Latest news with #StLucia
CTV News
5 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Puppy attacked by machete in St. Lucia receiving treatment in Guelph, Ont.
Gabriel, a 5-month-old puppy who was attacked with a machete in the Caribbean, recovers in Guelph, Ont. on May 29, 2025. (Alexandra Holyk/CTV News) A five-month-old puppy named Gabriel is getting a second 'leash' on life after suffering from a machete attack in the Caribbean earlier this month. The puppy was found on his last legs by a surveyor doing work on a remote beach in St. Lucia. With little to no options, the individual contacted Helpaws – a non-profit animal rescue located on the island. 'It was horrible,' recalled Helpaws operations manager Kisha St. Romain. 'The jaw was just completely open, there was sand in there, debris, dirt, there were little pieces of paper as well, and maggots.' But Gabriel hadn't given up yet. 'He was fighting to live,' St. Romain said. 'I started to cry because it was horrible … he is one of the worst situations that I've seen.' St. Romain took Gabriel to the island vet, who recommended humane euthanasia due to a lack of resources and low chance of survival. The rescue then turned to social media for advice and support. 'We obviously want to do everything we possibly can for this dog,' said Helpaws founder Charlene Troubetzkoy in an interview with CTV News. 'He deserves a chance at life, but what is his quality of life going to be like?' The rescue set up a GoFundMe page for Gabriel and has already raised more than US$24,200 as of Thursday. Troubetzkoy also consulted Dr. Renee Fleming, a veterinarian with the Guelph Animal Hospital in Ontario and a long-time partner with Helpaws. While Fleming also initially recommended euthanasia, Gabriel's resiliency inspired her to take a different approach. Gabriel, a 5-month-old puppy, recovers in Ontario after he was attack with a Machete in the Caribbean Gabriel, a 5-month-old puppy who was attacked with a machete in the Caribbean, recovers in Guelph, Ont. in May 2025. (Submitted: Renee Fleming) 'We made the decision to start treatment on the island with antibiotics and pain control and make a plan for him to come to Canada so that he could have more extensive work done and make sure that he was going to be OK moving forward,' Fleming said. Helpaws continued sharing updates on Gabriel's condition online. Shortly after, one of their followers sponsored a flight to get Gabriel the care he needed. 'We have the backing of our family, who are our social media followers and supporters,' Troubetzkoy said. 'And that really was the final push … we're going to save him. He needs to be saved.' Gabriel, a 5-month-old puppy, recovers in Ontario after he was attack with a Machete in the Caribbean Gabriel, a 5-month-old puppy who was attacked with a machete in the Caribbean, recovers in Guelph, Ont. on May 29, 2025. (Alexandra Holyk/CTV News) Fleming flew down to St. Lucia to pick up the puppy last week. The pair returned to Canada on Sunday. By Tuesday, Gabriel had already undergone several procedures. '[We] did some x-rays of his skull and his jaw where some of his injuries were, and there was a number of damaged teeth that needed to be removed and some wounds to clothes,' Fleming noted. Now, Gabriel is on the mend and on the move. 'He loves cats, he loves dogs, he loves kids,' said Fleming. 'And he just loves people. He just loves to be with people.' While the young pup awaits further treatment, Fleming said she expects him to move into foster care next week. Eventually, Gabriel will be up for adoption, eager to find his forever home. To stay up to date with Gabriel's journey, follow HelpAWS on Instagram.
Globe and Mail
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Globe and Mail
On board a Ritz-Carlton yacht, I learned how the other half cruises
After a night sailing the Caribbean, I wake up to still waters: We've reached colourful Soufrière in St. Lucia. It's a February morning and snowstorms pummel our home in Toronto. I wipe the image from my mind. Home, for now, is a floating grand suite aboard Evrima, a sleek superyacht that sets the Ritz-Carlton luxury hotel brand to sea. After abluting in a cavernous marble bathroom, I pull a robe from one of two walk-in closets. I open the curtains to a wall of green. We've anchored by the Pitons, St. Lucia's iconic volcanic spires rising from the ocean. I can see a beach with sand the colour of brown sugar, a tangle of rainforest beyond. In one of the mountainous valleys, a small rainbow appears. It's our last day aboard Evrima and reality is painfully setting in. For a week, we've been sailing this jewel through the Windward Islands: Dominica, Grenada, Martinique, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines – the journey beginning and ending in Barbados. The crew has navigated unseasonably high winds and waves, keeping guests contented like royalty with top-shelf service and a steady stream of Moët. Since launching The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection in October, 2022, Evrima has served as a model of the anti-cruise. In every way, it's the reverse of a megaship experience, where water slides and sea coasters lure 8,000-plus tourists who are then disgorged on port towns. With capacity for just 298 passengers, Evrima treads more lightly. More than half the guests – median age 54 – have never been on a cruise. They might walk the plank before ever setting foot on a 'cruisezilla.' Evrima feels like a five-star hotel, with excesses to match. Sit back for a two-hour barber treatment at the spa, or splurge on a red Bordeaux tasting from the celebrated 2000 vintage (US$2,300). Visit the boutique for an Hermes showcase, or get your bling polished at a 'diamond revitalizing service.' 'Sometimes we lose track of reality,' hotel manager Jose Fernandez laughs as we tour the yacht's decks. Evrima's 149 suites are spacious, each with a private balcony. There are lofts spanning two floors, view suites with bathtubs peeking out over the ocean, and at the top tier, 1,091-square-foot owner's suites with wraparound terraces and private whirlpools. Our grand suite feels like a luxury apartment – as it should for US$15,400 per guest over seven nights, for our itinerary. With approximately 250 crew, the staff-to-guest ratio is high. Fresh-faced and eager to talk, the ship's onboard staff (or 'ladies and gentlemen' as they're called) make sure guests are comfortable, tropical cocktail in hand. As we settle into our room on Day 1, the doorbell rings. It's William, our 'suite ambassador,' offering us the unpacking service. The notion of someone else emptying my luggage feels alien to me. We come back from lunch to find our toiletries lined up on the double vanity, clothes hung and folded with care. That includes my partner's favourite pyjama, a tattered Mark's Work Wearhouse sweatshirt that William tucks away on a high shelf, as if to say, 'Please don't wear this outside.' The dress code is 'yacht casual'– lots of linen on men, floral caftans on women. For evenings, we move into 'yacht sophisticated': ixnay on the shorts, ball caps and flip flops. People-watching is part of the pleasure aboard a superyacht. Several Americans talk incessantly about money: hedge funds and wealth portfolios and inheritances. A small contingent of Germans is elegant and athletic; a warm Iranian family celebrates a wedding on the upper deck. Hidden Canada 2025: Ten travel destinations across the country to explore this summer On a European cruise with my teen, I watched her grow into a traveller The Brits are the most lively. One mischievous group spends the week playing celebrity look-alike, pairing passengers with their Hollywood doppelgangers (my partner gets Liam Neeson, I Sigourney Weaver). We share a toast at The Living Room, a gathering spot on Deck 4, and meet again for a late night dance-off at the Observatory Lounge on Deck 10. But cuisine is the real focal point, with five distinct à-la-carte restaurants on-board. We embark on a 'culinary journey' at S.E.A., from chef Sven Everland of Aqua, a three Michelin-starred restaurant at Ritz-Carlton, Wolfsburg in Germany. The menu is a series of intricately plated delicacies. Scallops with mango and paspierre algae. A sliver of Japanese Wagyu beef with pine-shoot glaze. Sorbet spooned from the hollow of a Ruinart Rosé champagne bottle. For US$285, including paired wines, the execution is flawless. It's only a shame that the room feels so funereal – windowless and adorned with calla lilies. We're sailing the tropics, not attending a wake. The trip's most sublime dish comes from a more casual onboard restaurant, The Pool House. It's a morsel of torched miso king salmon, bathed in a citrus pop of yuzu marinade. Second place: crispy Vietnamese-style spring rolls at Talaat Nam, the ship's popular Southeast Asian spot. Here we meet Dadan, our favourite gentleman of the ship. 'Can you do me a favour?' Dadan asks, intensely. 'Enjoy,' he says, his smile widening. Staff talk often about Evrima's unique feel: less cruise ship, more luxe resort on land. The ocean begs to differ. Winds howl and waves swell three to four metres high some nights. I lie flat on the bed, listening to the roar outside – a humbling experience. All week, rough conditions shutter the ship's marina, which normally gives passengers entry into the ocean to swim, kayak and paddleboard while at anchor. Captain Chris Pugh and a crew of navigators and lookouts have been working to smooth out the voyage, sheltering between islands. Some well-heeled guests don't come on the ship for it to feel like a ship, the captain explains. Thanks to Evrima's compact size (190 metres end to end), we've been anchoring in secluded spots not easily accessible to ginormous cruise liners. On Day 3, we take the ship's bright yellow tenders into Bequia, a yachting town in the Grenadines. Leathery, tussle-haired couples stroll Princess Margaret Beach. The strip's lined with huts hawking rum punch and wisdom: 'Slow down today,' reads the chalkboard sign at Shelley's Bar. We sail on to Canouan, a chichi Grenadines island with its own airstrip and marinas fit for oligarchs. Here, the Ritz-Carlton takes over a beach club for a barbecue. Looking out at turquoise waters, we feast on lobster tails, sip rum-filled coconuts and bounce to a soundtrack of Whitney and Mariah. After departing Canouan, our captain reveals that Amazon czar Jeff Bezos snapped up his favourite parking spot in the bay. Indeed, Koru, Bezo's US$500-million superyacht was anchored nearby, its figurehead bearing a striking resemblance to his fiancée Lauren Sánchez. The next day brings our first port stop, St. George's, Grenada. A small group heads inland for a trek through Grand Étang National Park, a rainforest framing a crater lake. Danny, our seasoned guide, is spry along slick jungle paths in his jelly shoes – red, green and yellow like his country's flag. Grenada is also known as Spice Island, and our hike winds through verdant plantations. Well-versed in herbal medicine, Danny rattles off various treatments: clove leaves for impotence, nutmeg for menstrual cramps. After two exciting river crossings, the trek ends at a waterfall shrouded in misty rain forest. A few swimmers clamber in. As water beats down our shoulders, we all lock eyes, awestruck. By the time we reach St. Lucia, my partner and I have morphed into serene yachting people, nothing like our harried-troll versions in Toronto. The finale is a private catamaran voyage along St. Lucia's western coast. We snorkel, spotting octopus, moray eels and schools of iridescent blue chromis. The onboard chef calls us out for lunch, curried mahi mahi. It's the kind of curated experience that passengers expect on this voyage. There seems to be less appetite for the real world. Several guests voice displeasure with some of the port stops, including St. George's, where feral cats roam laneways and young men gun their cars at high speed the afternoon we tour around. A few guests chafe at the grittiness, saying they'd prefer more anchored time at luxe tourist hideaways like St. Barts and Mustique. The complaints get more precious from there. One woman wonders why tokens of chocolate were left in her suite some days but not every day. And why are the breakfast jam jars so hard to open, another queries her husband. The Ritz-Carlton could bend over backward, but really, the rich like to complain. Happily, our British shipmates maintain their high spirits. It's the last night and instead of packing their suitcases, they hold court around the sushi bar at Talaat Nam. The waves swell and everyone's bobbing and laughing, drawing out the moment before it's time to set foot back on land. The writer was a guest of The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. It did not review or approve the story before publication.
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Para-driver hopes for 'swan song' world championship
Deborah Daniel's life changed in October 1997 when a speedboat she was on in St Lucia exploded, killing four and leaving her paralysed. It was two days before her wedding and she was just 29 years Daniel, from Whixall, in Shropshire, was a police sergeant in Cannock at the time and even returned to work after being discharged, but eventually decided to retire due to retirement led her to becoming a member of the British Para Driving Squad, and she has since represented the team in six world championships. The sport involves drivers sitting on a carriage pulled by a horse taking part in a range of events including dressage and negotiating upcoming 2025 Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) Para Driving World Championships in Lahden, Germany, is to be her seventh and final international competition. "You do get older and the body fails and things change so this will be my swan song, this will be my last international... seven is enough I think," said Ms it is not as easy as turning up and competing - she needs to raise £6,500 to pay for things including training, travel, fuel costs, and transport for her carriages and pony - Capitola Mr Houdini."The reason that we don't get funding... is because we're not an Olympic sport," she said."We also have to raise funds for our management team - to take with us."This includes vets, human and horse physiotherapists and a date, Ms Daniel's highest accolade has been team bronze."I would just love to bring home a different coloured medal other than a bronze," she told the BBC. There were about 14 people on board the 36ft speedboat on the day she was injured - they had all planned to go scuba of the boat's two engines did not start, so she said a staff member lifted the hatch to start it manually, not knowing that there had been a fuel exploded, launching the boat, including Ms Daniel, 30ft in the air."I never was unconscious, I remember flying up in the air, flick-flacking, landing in the water, hitting the bottom and then coming to the surface," she said."I put my head under the water to check that my legs were there, because I couldn't feel them, and I instinctively knew I'd broken my back."I'd broken my back in five places... other than that, I didn't have a mark on me other than a bruise on my palm." 'I'm lucky to be alive' Her fiance fractured some bones in the accident, but four other people were killed Daniels described the ambulance that fetched her as "an old VW campervan with no straps"."We were put on surfboards," she was flown to Martinique and had surgery, before being flown back to the UK about 12 days later. "I'm lucky to be alive," she said. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
CBC
24-05-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Julien Alfred wins the women's 200m in Zagreb
St Lucia's Julien Alfred wins the women's 200m in a time of 22.16 at the World Athletic Continental Tour in Zagreb, Croatia.
Daily Mail
24-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Why we've stayed over 1,000 nights at the same luxury resort chain in the last nine years - and how we afford it
While most travellers dream of a week-long escape to the Caribbean, one couple has taken their love for luxury to another level. Christopher and Tracey Smith, a retired couple from Southampton, have spent 1,000 nights at Sandals, an all-inclusive resort chain, in the last nine years. The couple, aged 57 and 56, have no children - so love the adults-only resort for that reason. And they marked their milestone holiday earlier this year at Sandals Regency La Toc in St Lucia - a resort they've visited an astounding 24 times - where they were treated to a 'very, very special' VIP-style celebration arranged by the staff. Chris and Tracey's love affair with Sandals began in 2006 at Sandals Ochi Beach Resort in Jamaica - a destination they still consider their favourite despite tallying a total of 90 stays across 13 Sandals properties. Tracey said: 'I think our heart is always there. They've recently gone through some refurbishments, which have improved the rooms massively, and they've got a great choice of 16 restaurants and bars.' According to Chris, it's also Jamaica's 'heavenly' landscape, rhythmic dancehall music and 'world's best' Kentucky Friend Chicken that makes the pair so fond of the Caribbean nation. From snorkeling and kayaking, to tubing and horse racing, the couple insist they never tire of the activities and amenities on offer at Sandals, and they experience something new each time. Prices at Sandals can range from around £1399 per person for a 7-night stay at Sandals South Coast to upwards of £2,729 per person for a 7-night stay at Royal Curaçao. So how do Tracey and Chris afford to take up to four Sandals holidays a year? 'Smart booking', claims Tracey. She adds: 'If you book a hotel stay whilst you're on resort, you actually get between 10 and 12 per cent discount off of the cheapest price online. 'But also, every time you stay, you earn points. And again, as you go through the loyalty programme, you get more points per pound spent. And they just reduce that off of your balance. So it's just being smart with it really.' Chris, an avid scuba diver, adds: 'When you break down what you actually get in terms of the Sandals experience. So, the premium drinks, the restaurants, the water sports, the scuba diving... it's all included. 'It'll probably cost me $132 a single dive. Add that into a normal holiday. It does work out value for money.' But Chris and Tracey's love of Sandals extends beyond pristine breaches and luxury amenities. They actively volunteer with the Sandals Foundation whenever they're away, having participated in school reading sessions, beach cleanups, and provided Christmas meals for the homeless. And they claim what keeps them returning is the people. Tracey says: 'Sandals have not just invested in their guests, but they've invested their staff as well. 'We've seen lots of their staff grow, progress through roles and move around the islands, and that's one of the reasons we return, it is to catch up with people that we've come to know. Chris adds: 'When you're on the resort, managers or senior people are always walking around interacting with guests, and they want to know how your vacation is going. 'It is a luxury vacation, and they want to make sure you leave with a positive experience.' That's clear from the celebration they were thrown in St Lucia to celebrate their 1,000th night. They were met at the airport by the general manager, James, who presented them with a bouquet of flowers, as well as a crowd of '20 to 30' singing, dancing staff outside the terminal, waving flags. 'It was like a diplomat's welcome,' recalls Tracey. But that wasn't it. When they got to the St Lucia resort, over 100 employees lined up in custom t-shirts bearing the couple's faces, standing under a massive 'Welcome Home, Chris and Tracey' banner. But now, with more than 90 Sandals holidays behind them, the Smiths show no signs of slowing down. They've already scheduled three more trips this year - including a twin-centre stay in Barbados and Saint Vincent in June, a return to Ochi Beach in September, and even a 2026 trip already in the works. And Tracey hints: 'We haven't done Grenada yet, so we're looking forward to trying that and maybe building that into another return trip next year as well.'
