The Good News Thread

[PeterG]

Did you see something online that made you feel great? Did something happen to you or someone you know that made you smile? Anything that's considered to be good news...let's talk about it here!

I really liked seeing this story:

300 people show up to 10-year-old’s water balloon fight birthday

A Mom's 10 year old boy has Apraxia, which causes a speech delay when he talks. He has had trouble making friends, so for his birthday, his Mom took to facebook to see if she could reach people there who would like to attend the water balloon birthday that her son wanted. Her request went viral and people drove with their kids for hours to join in on the birthday celebration. Her son got 200 gifts from all over the world in just a two-day period:

“Presents came from Brazil, Germany, China, Canada…” Camden’s dad, Wayne Eubank said. “There’s names on there I couldn’t even tell you where they are.”

And the Troutville Fire Department joined in with one of their fire engines and blasted water up into the air from their truck, making the party an instant water park.

 

[Sylvia]

I was glad to read that the daughter of deceased actor Christopher Reeve gave birth last month to her first child, a son, and named him after her father (and father-in-law): http://celebritybabies.people.com/2015/07/02/alexandra-reeve-givens-welcomes-son-christopher-russel/

ETA: To date, Christopher Reeve has been my only airport "celebrity sighting" - we shared a gate many, many years ago and, IIRC, he was with Alexandra and his son, both just kids, on the way to London.

 

[SandraMGfan]

Excellent thread Peter!

This one put a big smile on my face a couple of weeks ago: The First Time My Son With Autism Got a Birthday Invite I Didn’t Have to Decline

 

[Buzz]

The firefighters calendar with a difference!

 

[Aussie Willy]

I am not religious but this made me smile today - a guy who has grown a church from trees. Anything to make our world a nice place.

http://news.domain.com.au/domain/re...wing-a-church-from-trees-20150709-gi8fid.html

 

[PeterG]

Vancouver woman blogs about her yearlong shopping ban

She paid off her $28,000 loan in just three years (done on an annual income of $28,000). And she's not stopping there... One thing the article doesn't mention is that her environmental imprint must be tiny. I hope she feels good about that. So much waste in the world...and our planet is suffering. But not because of this lady!

 

[attyfan]

I thought that this was nice:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/07/muslims-rebuild-black-churches_n_7747794.html

 

[Buzz]

Business owner with Downs Syndrome.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33447655

 

[Buzz]

Gone With The Wind movie poster recreated in paddy field.
http://www.bbc.com/news/video_and_audio/must_see/33579367

 

[Japanfan]

This story about Arthur the mutt from Equador is old, but is the good-news story that stood out for me in the past year. Pictures of the injured, emaciated Arthur joining Team Sweden on their extreme adventure race gave me plenty of smiles and some tears as well. The pix of him crossing the finish line with his new team (in dead last place) is my favourite. He did his time in quarantine in Sweden and has been reunited with his new pack leader of choice.

Even a dog can dream an impossible dream.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-freed-quarantine-start-new-life-Sweden.html

 

[Buzz]

Police in Vancouver launched an undercover operation in that city's downtown Eastside to catch someone who was preying on it's most vulnerable persons. The officer posed as a disabled person for five days. Some of the people he dealt with had extensive criminal records. Watch what happens...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...overs-kindness-in-downtown-eastside-1.3155360

 

[PeterG]

Boy asks mailman for junk mail to read, mailman does one better

Stories like this...get me right here...

 

[Artemis@BC]

Lots of berry farmers in the Fraser Valley are having a hard time getting their crops in this year -- because of the unseasonable hot weather we've had, all the berry crops are ripe at once instead of staggered. This 89-year-old farmer was one. Then this happened:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/07/30/wellers-blueberry-farm-chinese-community_n_7907848.html

This one makes me happy on two fronts: people coming together to help a farmer, and the fact that at least at this one farm there won't be food wasted.

 

[Artemis@BC]

This story.

 

[PeterG]

This story.

For some reason that made me think of Sarah McLachlan's video for "World On Fire" where she donated what would have been the production budget ($150,000) to charity. From wikipedia:

The video for "World on Fire" opens with the claim of having cost $150,000, despite the ensuing low-quality footage of a barefoot McLachlan in a plain room playing her guitar. The video continues to reveal it actually cost $15, then tracking (in animated and videotaped segments) how the remainder went to enriching lives all around the globe through charitable donations.

 

[Simone411]

About year ago, the founder of The National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation contacted me about being in their 2nd book, The Flesh Eating Bacteria. The founder asked me to include a brief description of the area of my body that was affected by the flesh eating bacteria, and if I would also share the photo of my leg which is pretty graphic.

I hesitated at first, and it wasn't easy with this decision about being in the book. But then I agreed to it because I realized that it was to make people more aware of how vicious this disease could really be. The photo of my leg is also at the website along with my survivor story.

The reason she wanted to include the pic of my leg is because most people's limbs have to be amputated that get this disease. What it means is that most people don't get to see what the disease can actually do. There are photos and survivor stories at the NNFF site that do show people's limbs, etc., but it's before they had to have skin grafts. My picture of my leg is the aftermath with the skin graft.

I know people will recognize Aimee Copeland who is on the front cover of the book. She shared her story with NNFF and she also shared her story for the book.

It will also include the latest breakthrough for this disease and about the Doctor who came up with this life saving breakthrough. His name is Dr. Crew. The statistics for this disease wasn't or isn't very good - 1 out of every 4 that get this disease usually die. With his breakthrough, the statistics will be a lot better. He has already saved several people's lives and limbs.

More about the book can be found here:
http://www.nnff.org/newsite/ebook.html

The book isn't out yet, but it shouldn't be much longer from what the founder of NNFF told me.

 

[twinsissv]

I'm having the most wonderful time reliving some early childhood fun as I watch "The Cisco Kid" reruns. Ha! What memories! I can finally appreciate the true wacky humor that Pancho contributed and Cisco is a handsome as I remember. And Mom's old black and white tv was no match for the beautiful color (sorry, Mom). I feel 10 all over again!

 

[modern_muslimah]

I saw a couple of good news stories on BuzzFeed:

This Woman Just Wanted To Buy A Used Nutribullet For Her Mom With Cancer And Got The Best Surprise

This Abandoned Puppy’s Recovery Story Will Make You Cry Happy Tears

 

[skatesindreams]

This story.

Love in action.

 

[PeterG]

Steve Buscemi reconnected with old fire company after 9/11 terrorist attacks

This article talks about how Buscemi, a firefighter before he was an actor, worked twelve hour days for a few days after the 9/11 attacks clearing debris and searching for survivors.

 

[Simone411]

I'm unable to edit my other post. At any rate, I received an e-mail from the National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation this morning. The book is now available and can be purchased here: http://www.nnff.org/index.html

I'm really excited about this because there will be a lot of information on the treatment that Dr. Crew has successfully used on patients that have acquired this horrific disease. So far, Dr. Crew's treatment has saved the lives and limbs of 40 patients that acquired this flesh-eating disease.

There is also information about the Gulf of Mexico (the Gulf states including part of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida). This bacteria for some reason is in the Gulf and precautions need to be taken when entering the waters/oceans of the Gulf. If you have a small cut or open wound, it's best not to get into the Gulf waters.

I'm really excited about this book and its invaluable information.

 

[skatesindreams]

This bacteria for some reason is in the Gulf and precautions need to be taken when entering the waters/oceans of the Gulf.

The water may never cool down enough to kill bacteria, as it does in other areas.

 

[Simone411]

@skatesindreams I thought about that as a possibility. But it exists in several places besides the Gulf. It can be found on money, everything you touch in public places like going in and out of doors at department stores, restaurants and even handling things inside of stores.

It can also be found in samples of cosmetics that are used in department stores. It's best not to use sample lipsticks or sample foundations where people have had their fingers in those samples.

The first thing people should do when they get home is wash their hands thoroughly with antibacterial soap.

 

[Simone411]

Well, this good news brought tears to my eyes. I received another e-mail from NNFF.org. This time, it was to let me know that the book is now available at Amazon.com with Kindle.

There was also a video included about Dr. John Crew and Jacqueline A. Roemmele, the founder of NNFF.

The video went on to explain that since April of 2014, 19 people's lives had been saved with Dr. Crew's breakthrough. Since then, the number of people whose lives has been saved has increased to 40.

What brought tears to my eyes about this is because through a grant, Dr. Crew agreed to treat any patient suffering with NF worldwide at no cost whatsoever.

I know personally how much the total cost of treatment can be and it's not cheap. Even though the breakthrough of Dr. Crew's treatment wasn't available when I had NF, I was still a very lucky individual that lived and still had my leg.

It was very rare in 2011 with what happened to me. I still had my leg and lived to be able to tell about it. I was told that a lady had died one month before I was admitted to LSU Medical Center in Shreveport.

The lady that acquired the flesh eating disease (NF) had been cleaning catfish that she was preparing for her family for dinner. She accidentally nicked her index finger on one of the catfish's fins while she was cleaning it. The flesh eating bacteria was in the catfish's fins.

Of course, no one knew that at the time, and the lady was just like me. She had never even heard of the disease, Necrotizing Fasciitis. The lady ended up at LSU Medical Center the next day. They gave the lady four different antibiotics and other treatments just like they did with me. She ended up losing both her legs and her arms. Two weeks later, she died.

This is why it brought tears to my eyes to find out that Dr. Crew's treatment would cost nothing to the patients thanks to this grant. I'm so glad and thankful that Dr. Crew discovered this treatment and how well it works because there are so many patients that are less fortunate than I was that lost their limbs and their lives.

This to me is good news that will benefit anyone that may face this disease in the future. <3

Dr. John Crew & Jacqueline A. Roemmele

If only this treatment had been discovered a few years earlier. I think of so many lives that could have been saved. However, it's happening now and that's what matters!

 

[PeterG]

On the trail of New York's lost Teardrop: John Craven tracks down a forgotten monument to the 9/11 victims

I saw this posted on Facebook. I had never heard of this monument before. How strange that another country gives the U.S.A. a gift in remembrance of those whose lives were lost in 9/11...and then the media basically ignores it. Even stranger are to read people's comments about how they think it's ugly, etc. Can't believe how disrespectful that is, shocking that anybody would speak about a monument such as this in that way. The good news is that I heard about this and get to share it with all of you! I hope one day I get to see this monument in person.

 

[Buzz]

Ice bucket challenge spur ALS discovery.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33994290

 

[Vash01]

This morning I got an email congratulating me because I won the Peoples Choice award for a photo I had entered in the Creativity Photo Challenge on Viewbug.com. It was a picture of the Trans Alaska Pipeline and I took the picture when I was traveling in Northern Alaska. I stood under the pipeline to take the picture up close and in the distance at the same time.

Here is the link (my name on Viewbug.com is Vash01Photo)

http://www.viewbug.com/challenge/wendy-lee-photo-challenge-by-wendylee

 

[attyfan]

This morning I got an email congratulating me because I won the Peoples Choice award for a photo I had entered in the Creativity Photo Challenge on Viewbug.com. It was a picture of the Trans Alaska Pipeline and I took the picture when I was traveling in Northern Alaska. I stood under the pipeline to take the picture up close and in the distance at the same time.

Here is the link (my name on Viewbug.com is Vash01Photo)

http://www.viewbug.com/challenge/wendy-lee-photo-challenge-by-wendylee

Congratulations on the win! May you have additional successes with your photography.

 

[PeterG]

This morning I got an email congratulating me because I won the Peoples Choice award for a photo I had entered in the Creativity Photo Challenge on Viewbug.com. It was a picture of the Trans Alaska Pipeline and I took the picture when I was traveling in Northern Alaska. I stood under the pipeline to take the picture up close and in the distance at the same time.

Here is the link (my name on Viewbug.com is Vash01Photo)

http://www.viewbug.com/challenge/wendy-lee-photo-challenge-by-wendylee

YAY!!!! Great photo. Such an interesting shot and topic in that the image is unbiased (probably not the right word, but the best I can come up with) in that pro-pipeline people can see the shot as power and beauty and anti-pipeline people can see it as foreboding and cautionary. To have a shot that can mean different things to different people is very powerful.

 

[Vash01]

Thanks Peter. That's an interesting take on the photo (pro- versus anti- pipeline perspectives).