Latest news with #Martel
Calgary Herald
03-07-2025
- Health
- Calgary Herald
Mom who suffered stroke after giving birth emerges from 18-day coma
A Calgary mother of three who suffered a severe stroke after giving birth has come out of a coma, her husband said Thursday. Article content Iffat Shakti, 28, suffered a hemorrhagic stroke June 12, a week after the birth of daughter Julia Ameera, then experienced a second stroke and remained in a coma for the rest of the month. Article content Article content But three days ago, the woman opened her eyes, though remains unresponsive, said husband Marco Martel. Article content Article content Article content That condition is a sign of brain damage from the two strokes, said Martel, who's been at his wife's side at the Foothills Medical Centre daily. Article content 'That's what worries me the most – when the brain swelling goes down we'll know the extent of the damage to her brain,' he said. Article content Physicians, he said, have told him his wife still might not survive her ordeal and to 'prepare for the worst.' Article content But the man said he's placed his faith in a higher power, who's seems to want his wife to survive her ordeal, which was brought on by her high blood pressure. Article content But he's also been relying on the generosity of family, friends and strangers who have so far pledged about $19,500 in donations at a GoFundMe page set up to cover the family's expenses. Article content Article content 'When she comes out of the hospital, we know she'll have special needs like a bed and wheelchair,' said Martel. Article content His family will also need support as he's been unable to tend to their property rental business while he takes care of their new daughter, two young boys and spends time at the hospital, he said. Article content The auto body detailer says he's paying loans on three rental properties, and his absence makes it difficult to find renters to pay for them. Article content Shakti, he said, handled the financial end of the business, adding he's slowly learning that task. Article content 'I've got a lot on my plate,' he said. Article content 'I just want to bring her home but the best care she'll get is in the hospital.' Article content Shakti, who came to Canada from her native Bangladesh in 2018, was set to take her Canadian citizenship exam last month when she suffered her strokes. Article content
Ottawa Citizen
01-07-2025
- Health
- Ottawa Citizen
Saving the precious resource of blood during major liver surgery
Article content Between a quarter to a third of people having major liver surgery, often due to cancer, will need a blood transfusion. Now, imagine being able to reduce the need for this type of transfusion and the impact it would have on a global scale. This has been a vision for Dr. Guillaume Martel, a surgeon and scientist, who holds the donor-funded Arnie Vered Family Chair in Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Research at The Ottawa Hospital and University of Ottawa. Article content Article content When Dr. Martel was training as a fellow in Montreal, he witnessed a technique for liver surgery that was new to him. It reduces the amount of blood loss during a liver operation, and the idea both fascinated and intrigued him. But when he did some digging, the young doctor realized there wasn't much background on the technique and there were no clinical trials — no concrete evidence to prove its value. Article content When he arrived at The Ottawa Hospital, it became a personal mission to learn more about the technique, known as hypovolemic phlebotomy, where a controlled amount of blood is removed from the patient before liver surgery, then re-infused back into the patient afterward. Once he and his team, including anesthetist Dr. Chris Wherrett, perfected the technique, they decided to do their own research, in order to have concrete evidence showing the impact of this practice-changing medicine. Article content Article content Often donations from the community help get the early phase research projects off the ground, attracting large-scale funding through grants to launch in-depth investigations. Article content Once Dr. Martel's team had tested the safety and feasibility of the technique in major liver surgery as part of a Phase 1 trial at the hospital, they launched the largest trial of its kind, thanks to funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Article content Over five years, ending in 2023, 446 people were recruited at four Canadian hospitals, including The Ottawa Hospital, to participate. 'Once under anesthetic, patients were randomly selected to receive either hypovolemic phlebotomy, to decrease blood transfusions, or to receive usual care,' explains Dr. Martel.
Calgary Herald
19-06-2025
- Health
- Calgary Herald
Husband appeals for support after wife gives birth, then suffers life-threatening stroke
Article content It seemed like everything was looking up for Calgarian Marco Martel's family — they'd just welcomed a new addition and his wife was set to acquire Canadian citizenship. Article content But that fell to pieces earlier this month after his wife, Iffat Shakti, suffered a hemorrhagic stroke a week after giving birth to daughter Julia Ameera. Article content Article content Her husband said his wife's prognosis is not good, though she seemed to be recovering from the first stroke that occurred June 12 that left her in a coma. Article content Their newborn daughter, fortunately, has been released from the neonatal intensive care unit at the Foothills Medical Centre and is doing well, said Martel. Article content 'She's mostly just missing her mom,' he said. Article content Article content Shakti, 28, remains hooked up to a breathing apparatus at the Foothills Medical Centre following the strokes for which high blood pressure contributed, said Martel. Article content The anguished husband spends as much time there as he can at a time when the oldest of his two sons, aged four and one, questions what's happening. Article content 'He's always asking for his mom — how do you tell them their mom is in a coma in the hospital?' he said. Article content Article content He's also wondering how he'll keep his family's finances afloat as he's forced to attend to his family, which includes spending as much time as he can by his wife's side. Article content The auto body detailer says he's paying loans on three rental properties, and his absence makes it difficult to find renters to pay for them. Article content Shakti, he said, handled the financial end of the business, adding he's slowly learning that task, but staying positive hasn't been easy. Article content Article content Her medical condition could also dash her dreams of becoming a citizen of the country she's grown to love after arriving in Canada from her native Bangladesh in 2018. Article content Shakti was scheduled to take her citizenship test this week, said Martel. Article content 'She loves Canada, her goal was to become a Canadian, and she always wanted to have a great life here as it's safe and a beautiful country,' he said. Article content A brother-in-law from Vancouver is in Calgary to assist the family for a week, said Martel, but the dread and uncertainty remain. Article content 'I want her to keep on fighting — she has three kids and I need her,' said Martel. Article content
Global News
31-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
City of Vernon vows to meet with non-profits after backlash over rent at civic facilities
More non-profit groups are denouncing what they call significant rental fee increases imposed by the City of Vernon at civic properties used for community events. 'It's hard,' said Ingrid Baron, chair of the Creative Chaos event. 'It's hard if we all go, 'Who is going to rent these facilities?'' Creative Chaos, Canada's largest craft fair, brings in thousands of people every year. The event is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and for the first time in its history, aside from the COVID-19 pandemic, will be operating at a loss. 'We tightened up on a few things,' Baron said. 'We were going to have a bit of a bigger celebration thing, so we've tightened up there. We tightened up on our performing arts, dipped into some savings.' Story continues below advertisement The cost-cutting measures, Baron said, were necessary as the non-profit society has to pay a lot more this year to rent the venue space at the Vernon Recreation Centre. 'We were shocked because it was a 32-per cent increase from the year before,' Baron said. The Vernon Farmers' Market is in a similar situation. It rents the parking lot at Kal Tire Place every Monday and Thursday and it too is now faced with much higher rental fees. 'It's significant, ' said Sarah Martel, president of the Vernon Farmers' Market Society. 'A big increase.' According to Martel, the rent hike has tripled in just two years going from around $3,000 to $14,000 a year. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'It's forced us to increase the price for vendors,' Martel said. 'As a result, we have seen a decrease in the amount of vendors that come. If they're making a loss every day, you know, where do they go from there?' Martel said the market has decreased by about half the size it was five years ago, with only about 80 vendors left. While part of that is blamed on the pandemic, more recently it's the rising fees that are contributing to the shrinking market. Story continues below advertisement 'It's really sad because all the money that's spent at the farmers' market, and even the money that's created and generated by these small businesses, it all stays in Vernon and it all goes to the Vernon local economy,' Martel said. 2:16 Okanagan Military Tattoo cancelled due to soaring rental fees The Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce has been advocating for fairer fees for non-profit user groups since 2023 arguing it is in the community's best interest. 'Unfortunately, we haven't seen the results that we had hoped for,' said Dan Proulx, the chamber's general manager. 'So what we're seeing now is unfortunately the effects of those increases that we warned the city was going to happen.' Proulx referred to the long-running Okanagan Military Tattoo that earlier this year pulled the plug on the event and cited the rental fee hike as the final straw for the tough decision. Story continues below advertisement In an email to Global News, the city's chief administrative officer, Peter Weeber, stated he's aware of the concerns over the rental fees for city facilities and plans on addressing them. 'I will be meeting with these organizations in person, including the Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce, in the coming weeks to better understand their specific concerns,' Weeber said. 'If there are challenges, I want to harness the knowledge and experience within the business community to help address them.' At the farmers' market on Thursday, some shoppers questioned why the city is putting up barriers at a time when buying local is top of mind for so many. 'The timing is absolutely inappropriate, atrocious and ridiculous,' said Vernon resident Rhonda Kohen. 'I don't understand it and where their heads are at because it hurts the city.' Last week, the city stated it had to strike balance between fees paid by the user and subsidization through taxation needs.
Vancouver Sun
06-05-2025
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Investors duped in $300 million Ponzi scheme sue Royal Bank, B.C. financial regulator
Investors who lost money in a $300 million Ponzi scheme masterminded by B.C. resident Greg Martel are suing the Royal Bank of Canada and a B.C. financial regulator. The three investors — Andy Todd Wilson of Vancouver, Dustin Frank Renz from Colwood on Vancouver Island, and David Cumby of Edmonton — hope to have their case certified as a class-lawsuit for the more than 1,200 investors who also lost money. The trio filed the case in B.C. Supreme Court on April 25 and are seeking damages for negligence, wilful blindness and anti-money-laundering failures. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The Royal Bank and the B.C. Financial Services Authority have not yet filed responses and the allegations have not been proven in court. The plaintiffs allege the Royal Bank and the provincial regulator failed to detect or prevent misconduct despite having clear regulatory duties. 'These failures — by the bank responsible for processing the majority of investor funds, and the regulator responsible for supervising the mortgage broker — enabled the scheme to persist unchecked for years resulting in massive and avoidable investor losses,' says the notice of claim filed by the trio's Vancouver lawyer, Meldon Ellis. The financial regulator had received formal complaints in 2017 and 2021 about Martel and his mortgage brokerage firm, which, if 'properly investigated,' could have exposed the fraudulent scheme, says the lawsuit. The claim says the bank failed to detect or act on several red flags, including high-volume deposits inconsistent with a mortgage broker business. In a written statement, the financial service authority said Monday its investigations in 2017 and 2021 did not substantiate a breach under the legislation it enforces given the activities in question 'presented' as outside the scope of regulated mortgage brokering. The Royal Bank said Monday it was would not comment while the matter was before the courts. Martel, who was a Victoria-based mortgage broker who later worked out of California, pitched investments for short-term loans to his clients and others. Those investors, according to court documents and reports compiled by receiver PricewaterhouseCoopers , had been collecting high returns on the basis that their money was pooled to provide bridging loans for real estate development, often for less than 90 days, to allow projects to secure permanent financing or pay off a current loan. But PwC found the investments had been a massive Ponzi scheme and there were no bridge loans. In a Ponzi scheme, named after 1920s-era fraudster Charles Ponzi, earlier investors are paid off with later investors' money and not from the profits of any real business. An analysis of 65,000 transactions by the receiver found that $301 million was invested and $210 million was repaid using incoming funds. The analysis also found that $91 million was lost through options trading, a failed car-share business in California and Martel's personal expenditures. When the scheme collapsed, there were more than $316 million outstanding claims, according to the civil suit. Of the 1,800 people who invested, 1,229 had net losses, meaning they paid more into the loan scheme than they were paid out in their principle and interest payments. Wilson, a building maintenance contractor, Renz, a military police officer, and Cumby, an entrepreneur, had net losses. The court filing does not say how much they lost. In earlier lawsuits filed in Canada and the U.S. against Martel, investors claiming losses included those in Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam, North Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna and Prince George, and also in Alberta, California and as far away as New York. Records obtained by Postmedia News through a freedom of information request found that B.C. financial regulators received complaints about Martel, including that a high-return investment opportunity might be a scam, years before the Ponzi scheme collapsed in 2023. Martel was declared bankrupt in B.C. Supreme Court in 2023 and there are warrants for his arrest in Canada and the U.S. for contempt of court because he failed to properly provide answers and information on what happened to the money. After telling investors in a series of online videos they would get their money back, Martel fled to Thailand and disappeared, according to U.S. court filings. PwC's report filed last year made it clear that investors were not getting their money back from Martel. The report noted that Martel's spending between 2018 and 2023 included $3.1 million on travel, $3.1 million on vehicles, $1.1 million on rent, $261,000 on meals, $200,000 on jewelry, and $150,000 on recreation and vacations. Martel's whereabouts are unknown but PwC had said last year that it learned he had been exiled from Thailand after Aug. 30, and later travelled to Dubai. There are investigations underway by the B.C. Securities Commission and the Victoria police. With files from The Victoria Times Colonist ghoekstra@
