Top stories of the week: Lost luggage, Code Red in Guelph and a fatal crash in Brant County

Air Canada customer stunned to learn lost baggage allegedly obtained by charity

A Cambridge couple said they've been waiting to get their luggage back for over four months. (Submitted/Nakita Rees)

An Air Canada customer who tracked her husband’s lost luggage to a public storage facility in Etobicoke, Ont. has been reunited with the bag four and a half months after it went missing.

Cambridge Ont.’s Nakita Rees says although she’s relieved to have the luggage back, her search for answers is not over. In particular, she’s concerned how the bag allegedly ended up in the hands of a charity.

Rees says last week, police obtained a warrant to open the storage unit where her AirTag tracking device showed her husband’s suitcase had been sitting since October.

It’s the culmination of a months-long ordeal for the couple.

In September, when they returned from their honeymoon in Italy and Greece, one of their three suitcases didn’t arrive from Montreal to Toronto.

Ambulances lined the street in front of Guelph General Hospital after Code Red declared

Ambulances line up outside Guelph General Hospital on Monday due to a code red.(OPSEU/Twitter)

Monday morning was a sight that is becoming common at some Ontario hospitals – ambulances lined up down the street in offload delays, resulting in paramedic services dipping into a Code Red as no ambulances were available to respond to calls.

Guelph-Wellington paramedics are once again raising a red flag over the number of Code Reds in the area, with some healthcare professionals flagging this as a healthcare system in crisis.

This is what 13 ambulances look like. Guelph Wellington Paramedics hitting a reported code red this morning at 10 am. How many code reds is too many? #coderedcrisis pic.twitter.com/MvqKQJdRsl

— OPSEU 231 (@local231opseu) January 23, 2023

Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSUE) Local 231 shared a photo on Twitter Monday morning of 13 ambulances lined up outside Guelph General Hospital.

“At first it was quite heartbreaking when you would see those types of photos and think somebody, a love one, a family member, required an ambulance in the area and they were unable to get one. It was quite sad,” OPSEU 231 president Nick Di Ruzza said. “At this point, it's more frustration.”

Teen dies in Brant County crash, OPP investigating

A memorial to a 19-year-old victim of a Brant County crash is seen on Jan. 22, 2023. (Jeff Pickel/CTV Kitchener)

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are investigating a fatal early-morning crash in Brant County.

Emergency crews were called to the scene on Cockshutt Road just before 8 a.m. on Saturday.

Police say a dark coloured 2004 Honda left the road and struck a hydro pole. OPP shared a photo that showed a badly-damaged vehicle and a snapped hydro pole.

One person was pronounced dead on scene.

The deceased has been identifed by OPP as 19-year-old Quinn Hainer of Ancaster. Police say he was on his way home from work early that morning.

Cockshutt Road from Burtch Road to Indian Line was closed for roughly seven hours, but has since reopened.

Police shared a photo from the scene that showed a badly damaged vehicle and a snapped hydro pole.

"We could see the hydro pole was broken and leaning so they had to take the hydro off," said Miranda Rienzo, who lives on Cockshutt Road. "We could see flashing lights out the window. It was still fairly dark here between 8:30 and 9 a.m. The power went off.

Two arrested after Stratford police officer dragged by stolen pickup

A video shows an altercation between an officer and someone in a black truck. (Submitted/Stratford Police Service)

Two people are facing charges after a police officer was allegedly assaulted in Stratford.

On Tuesday, the officer was at the Canadian Tire Gas Bar on Ontario Street at 10:30 p.m. while conducting a stolen vehicle investigation. While there, they spotted a black Dodge Ram pickup truck that police said was confirmed stolen from Parkhill. The pickup was not connected to the officer’s investigation.

Two people, a man and a woman, were seen with the vehicle.

The officer approached the man, identified as 27-year-old Joseph Cluett of Mitchell, as he was exiting the store. Police said Cluett “immediately pushed the officer to the ground and ran to the truck where he got into the passenger seat.”

The woman, 30-year-old Kayla Field, was in the driver’s seat.

Police said the officer followed Cluett to the truck and “attempted to pull him out while telling Cluett he was under arrest.”

A video, shared by Stratford police, shows the officer pulling the passenger door open. Cluett and the officer then engage in a physical altercation before Field began to drive away. Police said the officer was “unable to pull away” and was dragged alongside the truck for a short distance. They added that the officer was “nearly run over.”

Police said the officer was transported to the hospital, but has since been released and “will be off work for an undetermined amount of time and is now resting at home with family.”

On Wednesday, Cluett and Field were arrested.

Elmira woman calls her rare condition 'really degrading', prepares for surgery in Arizona

Kennedy Shannon at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, June 2022. (Submitted/Lori Shannon)

An Elmira woman born with Pectus Excavatum, a condition where her ribcage is caved in, is getting set for a life-changing surgery, south of the border, in May.

Kennedy Shannon, 20, has an extreme case of the condition. Her heart is compressed on top of her stomach.

“It's been really frustrating and really degrading to go through as a person. Throughout my elementary years I suffered a lot of bullying and I suffered very early onset depression and anxiety" Kennedy said.

"Her right ventricle is so compressed it has to work 35 per cent harder to get the blood to the other side of her heart," Lori Shannon, Kennedy’s mother said.

Kennedy's family noticed her struggling to catch her breath early on in life. But doctors told them the condition was not the cause of her issues.

"She did soccer and she did dance. She would tire a lot sooner than a lot of the other kids," Lori said.

"I thought I was crazy. I didn't know what was going on. All the doctors dismissed me saying everything was fine. Well it wasn't fine, because I was passing out. I was getting really winded," Kennedy said.