to better understand the physiopathology of brain injury (whether acute or repetitive), with the goals of early injury prevention and diagnosis.”
With files from The Canadian Press
One person is dead and another is in life-threatening condition after a driver was travelling in the wrong direction on Highway 401 in Milton Sunday, according to police.
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc insists he's not planning a leadership campaign to head the Liberal party, should current leader and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resign, seemingly quashing rumours he's planning to make a move for his boss' job.
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
"The Fall Guy," the Ryan Gosling-led, action-comedy ode to stunt performers, opened below expectations with US$28.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, providing a lukewarm start to a summer movie season that's very much to be determined for Hollywood.
Madonna put on a free concert on Copacabana beach Saturday night, turning Rio de Janeiro's vast stretch of sand into an enormous dance floor teeming with a multitude of her fans.
The Montreal-born actor, famed for his portrayal of Captain Kirk in "Star Trek," says he is open to reprising the iconic role in the sci-fi franchise as long as the storytelling is stellar.
How legitimate are claims by some content creators that the average person can earn passive income from social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram? Personal finance columnist Christopher Liew says it's quite possible, if you're willing to put in the initial time and effort.
The latest round of Gaza cease-fire talks ended in Cairo after "in-depth and serious discussions,"{ the Hamas militant group said Sunday, reiterating key demands that Israel again rejected.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.