Please take a moment to watch this touching video of sportstar Ray Lewis, who is mentoring a child seriously in need: La’Shaun Armstrong.
Armstrong was in the vehicle that was driven into the Hudson River last month, along with his three younger siblings, by his mother. La’Shaun was the only survivor, escaping the vehicle through a passenger side window and swimming to safety.
Sometimes life seems full of ups and downs. But usually, they are of the symbolic sort. For climber Adam Potter, his fall was grand and spectacular, but somehow, he managed to get back up again.
Adam Potter, a Scottish climber, survived 1,000 feet (300m - the height of the Eiffel Tower!) fall with only minor injuries, said Herald Sun in a report.Potter, a 35-year-old from Glasgow, lost his step on Saturday and fell down the near-vertical and craggy eastern face of Sgurr Choinnich Mor, a 1094-metre-high mountain in the western Highlands.
He was found at more or less 790 metres, making his tumble nearly 300 metres from the summit. In an interview with Sky, Potter revealed his story: “We were about 3000ft (914m) t up, give or take a few. I couldn’t really see the bottom at that point because there was a lot of cloud coming and going.
“As I slipped, I gained speed very quickly. I tried to slow myself down as quickly as possible because I knew once I had got the speed it would be difficult to lose it.
“I couldn’t because I went over the cliff edge and gained lots of speed… I was trying to slow myself down with my feet, my hands, my walking pole.
“Then I’d go over another cliff and it went on and on this way.
“I spoke to the helicopter people this morning and they said three of those drops were over 100ft (30m) in height each so I was quite lucky.”
“It wasn’t until I was at the bottom… and looked up that I appreciated I’d come a long way,” he added.
The helicopter that rescued him was on a training exercise at the time and was at the scene within 30 minutes. When the crew saw him standing beneath three craggy outcrops they thought it was impossible that the person was Adam Potter.
“We honestly thought it couldn’t have been him, as he was on his feet, reading a map,” said Lieutenant Tim Barker, the crew’s observer.
“It seemed impossible. So we retraced our path back up the mountain and, sure enough, there were bits of his kit in a vertical line all the way up where he had obviously lost them during the fall.
“It was quite incredible. He must have literally glanced off the outcrops as he fell, almost flying.”
When a paramedic reached Mr Potter he was shaking from “extreme emotional shock and the sheer relief at being alive”.
Many part of his face skin were exfoliated. He was also suffering from sore shoulders that were wrenched by the rucksack on his back, suffered whiplash and chest pain and three minor breaks in his back, but was being treated as “walking wounded” yesterday.
“He is lucky to be alive,” Lieutenant Barker said.
“It’s hard to believe that someone could have fallen that distance on that terrain and been able to stand up at the end of it, let alone chat to us in the helicopter.”
But the accident didn’t put him off climbing. He planned to climb Mount Everest in the following weeks.
“I will be a little bit more cautious next time and perhaps a little bit safer,” he said. “But I could have slipped on the pavement going out the front door.
“The only difference is the consequences of slipping up there are greater because of the distance you can fall.”
Even after such an untimely loss, people have the power to gather together, to consolidate their efforts, and create substantial change:
A perfect bone marrow match was never found for young stage actress Shannon Tavarez, who died of leukemia in November, but her family and supporters have vowed to work tirelessly to save others. A bone marrow donor registry drive has been organized in memory of the 11-year-old ‘Lion King’ star.
Those wishing to donate can head to DKMS, a bone marrow transplant center, located in Harlem, N.Y., on Sunday to get tested. (The test is a simple inner cheek swab.) Tavarez’s mother, Odiney Brown, told the New York Post that helping others in need of a bone marrow transplant was one of Shannon’s main goals.The actress played Young Nala from September 2009 until last April, when she began feeling pain in her lower back and legs. Soon, the emerging star was diagnosed, and the search for a donor began.Her story drew the attention of numerous celebrities, including Alicia Keys and Rihanna, who led campaigns to find a bone marrow match for Tavarez.
But doctors were unable to find a match for a bone marrow transplant, so as an alternative she received umbilical-cord blood treatment in August. Since leaving ‘The Lion King,’ Tavarez had undergone extensive chemotherapy and had been staying at a New York City hospital.
Tavarez got the role of Young Nala after wowing producers at her first open audition. According to Broadway World, she attended Harlem School of the Arts for vocals and piano and started singing at age 3.
In ‘The Lion King,’ Young Nala and Young Simba sing the bouncy song ‘I Just Can’t Wait to Be King.’
Watch this beautiful video of Shannon doing what she did so beautifully - sing.
Source: PopEater
By now, most of us have heard about the the shooting at Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ meet-and-greet in Tucson, Arizona. As it stands, six people were killed, 14 injured. But we’d like to take a moment to highlight the efforts of one brave intern, who may have saved Representative Gifford’s life. Her name is Daniel Hernandez.
Hernandez, 20, had only worked for Giffords for five days. He was standing 30 feet away when the gunfire began, and he watched with terror as Rep. Giffords was shot in the head. Immediately, he rushed to her side.
“It was probably not the best idea to run toward the gunshots, but people needed help,” he told the Arizona Republic.
Hernandez, who’d received training in emergency triage, began to provide medical assistance to Giffords and the other victims. He applied pressure to the Congresswoman’s head to stop the bleeding, using his bare hands until someone brought him clean smocks from the nearby Safeway supermarket. While he aided Giffords, he instructed bystanders on how to apply pressure to the wounds of the others who’d been injured.
Hernandez stayed with Giffords until paramedics arrived, and held her hand on the way to the hospital. She squeezed his in return.
Although Giffords is still in critical condition, doctors are optimistic about her chances—and that’s likely due to Hernandez’ quick thinking.
Hernandez was “ecstatic” to hear that Giffords had survived. “She was one of the people I’ve looked up to,” he said. “Knowing she was alive and still fighting was good news. She’s definitely a fighter, whether for her own life, or standing up for people in southern Arizona.”
Source: Gimundo
Life often requires sacrifice. But as you’ll read in this story, sacrifice can help both parties.
But before you read this story, do you have an organ donor card? Is it on your driver’s license? Go check or visit this website:
What others thought was just an exercise routine to lose weight was, for Chen Yurong, a way to save her son’s life.
The 51-year-old Hubei native knew she had to improve the condition of her liver in order for doctors to cut part of it out - and transplant it into her son’s body.
So in February she went on a diet and marched about 10 km a day.
The result, even broadcast yesterday by State television CCTV, was a successful 14-hour operation to save her son from a life-threatening liver disease.
“In order to give my young granddaughter a complete family, I’d like to do everything to save my son,” Chen said before the operation.
While Chen and her 31-year-old son, Ye Haibin, are now in stable condition at Tongji Hospital in Wuhan. He suffers from Wilson’s disease, or hepatolenticular degeneration. Health experts said a living organ donation was not the best way for Chen to save her son, given that about 1 out of 1,000 liver donors die after the transplant surgery.
“Living organ donation is just an alternative when there’s no suitable deceased organ donated,” said Chen Shi, an organ transplant expert with the Institute of Transplantation at Tongji Hospital.
“It’s kind of a dilemma facing transplant doctors worldwide whether to do living organ transplantations, which involve potential health risks for the donor, particularly in countries like China without robust voluntary organ donations after death,” he told China Daily yesterday.
Last December, when Ye was again rushed to hospital, doctors said that a liver transplant would be the only way to prolong his life. That’s when Chen made the decision to give part of her own, as it’s even harder and more expensive to get a match from others.
More than 1.5 million people in China need organ transplants each year. However, only 20,000 finally get one, official statistics show.
Last year, living transplants accounted for at least 40 percent of the nationwide total, experts estimated.
Vice-Health Minister Huang Jiefu previously warned that living organ donations involve risks for both donor and recipient.
In the worst cases, both could die, he noted.
“We have had such tragedies in China before,” he said.
“The best way is to set up a nationwide deceased organ donation system and encourage more people to donate organs for life-saving transplants after death,” he said.
In 2007, China issued the Regulation on Human Organ Transplantation to ban all forms of organ trade and request that living donations be restricted to spouses, blood relatives or people sharing family bonds.
Meanwhile, a nationwide deceased organ donation system held by the Red Cross Society of China and the Ministry of Health is being established.
Chen Yurong's worn-out shoes.
Source: People’s Daily Online
It doesn’t always take a lot to make a child happy. Especially Matt, who is suffering from a rare neurological disease. He wants a Christmas card. That’s all. At the end of this post, you’ll find his address.
Like many kids his age, 11-year-old Matthew Mickelson Butman was eager to meet Santa Claus. Most of his friends would line up at the mall for hours—but in Matthew’s case, Santa was willing to make a house call.
Matt has a rare degenerative neurological disorder called Leigh’s disease. It claimed his brother’s life in 1996—and soon, it will take Matthew’s life too.
“To make it easy to understand, it’s a very rare disease that affects the [cell’s] ability to make energy,” Matt wrote on his Facebook page. “Once a cell is affected, it dies. There are also brain lesions. Unfortunately it is terminal and there is no treatment or cure. … My parents make sure I’m comfortable and have no pain.”
He is no longer able to speak or lift his head, but that hasn’t stopped him from celebrating what will likely be his last Christmas.
When Santa came to visit him on Wednesday, he didn’t have any gift requests. Instead, he presented Saint Nick with a big bag of gifts to deliver to needy children.
Along with the Santa visit, Matt’s only Christmas request is for strangers to send him greeting cards. He’s eager to receive messages of good will from people around the world, and he’s already receiving up to 80 cards a day. After Matt reads them, his mother hangs them up around the room in a chain of Christmas cheer.
Want to contribute to Matt’s happy Christmas? Greeting cards can be mailed to him at: Matthew Mickelson Butman, PO Box 1865, Wylie, TX, 75089.
We’ve heard it before: parents seem to possess a supernatural strength when their child is in peril. Nowhere is this more true than in this recent story, where a couple save their child during a car jacking. Watch the amazing video at the end!
It’s often said that parents can take on superhuman powers when their child’s life is in danger. Melanie and Aaron Richmond, a young couple from Colorado, put that theory to the test last week when a carjacker tried to make off with their Pontiac Grand Am—with their six-month-old daughter, Samantha, strapped inside.
The tired couple was on the final leg of a move from Colorado to Missouri, and had stopped at a gas station to refuel. When they got out of the car to talk to their relatives, who were driving a moving van, they decided to leave the car running to keep their daughter warm. They were only a few feet from the car when a man passing by decided to make a run for it and jump behind the wheel.
As soon as he put the car in reverse, the Richmonds set out to chase him down. They couldn’t let him get away—their baby girl was in that car.
Melanie used her elbow to break the passenger-side window of the moving car, then clung to it as the carjacker drove. Aaron jumped into the car to confront the driver.
“As soon as that window shattered, my goal was to just get in there as fast as I could and get him out,” Aaron Richman told the TODAY Show. “I started kicking him on the right side of his face as hard as I could.”
The carjacker soon saw that he was no match for the young couple’s protective parenting instincts. He ran the car into a barricade just outside the gas station, and ran off. Luckily, Samantha was completely unharmed.
The teenagers survived mainly on coconuts and rainwater
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Three teenagers survived 50 days adrift in a tiny boat in the South Pacific by drinking rainwater and eating raw fish and a seagull before being rescued by a passing trawler, a senior crewman on the fishing vessel said.
The trio – Samuel Pelesa and Filo Filo, both 15, and Edward Nasau, 14 – had been given up for dead on their coral atoll in the Tokelau islands, where a memorial service was held for them after extensive searches failed to find them.
The boys set off on Oct. 5 in their aluminum dinghy from their home island to one nearby. It’s not known how they went missing, but the outboard motor on their boat may have broken down at sea.
Worried family members reported them missing and the New Zealand air force launched a sea search. No sign of the tiny boat was found.
On Wednesday, the tuna boat San Nikuna spotted a small dinghy bobbing in the open sea northeast of Fiji, with three people aboard waving frantically, said first mate Tai Fredricsen. They had drifted 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) from where they set out.
“We saw a small vessel, a little speedboat on our bows, and we knew it was a little weird,” Fredricsen said.
The fishing boat pulled up alongside the smaller vessel and asked the teenagers if they needed any help, to which they readily replied that they did.
“All they could say was ‘thank you very much for stopping,” Fredricsen told New Zealand’s National Radio on Thursday by phone from the ship. “In a physical sense, they look very physically depleted, but mentally – very high.”
The teens and their boat were hauled aboard the fishing trawler, which was on its way to Fiji Friday where it would deliver the trio into medical care.
Source: Huffington Post
It’s often easy to feel overwhelmed by difficult circumstances. We feel frozen, incapable of taking a step forward. This story proves that it’s possible to overcome that spiritual (and physical) inertia and move forward anyway:
Driving across South Africa on a quad bike, writing two books and taking up scuba diving is an impressive list of feats for anyone.
But what makes Dr Cival Mills achievement truly remarkable is that he can barely move a muscle.
On December 8, 2000, Cival then 26, was just five days from finishing his hospital internship when he was involved in a car crash.
When he awoke in intensive care following surgery he was horrified to realise he had locked-in syndrome. This is a ‘living nightmare’ condition, where patients are fully conscious but can only move their eyes.
‘I knew that I was in hospital and that I could not breathe - a machine was breathing for me,’ Dr Mills explained, via a computer pad he operates with his left hand.
‘My body felt heavy and weightless and completely out of my control. I could not speak or move at all I couldn’t even swallow my own saliva.
‘I would try to lift my arm or move my tongue and there was nothing. It was like living in a submarine and peering out a periscope at the world.
‘All I could hear was the sound of the different machines keeping me alive. And when I fell asleep I had terrible recurring dreams.
Dr Mills was desperate to somehow let his family know he was aware of the world around him and a few months later he managed to alert his mother by laughing at a cartoon his sister showed him.
‘At first she thought I was choking, before she realised,’ Cival said.
‘It was such a relief when they realised I could hear them when they were talking to me even though I couldn’t respond.’
A few weeks later Cival managed to spell out ‘Love you mom’ on a spelling chart. It was a twenty minute process that left him exhausted but it was his first step to communicating once again.
Doctors said there was very little chance the once sporty medic would regain any movement - an idea that Cival refused to believe.
After four months in intensive care Cival was moved into a spinal ward for 22 months where he eventually regained movement in his left thumb.
It was enough to allow him to start writing an account of his experience in 2002, a four year project that resulted in an award-winning book called ‘This Too Will Pass.’
Bill Pace, left, meets Duane Innes for a thank-you dinner at a Bellevue restaurant Monday. On July 23, Pace slumped over the wheel of his truck and Innes engineered a crash to stop the truck.
What an inspiring story of a man’s quick thinking and ability to put himself in harm’s way, for the sake of others:
Normally, if someone hits your car, you wouldn’t call him a hero. But in Bill Pace’s case, Duane Innes’ decision to put his own car in Pace’s path likely saved Pace’s life—as well as the lives of other motorists on Seattle’s Highway 167 on July 23rd.
While Innes was driving his minivan to a Mariners game, he noticed Pace’s truck, swerving across the lanes. Innes had to move his vehicle quickly to avoid getting hit—but when he looked back at the reckless driver, he saw that Pace was passed out behind the wheel. The cars were approaching a busy intersection, and Innes knew that Pace could be just seconds from a fatal collision with another car. He had to think fast.
Fortunately, Innes, an engineer with Boeing’s F22 fighter-jet program, is good at that. “Basic physics: If I could get in front of him and let him hit me, the delta difference in speed would just be a few miles an hour, and we could slow down together,” Innes told the Seattle Times.
So Innes pulled up in front of the truck, and allowed it to rear-end his car, bringing both vehicles to a safe stop in the pull-off lane.
Pace, an 80-year-old retiree who volunteers for the Special Olympics, had had a heart attack a few days earlier without realizing it. His circulation was still poor, causing him to pass out behind the wheel. If Innes hadn’t blocked his truck, he very likely would have died in a collision.
Source: Gimundo.com
