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Clinic in Charlottetown reminds Islanders to remember their helmets this summer

Clinic in Charlottetown reminds Islanders to remember their helmets this summer

Yahoo06-07-2025
Islanders are being reminded to wear proper head protection while riding bicycles, skate boards and e-scooters, which were introduced to Charlottetown just a few years ago.
Charlottetown Mayor Philip Brown was in attendance at Big Brothers, Big Sisters on Saturday when Kenneth Murnaghan with Injury Free P.E.I. hosted a helmet-fitting clinic.
Brown said that he's seen many in the city not wearing helmets while riding bikes and other modes of transport.
"It's very important to wear your helmet …cycling, skateboarding, rollerblading … and now you have your e-scooters, a lot of those people are riding those scooters without helmets," Brown said.
Murnaghan is a longtime advocate for helmet use. He had an accident when he was 10 years old that left him with a brain injury.
Since then he has created organizations, and has advocated for brain-injury awareness.
Brown said he might have had a serious head injury if not for a helmet. He crashed while riding to a friend's house a few years ago.
He said he takes helmet safety seriously. Even though there are already laws in place regarding helmet use, he thinks more can be done.
Another person who stopped by at the event was retired teacher Peter Harrison. He said he has also seen more people around without helmets.
"There seems to be a fad around Charlottetown of people just not thinking a helmet is important," he said. "They might think it will affect what they look like, or they look silly, and that's so stupid."
Harrison used to coach baseball and insisted his players had the proper equipment. He said that translates to proper equipment for bikes, and more.
"It doesn't matter what you do, you dress for the thing," he said. "Every part of your body is valuable."
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Toronto councillor, firefighters' association campaigning to open Ontario's first burn victim centre
Toronto councillor, firefighters' association campaigning to open Ontario's first burn victim centre

Yahoo

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Toronto councillor, firefighters' association campaigning to open Ontario's first burn victim centre

The Toronto Professional Firefighters' Association and a city councillor are pushing to open a new support centre for burn survivors at the city's old Forrest Hill Fire Station, which they say would be the first of its kind in Ontario. The planned Burn Survivor Family Support Centre would be the first burn care centre in the province, according a news release from Coun. Josh Matlow, who represents Toronto-St. Paul's. The building would include eight suites for families and burn survivors who regularly need to visit Toronto's hospitals for their treatment plan. "Unfortunately, far too many people do suffer burns and they need the care that they deserve, along with a place to stay when they need that care," Matlow said at a news conference on Monday. Located on Eglinton Avenue W., it's perfectly situated near public transport and SickKids and Sunnybrook hospitals, Toronto Professional Firefighters' Association (TPFA) president Mike Smith said. "The biggest part of it is that the families will be able to experience what they're going through with other families in the same situation," Smith said at Monday's news conference. The centre would also have its own psychologists and sociologists available to help, which would be paid for by the TPFA's charitable foundation, Smith said. Families would be required to pay a "small nominal fee" of $25 per day, which would go towards linens and other maintenance costs for the building, Matlow said. As of now, Matlow said it's too early to know when the centre could open — the city and TPFA are still working to find donors for the $12-million project, which would include the refurbishment of the historic fire station, which was built in 1932. "We want to put it to better use now. We wanted to bring it back to life," Matlow said. Matlow said he will be dedicating over a million dollars of the Community Benefits Charge toward the goal. Along with the burn centre, a firefighter heritage museum would be added to the heritage building's ground floor, Matlow said. City committee considered burn centre motion Monday In December 2024, Matlow brought a motion to city council to explore the feasibility of using an old fire hall to host a museum and burn survivor centre. The report came back Monday, where it is was considered and adopted at the general government committee meeting. "I'm happy to announce that the staff support this. They believe not only is it feasible, but it's something we should do," Matlow said. The motion's ratification now means the development of the project can move to the next steps, including funding and lease agreements. The centre is being modelled after Vancouver's Burn Fund Centre, which opened in 2016, he said.

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