His Name is Earl: Documentary

---

PART THREE

His Name is Earl - Suzanne Dufresne

You've probably heard the saying that sport is a metaphor for life ... learning how to win and lose, how to be part of a team, how to struggle with adversity. But few people have experienced that metaphor quite like Earl Cook. He's a 23-year-old hockey player from Winnipeg. He has struggled with disabilities almost from birth. He has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Tourette Syndrome, Asperger's Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

In spite of all that, he learned to play hockey and to love it. When cancer took one of his legs, Earl switched to sledge hockey. And along the way he has developed a unique relationship with Mike Babcock, the coach of the Detroit Red Wings. Earl Cook plays hockey the way he lives his life with a drive and passion few of us could match.

This morning, as part of the CBC's project Live Right Now, our Manitoba producer Suzanne Dufresne brings us a documentary called His Name is Earl. You can watch Earl Cook's story tonight on The National with Peter Mansbridge at 10 o'clock on CBC Television -- 10:30 in Newfoundland and parts of Labrador.

Promo - David Gutnick in Japan

As you heard earlier in the program, people who live in the parts of Japan hit hardest by last week's earthquake and tsunami are facing an enormous humanitarian crisis. And that comes on top of the danger posed by the radiation leaks at the Fukushima nuclear complex.

But in Tokyo -- just a couple of hundred kilometres south -- the situation is very different. People there are worried. But life is slowly returning to normal. Kids are in school. Shops are open. And people are going out to restaurants.

The CBC's David Gutnick is in Japan for The Current. He's working on a story for us for Monday's program. And he stopped in at a sushi restaurant, to get a glimpse of Tokyo's new normal.

David will be traveling to Hiroshima in the coming days. And he'll join us on the program on Monday.

Last Word - 100 at 100

On Sunday, Haitian voters will go to the polls for the second time in three months. Canada is home to the largest Haitian population outside of Haiti. So a lot of people here will be watching the vote closely. Cicilia Laurent is among them. She's 115 years old. Many think she is the oldest woman in the world.

Today, she lives with her granddaughter in Laval -- a suburb of Montreal. Cicilia Laurent is one of our 100 at 100. The CBC's Dan Halton went to talk to her recently. She speaks Creole, so we've translated what she had to say. Cicilia Laurent got the last word this morning.

Click here to watch a video of Dan Halton's story on Cicilia Laurent

Other segments from today's show:

• Libya Ceasefire
• Humanitarian Crisis in Japan