Feel-good Friday: Global BC’s highlights of the week

Each week at Global BC we highlight our stories to bring a bright spot to your Friday and into the weekend.

Here are the five stories we want to share:

Teen hiker Esther Wang speaks out after being lost in the woods for over two days

A Langley teen is giving her account of what happened after she went on a camping trip in Golden Ears Park last week and got lost in the brush for over two days.

In a letter published online, 16-year-old Esther Wang says she started the hike on June 27 with four other people as part of a youth group.

“I tried to turn around, but I tripped and fell down until I reached a flatter part of the mountain. Scared and lonely, I curled into a ball, and I tried to stay as calm as possible,” Wang’s letter said.

“I started to hear whistles and noises that sounded like a signal. I started to climb the mountain towards the noises; however, I still could not locate the signals.”

After trying and failing to alert search crews, Wang says she pivoted efforts to finding water and camp for the night.

“Thankfully, I was able to refill my water bottles and I had packed food for the hike. I tried to get some sleep on the rocks nearby, but I was cold and freezing.”

1:55 Missing teen found alive in Golden Ears Park

Lower Mainland Canada Day celebrations reimagined with spirit of reconciliation

For the second year, Canada Day at Canada Place was celebrated and reimagined in the spirit of reconciliation.

Planned with the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations, ‘Canada Together’ is one of the country’s largest celebrations outside of Ottawa.

2:59 Canada Day reimagined in spirit of reconciliation

B.C. great grandmother celebrates 99th birthday skydiving with great grandson

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Would you jump out of a plane with a parachute strapped to your back? Now ask yourself the same question, but imagine you’re just 13 months shy of your 100th birthday.

For Coquitlam’s Lucie Koenig, the answer is yes — in a heartbeat.

There was no hesitation from the skydiving granny as she met up with her great grandson to leap from the heavens just a few weeks shy of her 99th birthday.

“I don’t consider that I’m a thrill seeker. I just like to know things, I like to experience things. When I was young like a teenager I was mountain climbing in the Austrian Alps,” Koenig told Global News on Monday.

“I don’t scare easy.”

1:52 99-year-old great grandmother skydives in Abbotsford

B.C. veteran helps process PTSD by replicating ships he served on

A veteran of the Royal Canadian Navy has found an interesting new hobby in retirement: Yvon Lehoux is replicating seven of the ships he served on.

There are not kits to buy for these models. Lehoux has to craft every little piece from scratch to recreate his vessels, with every tiny detail offering the veteran a trip through time.

2:17 This is BC: Retired Navy man deals with PTSD by replicating ships he served on

Kainai Nation runners reach Pacific Ocean after cross-country run for MMIWM

It’s been a long 86-day journey for the 65-year-old who set off from St. John’s, Newfoundland on April 12 to complete a cross-Canada run for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Men (MMIWM) and Mother Earth.

Napi’s Run 2023 — named after the Blackfoot trickster — came from a dream Bare Shin Bone had where he saw a highway road sign that read “St. John’s Newfoundland 58 kilometers away.”

1:00 Blood Reserve runners finish cross-Canada run for MMIWM

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