Latest news with #DanJohnson
CTV News
27-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Inspired by son's dream, local father cycles for hospice
A local father is honouring his late son and raising money for the community in the process. Dan Johnson will be cycling from Vancouver, B.C. back to his home in Port Dover over the summer to honour his son Luke who died of cancer at the age of eight, and to raise money for a soon-to-be-built community hospice in Norfolk-Haldimand. The journey was born out of the Johnson family's experience of having to use an out-of-town hospice for Luke when he was in his final days. 'We were in the Stedman Community Hospice in Brantford and it was absolutely top-notch,' said Dan. 'We don't have a palliative care centre in our community where we live. We have 120,000 people in our two counties of Norfolk and Haldimand, yet we don't have a hospice for us,' Dan added. 'So, our options in palliative care would just be in the hospital, and that's not a good experience for people… It's going to be a last earthly home for people that are in that phase of life and it's going be just an amazing environment.' Why cycling across the country? Dan said his journey really started about two weeks before Luke died, they were reading about Terry Fox who he said was a hero to his son. 'He [Luke] asked 'what happened to Terry, why did he stop running?' We explained to him what happened and that was the moment that he, for the first time that he connected the dots the fact that he [Luke] was going to die from his disease,' said Dan LUKE JOHNSON Luke Johnson (Source: Submitted) 'And as an eight-year-old boy in the moment, we saw him connect the dots in his mind. It was the worst imaginable time for my wife and I. He looked at us in the eyes and he said, 'Well, I'm going to run across Canada one day,' just like that matter of fact, he was going to do it,' Dan added. He said Luke wanted to keep living to love his family and to be with his friends, there was no quit, even when he knew he was facing death. 'He still in his mind was absolutely committed to live. And so that's why we're going across Canada.' The journey On Sunday, the Johnson family will fly to Vancouver and on July 1, Dan will start his 53-day journey home from Stanley Park. His wife Jill and his two kids, Hosanna and Pearce, will follow along in an RV until they arrive back home near the end of August. If all goes according to plan, Dan said he hopes to come through Port Huron around Aug. 20 or 21. He'll then bike through Exeter where his brother, sister-in-law and their kids live, and then on to Port Stanley and back home to Port Dover. Dan plans to cycle anywhere from 130 to 150 kilometres a day, and he said he welcomes anyone who wants to join, to ride with him for any portion of the journey to help get him home. Not a stranger to adversity To be able to do the bike ride, Dan has had to overcome injury. In November 2023, when Luke was still alive, Dan qualified for the Boston Marathon, a race Luke ultimately wouldn't get to watch. Still committed to completing it, Dan ran the marathon on April 21, 2025, what would have been Luke's ninth birthday. At kilometre 17 of the race, Dan stepped on a water bottle on the course and broke his ankle. 'I convinced a paramedic to tape it up. Against their desire to do so, they wanted to get me to the hospital, but I said I said I'm finishing this race in honor of my son. That's why I'm here.' DAN JOHNSON - LUKE JOHNSON - JUNE 2025 Dan Johnson is pictured with his son Luke in November 2023, after finishing a race that qualified him for the Boston Marathon. (Source: Submitted) Dan said he's still recovering from the April injury, and by no means is he 100 per cent. 'But you know what, that's life,' he said. 'You know we're never 100 per cent, and that sort of life and he [Luke] persevered. He believed that he could still do it, [fight cancer] he never gave up. He never quit he kept fighting, he persevered. So, I think I was meant to step on that water bottle because that's just going to be part of the story.' When he thinks about how Luke would react to his summer mission and his goal to raise funds for a hospice in his community, Dan said, 'Luke wouldn't be sitting, he would be going and that's why we have to do this project, because I don't know, we just have to go and do it. We're going to honor Luke and we're going to do it just the way he would. It will be Luke Johnson riding that bike and Luke Johnson getting all the credit for everything.' DAN JOHNSON - BOSTON MARATHON - JUNE 2025 Dan Johnson was injured while running the Boston Marathon on April 21, 2025. (Source: Submitted) The Norfolk-Haldimand Community Hospice will be built in Jarvis, Ont. near Highway 6 and Highway 3, on 10 acres of donated land. Executive Director Andrea Binkle told CTV News they hope to have a shovel in the ground by the end of 2025. Architects have said it will take 18-24 months for the building to be completed and ready for occupancy. The 16,000 square foot facility with 10 beds has a budget of $14 million. According to Binkle, just over $4 million has been raised so far from community and private donations.
CTV News
27-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Live like Luke: A journey to help bring a hospice to Norfolk-Haldimand
A local father is honouring his late son and raising money for the community in the process. Dan Johnson will be cycling from Vancouver, B.C. back to his home in Port Dover over the summer to honour his son Luke who died of cancer at the age of eight, and to raise money for a soon-to-be-built community hospice in Norfolk-Haldimand. The journey was born out of the Johnson family's experience of having to use an out-of-town hospice for Luke when he was in his final days. 'We were in the Stedman Community Hospice in Brantford and it was absolutely top-notch,' said Dan. 'We don't have a palliative care centre in our community where we live. We have 120,000 people in our two counties of Norfolk and Haldimand, yet we don't have a hospice for us,' Dan added. 'So, our options in palliative care would just be in the hospital, and that's not a good experience for people… It's going to be a last earthly home for people that are in that phase of life and it's going be just an amazing environment.' Why cycling across the country? Dan said his journey really started about two weeks before Luke died, they were reading about Terry Fox who he said was a hero to his son. 'He [Luke] asked 'what happened to Terry, why did he stop running?' We explained to him what happened and that was the moment that he, for the first time that he connected the dots the fact that he [Luke] was going to die from his disease,' said Dan LUKE JOHNSON Luke Johnson (Source: Submitted) 'And as an eight-year-old boy in the moment, we saw him connect the dots in his mind. It was the worst imaginable time for my wife and I. He looked at us in the eyes and he said, 'Well, I'm going to run across Canada one day,' just like that matter of fact, he was going to do it,' Dan added. He said Luke wanted to keep living to love his family and to be with his friends, there was no quit, even when he knew he was facing death. 'He still in his mind was absolutely committed to live. And so that's why we're going across Canada.' The journey On Sunday, the Johnson family will fly to Vancouver and on July 1, Dan will start his 53-day journey home from Stanley Park. His wife Jill and his two kids, Hosanna and Pearce, will follow along in an RV until they arrive back home near the end of August. If all goes according to plan, Dan said he hopes to come through Port Huron around Aug. 20 or 21. He'll then bike through Exeter where his brother, sister-in-law and their kids live, and then on to Port Stanley and back home to Port Dover. Dan plans to cycle anywhere from 130 to 150 kilometres a day, and he said he welcomes anyone who wants to join, to ride with him for any portion of the journey to help get him home. Not a stranger to adversity To be able to do the bike ride, Dan has had to overcome injury. In November 2023, when Luke was still alive, Dan qualified for the Boston Marathon, a race Luke ultimately wouldn't get to watch. Still committed to completing it, Dan ran the marathon on April 21, 2025, what would have been Luke's ninth birthday. At kilometre 17 of the race, Dan stepped on a water bottle on the course and broke his ankle. 'I convinced a paramedic to tape it up. Against their desire to do so, they wanted to get me to the hospital, but I said I said I'm finishing this race in honor of my son. That's why I'm here.' DAN JOHNSON - LUKE JOHNSON - JUNE 2025 Dan Johnson is pictured with his son Luke in November 2023, after finishing a race that qualified him for the Boston Marathon. (Source: Submitted) Dan said he's still recovering from the April injury, and by no means is he 100 per cent. 'But you know what, that's life,' he said. 'You know we're never 100 per cent, and that sort of life and he [Luke] persevered. He believed that he could still do it, [fight cancer] he never gave up. He never quit he kept fighting, he persevered. So, I think I was meant to step on that water bottle because that's just going to be part of the story.' When he thinks about how Luke would react to his summer mission and his goal to raise funds for a hospice in his community, Dan said, 'Luke wouldn't be sitting, he would be going and that's why we have to do this project, because I don't know, we just have to go and do it. We're going to honor Luke and we're going to do it just the way he would. It will be Luke Johnson riding that bike and Luke Johnson getting all the credit for everything.' DAN JOHNSON - BOSTON MARATHON - JUNE 2025 Dan Johnson was injured while running the Boston Marathon on April 21, 2025. (Source: Submitted) The Norfolk-Haldimand Community Hospice will be built in Jarvis, Ont. near Highway 6 and Highway 3, on 10 acres of donated land. Executive Director Andrea Binkle told CTV News they hope to have a shovel in the ground by the end of 2025. Architects have said it will take 18-24 months for the building to be completed and ready for occupancy. The 16,000 square foot facility with 10 beds has a budget of $14 million. According to Binkle, just over $4 million has been raised so far from community and private donations.
CTV News
17-06-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Southern Alberta grasshopper population size dampened by rain
Farmers in southern Alberta are hopeful that rainfall has helped put a damper on grasshopper population sizes this year. A group of grasshoppers has the ability to wipe out a field of crops if they're not taken care of. While grasshopper outbreaks can be spotty, farmers know all too well the damage they can cause. 'Grasshoppers, they can totally decimate a crop. They can eat it almost right to the ground. So, it seems like if there's a few, there's a lot. And when there's a lot, they can do a lot of damage. Unless you get control of them right away,' said Sean Stanford, a farmer from Magrath, Alta. Grasshoppers flourish in hot and dry conditions like southern Alberta has seen this spring. But what rain the region has seen could help to keep the population down. 'They started hatching in mid-May, so it's a little bit early, and then they were clipped off by rain, and then they started hatching again and clipped off by that second good rain,' said Dan Johnson, a grasshopper expert and professor at the University of Lethbridge. 'A lot of places around southern Alberta had nine or 10 millimetres on about June 12 or so, so that wiped out a number of them.' Timely rain has kept the population at an average size. Any additional rain at this point won't stop more from hatching but can keep grasshopper numbers down. 'They're mostly in the older stages now, and they could probably take the rain, but when it rains, it's cool and they don't grow. They just wait it out. And the longer they wait it out … the lower survival they have,' said Johnson. While the population may not be significantly larger than last year. Farmers will still have to be on their toes. They'll do everything from spraying pesticides when there's an outbreak to more preventative measures. 'It seems like they overwinter in the ditches and the tall grass and things like that's where they get their eggs laid. So, if you can somehow keep your ditch grass shorter, that seems to be a help, because they seem to move in from the outsides of the field towards the middle,' said Stanford. The 2024 provincial grasshopper survey notes egg-laying conditions were ideal last fall. That means there's still a chance for large outbreaks to occur.
Daily Record
13-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
Scots support service for young victims of crime reaches 22 council areas
Glasgow saw the highest number of referrals to Kibble's pioneering SAFE Project. A vital support service for children and young people affected by crime has now reached over 400 young people and their families across 22 local authority areas in Scotland. Run by leading child and youth care charity Kibble, the SAFE Project provides trauma-informed, therapeutic and advocacy support to young people and their families who have experienced crime, whether as victims, witnesses, or those impacted by violence and abuse in the home. Since its launch in 2021, SAFE has seen referrals triple, with a concentration in Glasgow, which accounts for 46 per cent of all referrals. Other local authority areas with high engagement include Inverclyde and South Lanarkshire which accounted for 24 per cent of referrals, followed by Renfrewshire and East Ayrshire. Dan Johnson, executive cirector and forensic psychologist at Kibble, said: "The trauma caused by crime in childhood can affect every part of a young person's life, from relationships and learning to their long-term mental health. The SAFE Project is designed to wrap around the whole family, offering therapy, advocacy and practical support when it's needed most. "What we're seeing is a level of unmet need that's both sobering and deeply motivating. We're proud that SAFE is already changing lives and that families from Glasgow to the Borders are finding their way to us." The service includes the provision of specialist systemic and psychological advice and support for organisations and professionals who do not have expertise in trauma, mental health and intervention but who support young victims and witnesses – education, social work, police – promoting system change and collaboration between a wide range of organisations supporting young victims/witnesses of crime. Highlights from the evaluation report include: Over 68 per cent of referrals received direct therapeutic intervention — far exceeding original projections. Children and young people and families report improved emotional wellbeing, relationships, and a greater sense of safety. Feedback from families has helped shape the service, with flexible delivery offered in person and online. Young people who have received advocacy support report an improved experience of the criminal justice process. 88 per cent of young people have reported that it has helped them work towards their goals. Mr Johnson added: "Supporting young people affected by crime isn't the responsibility of one service alone, instead it takes a network of professionals working together. That's why a core part of SAFE is helping educators, social workers and police navigate the impact of trauma. 'By equipping those on the frontline with psychological insight and practical advice, we're building a more joined-up, trauma-informed system that can respond more effectively and compassionately to the needs of young victims and witnesses." With Glasgow emerging as a national hotspot for referrals, the data reinforces the link between crime exposure and social inequality and the urgent need for scalable, trauma-informed services. Earlier this year, Kibble successfully secured funding from the Scottish Government's Victim-Centred Approach Fund to continue its SAFE service for 2025/26 and have indicative confirmation of funding for 2026/27, with the potential for additional support in the future. *Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
Scotsman
10-06-2025
- Health
- Scotsman
Support service for young victims of crime reaches 22 council areas
Glasgow sees highest number of referrals to Kibble's pioneering SAFE Project Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A vital support service for children and young people affected by crime has now reached over 400 young people and their families across 22 local authority areas in Scotland. Run by leading child and youth care charity Kibble, the SAFE Project provides trauma-informed, therapeutic and advocacy support to young people and their families who have experienced crime, whether as victims, witnesses, or those impacted by violence and abuse in the home. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Since its launch in 2021, SAFE has seen referrals triple, with a concentration in Glasgow, which accounts for 46% of all referrals. Other local authority areas with high engagement include Inverclyde and South Lanarkshire which accounted for 24 per cent of referrals, followed by Renfrewshire and East Ayrshire. Kibble SAFE service supports young people affected by crime across Scotland Dan Johnson, Executive Director and Forensic Psychologist at Kibble, said: 'The trauma caused by crime in childhood can affect every part of a young person's life, from relationships and learning to their long-term mental health. The SAFE Project is designed to wrap around the whole family, offering therapy, advocacy and practical support when it's needed most. 'What we're seeing is a level of unmet need that's both sobering and deeply motivating. We're proud that SAFE is already changing lives and that families from Glasgow to the Borders are finding their way to us.' The service includes the provision of specialist systemic and psychological advice and support for organisations and professionals who do not have expertise in trauma, mental health and intervention but who support young victims and witnesses – education, social work, police – promoting system change and collaboration between a wide range of organisations supporting young victims/witnesses of crime. Highlights from the evaluation report include: Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Over 68% of referrals received direct therapeutic intervention — far exceeding original projections. Children and young people and families report improved emotional wellbeing, relationships, and a greater sense of safety. Feedback from families has helped shape the service, with flexible delivery offered in person and online. Young people who have received advocacy support report an improved experience of the criminal justice process. 88% of young people have reported that it has helped them work towards their goals. Dan Johnson added: 'Supporting young people affected by crime isn't the responsibility of one service alone, instead it takes a network of professionals working together. That's why a core part of SAFE is helping educators, social workers and police navigate the impact of trauma. 'By equipping those on the frontline with psychological insight and practical advice, we're building a more joined-up, trauma-informed system that can respond more effectively and compassionately to the needs of young victims and witnesses.' With Glasgow emerging as a national hotspot for referrals, the data reinforces the link between crime exposure and social inequality and the urgent need for scalable, trauma-informed services.
