Latest news with #paralympics
CTV News
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
‘Life moves forward': Docuseries centred on former Humboldt Bronco Ryan Straschnitzki premieres in Regina
The AMI docuseries "We Were Broncos" follows Ryan Straschnitzki, as he works to make Canada's national sledge hockey team before switching sports. (Source: AMI) Ryan Straschnitzki, one of the 13 survivors of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash, is the subject of a new docuseries that follows his attempt to make Canada's national sledge hockey team before switching sports. The series, We Were Broncos, had its premiere in Regina Wednesday night. Speaking with CTV News, Straschnitzki explained that he was initially hesitant to participate in the series. 'The more I thought about, the more I thought it could be good exposure for adaptive sports, my journey and kind of a thank you to let people know that from their support I was able to be in this position and continue to strive for the paralympics,' he explained. The six-part series documents the partially paralyzed hockey player's attempt to make the national sled hockey team and an unexpected turn. 'So, I got cut from the national sled hockey team and my entire life revolved around getting cut from sports teams, so I knew that the next step was continuing to move forward,' Staschnitzki explained. 'That's all I was ever taught. My dad taught me that and so my next path forward, my next open door was wheelchair basketball.' The series airs Monday nights on the AMI cable channel and streams on AMI Plus. 'One of the things that we've been able to do is work across Canada with production companies – reflecting content with people with disabilities,' Vice President of AMI, John Melville, explained. The series is the creation of Regina television producer Lucas Frison. 'I have a personal connection with the Humboldt crash because I was best friends with Mark Cross, the assistant coach who died in the crash,' Frison explained. 'So, its always something that's close to me, I've always been following Ryan's journey from afar.' Straschnitzki is pleased with how the television series turned out. 'It's a part of life. Its something that happened that I wish I could take back – but life moves forward,' he said. 'Try to live your best life and do it in memory of them and everyone we lost that day. So, it's a lot of mixed emotions but a lot of it is that push and that drive to move forward from them.' While Straschnitzki is now focused on wheelchair basketball, he hasn't given up on his love for hockey. He's considering a return one day as a sled hockey coach.
The Guardian
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Firestorms, county fairs and chimp hospitals: winners of the All About Photo awards 2025
From the series 'Inclusive Nations', swimmer Husnah Kukundakwe, age 15, is pictured during training at the Elite Swim and Gym pool in Kampala, Uganda. She is Uganda's only classified paralympic swimmer. Husnah: 'Swimming was for me an escape from being really shy. I was always hiding my disability, because people look at me weirdly when they see my arm. So I'd always wear a sweater the whole day, even when it was hot, so people couldn't see my hand. But when I started swimming, I learned to be more confident about myself.' Mishler took this image for the Alaska State Fair marketing department, documenting singular moments that define the rural, smalltown aspect of life in the state's Matanuska-Susitna Valley. Walker describes this shot, taken in 2015 at the last officially permitted Pride parade in Istanbul, as a tense and surreal experience. His focus is on a woman walking calmly in front of a line of riot police, her attitude part defiance and part performance. This self-portrait of the photographer crying in the shower explores who she is and where she is meant to be. Yan captures the moment that a bather photobombs a girl's selfie in a bath house. Leo, a 17-year-old 59.6kg male, is examined at Fort Pierce, Florida, at Save the Chimps – the largest privately funded chimpanzee sanctuary in the world. Its mission is to provide a safe haven to captive chimps that have been exploited by humans for research, testing and entertainment in the US. Part of a series that delves deeper into the start of demonstrations in Tbilisi, Georgia, this shot captures an intimate moment between protesters seemingly uninterested in this pivotal moment in the country's history. Men and water buffaloes share the warmth of the Budaklı hot springs in Bitlis, escaping the cold of south-eastern Turkey's winter. A close-up capturing the elegance and rawness of age, with vivid red nails holding a lit cigarette against a bold background. The textured skin and swirling smoke evoke a sense of character and timeless allure. As flames consume the business district and neighbourhoods of Altadena, California, in 2025, reducing them to ruins in one of the most devastating urban firestorms in history, an eerie sense of calm settles over those who have stayed behind. A solitary onlooker watches a house burn. Women attend makeup classes in a secret workshop in Kabul. This is part of a series that shows acts of resilience and resistance after the Taliban restricted women's access to education, employment and public places. One of a series that examines the emotional attachment between individuals and their synthetic partners, this depicts Karsten and Anastasia. He says: 'Anastasia has lived with me for three years. I am 36 and have never been in a relationship. Often I felt lonely as my family lives far away, so I decided to get a love doll for physical closeness and companionship.'
National Post
18-05-2025
- Sport
- National Post
'Beyond the crash': TV series on paralyzed Humboldt Bronco player set to air
Article content AIRDRIE — Ryan Straschnitzki's life has been an open book since he was seriously injured in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash, and his story is soon to be shown on TV. Article content Article content The 26-year-old from Airdrie, Alta., was paralyzed from the chest down in 2018, when a semi-trailer ran a stop sign and barrelled into the path of the junior hockey team's bus in rural Saskatchewan. Article content Sixteen people died and 13 were hurt. Article content Article content A film crew with Regina-based Prairie Cat Productions followed Straschnitzki for eight months and created a six-part series called 'We Were Broncos.' It airs on AMI, or Accessible Media Inc., beginning May 26. Article content Straschnitzki played on Alberta's para hockey team and had been training with the Paralympic development team, but his journey ended at the Team Canada Olympic tryouts. Article content In July 2023, he decided to try to make the 2028 Paralympic basketball squad. Article content The move caught the attention of Lucas Frison, founder of Prairie Cat, who had completed a documentary for CBC on the Bronco team in the season after the crash. Article content 'Looking back, seeing some of the footage and where I was to where I am now is a real eye opener. I think I've changed a lot as a person,' Straschnitzki told The Canadian Press while shooting hoops at an outdoor court in Airdrie. Article content 'I think at the beginning of the basketball season I kind of doubted myself a little bit. By the end of the season I was a lot more confident in myself and realized I have the ability to make it where I want to make it, if I put the work in.' Article content Straschnitzki has been playing on a Calgary wheelchair basketball team and was invited to his first camp in July for Team Canada. Frison, the producer and director for 'We Were Broncos,' was a close friend of Mark Cross, an assistant coach of the Broncos who died in the crash. Article content 'I've got to know him a lot over this last year, and he's just a fun, positive person to be around.' Article content In the series, Ryan talks about being recognized and approached by people on the street about the crash and his survival, said Frison. Article content 'He understands. He's OK with that. But he also wants to be known for other things, like his pursuit of wheelchair basketball and making the Canadian Paralympic Team for the 2028 Paralympics. He wants to be known for his Straz Strong charity that he started and some of these things that were beyond the crash.' Article content Straschnitzki is set to be in Toronto this week promoting the series. Article content 'I think a lot of people know the story of Humboldt and what happened. But I think a lot of people don't really know my story … my perspective and where I'm at now,' he said. Article content 'I think it will open a lot of eyes and hopefully people get insight into what my life looks like.' Article content
