Year in Review: Feel-good stories in Ottawa in 2022

CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at the feel-good stories in Ottawa in 2022.

An eight-year-old Ottawa boy was praised for saving an elderly man who was almost completely buried in the snow during a blizzard in January.

The Ottawa Paramedic Service says Clayton McGuire had spotted the man near his home and immediately told his parents, who called 911.

“The gentleman was almost all covered due to the huge snowfall when Clayton spotted him,” the paramedic service said on Twitter.

Clayton’s father says he ran outside to check on the man, “Looked like he had been down there for at least 20 minutes, maybe longer, because he was totally covered in snow.”

The man was assessed at the scene but ultimately decided not to go to the hospital, according to paramedics.

“I’m very proud of him,” McGuire said of his son. “He’s awesome.”

Clayton McGuire with his dad, Joey McGuire, walking next to the snowbank where Clayton found a man nearly buried in snow during a blizzard Jan. 17, 2022. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa)

While Wordle was a popular game for people this year, there was also a new version of the popular word game with a Canadian twist.

Canuckle was created by Ottawa resident Mark Rogers.

“Every word at the end is going to be related to Canada in some way and it’s got some sort of theme that can be tied back to Canada,” Rogers told CTV News Ottawa in March.

Rogers just wanted to make something that his family could have fun with. A total of 2.4 million people played it in the first month of its release.

Canuckle was developed by Mark Rogers of Ottawa.

A 12-year-old Ottawa boy made an unusual catch while magnet fishing in Green’s Creek in Ottawa’s east end last spring.

“As we pulled it up, it seemed like a rifle or a gun or something,” Nathan Sirois said.

“For any magnet fisher it’s absolutely the Holy Grail of all finds,” added Nathan’s mom, Melanie Baron.

Sirois says he has caught cans, washers and other small items while magnet fishing.

Sirois and his mother called police, who returned a couple of days later to retrieve the weapon from the creek.

“For me, this was a first, where a member of the public called it in, our dive team has searched for other weapons and pieces of evidence, but this is definitely a first where someone was magnet fishing and come across something,” said Const. Caroline Gallant of the Ottawa Police Service Marine, Dive and Trails unit.

Nathan Sirois, 12, of Ottawa says magnet fishing is a favourite pastime during the spring and summer. (Jeremie Charron/CTV News Ottawa)

Residents used kayaks to rescue a driver whose vehicle crashed through the ice of the Rideau River in Ottawa’s south end last January.

Witnesses told CTV News Ottawa they saw a car driving along the Rideau River in the area of Old Mill Way in Manotick, when it went through the ice.

A photo showed the driver standing on the vehicle as it sank into the water.

Video sent to Newstalk 580 CFRA showed the driver grabbing onto a kayak that was moved into the area by residents, and bystanders using a rope to bring the driver to safety.

Police said the driver was charged with one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle under the Criminal Code of Canada.

Zachary King was there when it happened.

“So luckily one of my other neighbours, Rob Crober, had a rope that he had got, so he ran back to his place to grab one of his kayaks off his kayak rack. And I was untangling the rope, he got back, we tied the rope to the kayak and then just got it out to here,” he told CTV News Ottawa.

“It’s like everything worked out perfectly. Got her on the kayak, pulled her in. And as soon as we pulled her in, the car went under. Fully.”

Nathan Sirois, 12, of Ottawa says magnet fishing is a favourite pastime during the spring and summer. (Jeremie Charron/CTV News Ottawa)

An Ottawa homeless shelter received about $750,000 in donations after news reports of protesters from the ‘Freedom Convoy’ harassing staff and volunteers and demanding food from their soup kitchen.

More than 13,000 people donated to the Shepherds of Good Hope over a two-week period, after the shelter said protesters harassed staff and volunteers during the first weekend of the protest in downtown Ottawa.

“Earlier today, our staff and volunteers experienced harassment from convoy protestors seeking meals from our soup kitchen,” the Shepherds said on Twitter on Jan. 29. “The individuals were given meals to diffuse the conflict.”

The head of the shelter announced the fundraising total on Feb. 10.

“What began with people wanting to make up for a few meals has now gone far beyond that,” president and CEO Deirdre Freiheit said in a video posted online.

“Thanks to this incredible unanticipated support, we can accelerate our efforts to end homelessness in our city by building more housing.”

The Shepherds of Good Hope in Ottawa. (Jackie Perez/CTV News Ottawa)

Vera Page had a difficult time convincing herself she had won the Lotto Max $60 million grand prize in November.

But it was even tougher for the 83-year-old mother, grandmother and great-grandmother from Vankleek Hill, Ont. to convince her family.

“It was close to 9 p.m. when I called my son, Trevor, but he didn’t answer his phone,” Page told OLG. “Then I called my daughter-in-law, and she didn’t answer either. I finally got a hold of my other daughter-in-law, but she didn’t believe me and told me to go to sleep.”

Page says she wants to buy a piece of land on the Ottawa River and build a double-family house for herself and her son’s family. She also wants to experience an Alaskan cruise and wants to spend winters in a warmer place.

Vera Page, 83, of Vankleek Hill, Ont., won the $60 million Lotto Max jackpot in the Nov. 1 draw. (OLG)

An Arnprior, Ont. boy with a rare disorder lived out a dream in November, spending some time with Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk.

Easton Harris, 9, was diagnosed in 2021 with aplastic anemia, which means his body was not producing enough new blood cells. Easton and his mother Amanda recently spent time at Toronto’s SickKids hospital, where he underwent a bone marrow transplant.

In mid-November, the Senators released a video of Easton and his little brother Cameron playing sledge hockey with Tkachuk and other members of the Senators.

Easton Harris at CHEO with his favourite Ottawa Senator, Brady Tkachuk. (Courtesy Harris Family)

Eddie Vedder was a hit at the Rideau Sports Centre.

The Pearl Jam lead singer and guitarist dropped by the sports centre in September to play tennis while in Ottawa for a concert at Canadian Tire Centre.

“He borrowed our CEO and Founder’s (Nicki Bridgland) tennis racquet. What a thrill it was to meet him,” a post on the Rideau Sports Centre’s Facebook page.

Vedder and his manager played tennis on court four during the surprise visit.

Pearl Jam frontman turned up to play tennis at the Rideau Sports Club in Ottawa on Sept. 2, 2022, but had to borrow club founder and CEO Nicki Bridgland’s racquet to play. (Photos courtesy of the Rideau Sports Club)