High-flying dreams of young cancer survivor get Toronto Air Show liftoff
An Ontario boy who beat cancer three times before the age of six years old got the opportunity to get up close and personal with his dreams of becoming a pilot at the Canadian National Airshow Thursday.
“It was so cool,” eight-year-old speed enthusiast Marky Czutrin told CTV News after a tour of a CF-18 cockpit. “It made me think that I was in the air show and that I was controlling the plane, and it made me so happy.”
Czutrin was one of the first children in Canada to undergo CAR T-cell therapy back in 2019, following two and a half years with leukemia and two relapses before the disease went into full remission.
He was one of several highflyers-in-training – guests of Peel Regional Police who got up close and personal at Pearson Airport on Thursday with fighter jets and the stars of Canada’s largest air show, taking place this Labour Day long weekend.
“Our mission here is to get the younger generations and the next kids to replace us one day,” Maj. Kristin “Beo” Wolfe, United States Air Force pilot and Commander of the USAF F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team, told CTV news Toronto.
(CTV News Toronto)
The air show runs from noon until 3 p.m. on Sept. 3 to 5.
One staple of the event for years will be absent: the Canadian Forces Snowbirds confirmed last week the Tutor jets—which are nearly 60 years old—will not make the trip to the Canadian National Exhibition after being grounded following an accident on Aug. 2 in Fort St. John, B.C.
Little details have been released about the accident.
Other performers include the Canadian Forces Skyhawks: Canada’s only military parachute demonstration team. Members helped show the young enthusiasts on Thursday how to properly pack a parachute for deployment.
Canadian Air Force Capt. Jesse “Modem” Haggart-Smith will be the opening act, soaring in one of Canada’s legacy CF-18 stealth jets.
“It’s an absolute blast—it’s a dream come true I get to go up there,” said the CAF 401 Tactical Fighter Squadron pilot.
While Cuztrin says, like the Sonic the Hedgehog on his hat, he is fast—he says he isn’t sure just yet if he wants to fly a commercial airplane or something with a little more zip.
“Maybe if I practice a lot I could fly a million or a thousand miles per hour,” he surmised
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Slovakia's populist prime minister shot in assassination attempt, shocking Europe before elections
Slovakia's populist prime minister, Robert Fico, was shot multiple times and gravely wounded Wednesday after a political event in an attempted assassination that shocked the small country and reverberated across Europe.
U.S. intelligence officials wanted to meet with Transport Canada's UFO 'lead'
Canada's transportation department had a UFO 'lead' who tried to 'quell' media interest and planned to meet with U.S. intelligence officials.
'Very expensive lunch': Sask. driver handed a cell phone ticket for using points app in McDonald's drive-thru
A warning from a Saskatoon driver about using your fast-food app while in the drive-thru line — a trip to get some free lunch cost him a lot more than he bargained for.
'The Fly' has become notorious in France after a brazen escape. What's his criminal history?
A prisoner nicknamed “The Fly” has become notorious in France overnight after a daring and bloody escape from a prison convoy in Normandy that left two guards dead.
Ontario's 'Crypto King' Aiden Pleterski arrested
Aiden Pleterski, the self-proclaimed 'crypto king' from Whitby, Ont., has been arrested in Durham Region after allegedly running a Ponzi scheme worth more than $40 million.
Barge hits a bridge in Texas, damaging the structure and causing an oil spill
A barge slammed into a bridge pillar in Galveston, Texas, on Wednesday, spilling oil into surrounding waters and closing the only road to a smaller and separate island that is home to a university, officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Person responsible for 1996 drugging of 'Titanic' crew likely not a local: Halifax police
Halifax Regional Police believe a non-resident could be responsible for the infamous drugging of numerous crew members of the 'Titanic' movie with a hallucinogenic in 1996.
Latest updates on the biggest wildfires burning in Canada
Thousands of people in Western Canada remain displaced from their homes as wildfires threaten their communities, triggering evacuation orders and alerts.
OPINION If you think you can’t focus for long, you’re right: Sandee LaMotte
Regaining your focus requires you to be mindful of how you are using technology -- a daunting task if you consider the average American spends at least 10 hours a day on screens.