Love, reunions, whale sightings and more: B.C.’s good news stories of 2022 | 24CA News
The 12 months 2022 had many ups and downs for British Columbians.
And whereas life could possibly be powerful at instances, there have been numerous tales that lifted our spirits, expanded our minds and reaffirmed our perception within the magnificence and goodness on this planet.
Here are a few of the high good news tales that made headlines in B.C. this 12 months.
Ukrainian girl, teenage sons arrive safely in Vancouver after escape from Mariupol
When the warfare broke out in Ukraine, Ukrainian Canadians residing in B.C. had been looking for out any info they might about family members again dwelling.
Some had been in a position to begin planning to convey household and pals to B.C.
In April, after fleeing the besieged port metropolis of Mariupol, a Ukrainian girl and her two 13-year-old sons arrived safely in Vancouver.
“It’s emotional, so emotional, and we will be crying together,” stated Cherman, holding her good friend in a tearful hug within the arrivals terminal. “The best thing is, they are alive.
“I still can’t believe it. For me, it’s like a dream, like a daydream. I am just so happy they made it, and I can help them. This is the start of our new life together.”
Seated collectively, an opportunity encounter on an Air Canada flight helped B.C. girl discover love
It was a real-life romance film second for a B.C. girl aboard an Air Canada flight in August 2018 and her story went viral this 12 months.
When Kimberley Bowie sat down in her seat on an Air Canada flight, little did she know it could change the course of her life.
She was on her manner again from a last-minute solo journey to Mexico.
“I was leaving a bad relationship behind and had just wanted to disappear for a bit,” she instructed Global News by way of e-mail. “When I booked the trip, all I wanted was to get away from my current life and be anonymous, with zero chance of meeting anyone. A relationship of any sort with anyone was about the last thing on my mind.”
Bowie stated she seen a person strolling down the aisle and thought he was good-looking however he walked previous her row, briefly catching her eye as he did.
But after destiny sat them collectively, cupid had lifelong plans for the pair.
They at the moment dwell collectively in Mexico with their canine Rigo.
Celebrating Springer: It’s been 20 years because the orca was captured and launched in B.C.
In July, it had been 20 years since groups from British Columbia and Washington state labored collectively to rescue an orphaned orca named Springer.
Springer is now thriving with two calves of her personal – Spirit born in 2013 and Storm born in 2017 – nevertheless it was a tough begin for the whale.
Global News has been following Springer’s story for twenty years and whale specialists known as her story “inspiring.”
B.C. man collects hundreds of uncommon books, artifacts documenting Sikh historical past
It’s a set that has taken virtually three many years to construct: uncommon medals, maps, artifacts and volumes of many forms of books, some courting way back to 1696.
Raj Singh Bhandall, the person behind Surrey’s Wanjara Nomad Collections, estimates he has greater than 2,000 objects in his private mini museum from all around the world, together with India and Afghanistan.
“When anyone asks me, ‘What do you have?’ I always say, ‘Some books,’ but when they slide this door and they enter, they say, ‘This is not what you told us,’” Bhandall instructed Global News.
“They’re like living objects. There is a story behind them. Every single item has a story.”
Rare white orca calf noticed in B.C. waters for the primary time
Whale specialists had been delighted to notice {that a} uncommon white orca calf was noticed in B.C. waters in August.
The Pacific Whale Watch Association stated a captain for Prince of Whales in Telegraph Cove was on a tour watching Bigg’s transient orcas when he seen a virtually all-white whale within the pod.
A white orca has been seen a number of instances in California, and whilst far south as Tijuana, Mexico, on Oct. 28, 2021, and the captain reached out to Alisa Schulman-Janiger with the California Killer Whale Project.
Schulman-Janiger confirmed that travelling with members of the native T060 and T069 households had been CA216C and her white calf, CA216C1, named Frosty.
Frosty was first reported by Monterey Bay Whale Watch in August 2019 however has by no means been documented in B.C. waters, Pacific Whale Watch stated, though the California Killer Whale Project did report the mother, CA216C, was seen close to Alert Bay in July 2014 along with her household.
Totem pole venture at B.C. jail serving to inmates carve out new futures
A venture on the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre helps inmates heal by engaged on a totem pole.
The group was reworking a 340-year-old cedar log that includes figures that symbolize energy, therapeutic, group and household.
“We all need a little healing here. If you think about it, we’re here because we did something wrong, or something traumatizing happened to us and we took a wrong path,” Roger Der, one of many inmates collaborating within the Pole Project on the correctional centre, instructed Global News.
“This is a way of stepping towards that right path.”
The venture started final summer season and includes inmates spending sooner or later per week studying conventional carving strategies from grasp carver Tsawout artist Tom LaFortune, his brother Aubrey and Max Henry, the power’s Indigenous Cultural Liaison.
“We’re all human,” LaFortune stated.
Merchants donate $8,800 to beloved Chinatown safety guard who was attacked
In late August, retailers in Vancouver’s Chinatown raised $8,800 for a beloved safety guard who was assaulted earlier within the month.
A suspect has been charged with one depend of assault within the case.
In a brief cheque presentation ceremony, the Vancouver Chinatown Merchant Association’s Tracy To stated an assault on Johnson is “an attack on Chinatown.”
“What you have done for our community — it’s not just walking the beat and keeping the streets safe, but you’re also looking out for us and telling us what to look out for around our buildings,” she instructed Global News.
Global BC cameraman shares his ‘miracle’ restoration after cardiac arrest whereas jogging
This story hit near dwelling for Global News workers.
In the spring, a Global BC digital camera operator suffered a cardiac arrest and “technically” died for about half-hour.
“It’s definitely a miracle that I’m here today,” Shim stated exterior St. Paul’s Hospital, the place greater than two dozen employees cared for him over a number of weeks.
“Had I been on the seawall there’s a very good chance there would have been nobody there, but because I was downtown a bystander was able to come along and give me a hand.”
105-year-old Kelowna, B.C. dad and 80-year-old daughter not letting age gradual them down
A Kelowna senior isn’t letting his age get the higher of him. At 105 years outdated, Herb Reimche isn’t slowing down.
“There’s nothing much else I can do. I get by with a scooter, it’s my life out,” stated Reimche.
He used to go for rides alone, till final 12 months when his 80-year-old daughter bought a scooter of her personal.
“I’ve never used one before. I drive a car but never used one of these so it was a little bit getting used to, but now it’s fun and I’m always glad to be able to go with my dad,” stated Reimche’s daughter, Twyla Gimbel.
The pair attempt to go for each day rides, which generally embody watching planes depart the runway.
Cat misplaced for months treks throughout Vancouver Island, resulting in ‘purrfect reunion’
Christmas got here early for one B.C. household once they had been reunited with their beloved cat named Hobbes.
The tabby had been misplaced for about three-and-a-half months at Kennedy Lake, which isn’t removed from Ucluelet on Vancouver Island’s west coast, the SPCA’s Nanaimo department stated on its Facebook web page.
Hobbes was together with his household on a highway journey when he was spooked out of their truck by a canine, the group stated.
His heartbroken house owners camped on the lake for every week in search of the cat, however had been ultimately compelled to surrender and return to their dwelling in Victoria.
The resilient little feline extremely made his manner all the best way throughout the island to the Nanaimo space — some 166 kilometres — the place he wandered into somebody’s dwelling.
B.C. breakdancer wins world championship, units eyes on 2024 Olympic debut
Breakdancing or ‘breaking’ is ready to make its Olympic debut in 2024, and a Vancouver man who lately claimed a gold medal on the sport’s latest world championship is poised to be a contender.
Philip Kim simply beat out greater than 250 rivals to win his first World Breaking Championship, which additionally led to his first style of fame.
“I had a lot of people coming up, asking for signatures and pictures, which is very new for me,” Kim, who’s often known as Phil Wizard, instructed Global’s This is BC.
