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From No Cure To No Trace, Texas Girl’s Inoperable Brain Tumor Disappears

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Good News Network
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A girl’s inoperable brain tumor has vanished—and her doctors have no explanation.

In June, Roxli Doss was diagnosed with a rare cancerous tumor known as diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG.

Dr. Virginia Harrod with Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin, Texas, said the 11-year-old went through weeks of radiation, even though there is no cure.

The family and community members prayed for a miracle, and they got it.

RELATED: On a Hunch, Doctor Gives HPV Vaccine to Advanced Skin Cancer Patient and Dozens of Tumors Disappear

“When I first saw Roxli’s MRI scan, it was actually unbelievable,” Harrod told news reporters.

“The tumor is (now) undetectable on the MRI scan, which is really unusual.”

WATCH the USA Today video below and hear from the parents…

Share the Christmas “Miracle” and Bring Hope to Someone’s Day…

Unique New Study Proves Pharmacists Working in Barbershops Drastically Improves Men’s Health

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Good News Network
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This unique healthcare initiative is improving men’s health simply by utilizing their regular trips to a barbershop.

Based on previous research suggesting that people are more likely to accept medical advice if they’re in familiar environments, pharmacists have spent the last 12 months working in barbershops so they can prescribe, monitor, and adjust blood pressure medication for African-American men, one of the most at-risk demographics for high blood pressure and hypertension.

The novel study, which was published in the journal Circulation earlier this week, involved 52 Los Angeles County barbershops. The new set of of data backs up previous research which proves that a pharmacist-led, barbershop-based medical intervention can successfully lower blood pressure in high-risk African-American men.

RELATED: Veterans Are Finding Peace From PTSD Through ‘Float Therapy’

“Our initial six-month data showed a marked reduction of blood pressure in the intervention group,” said Adair Blyler, an author on the study and one of two clinical pharmacists from the Smidt Heart Institute Cedars-Sinai who traveled to the black-owned barbershops to treat patients.

“Now, our 12-month data shows that this significant reduction in blood pressure can be sustained, and in some cases, even improved, despite fewer in-person visits with a pharmacist,” added Blyler.

The study was led by the late Ronald G. Victor, one of the world’s foremost experts on hypertension and community-based healthcare interventions. Victor was the first to study, and prove, that high-risk populations are more likely to be receptive to medical care in an environment where they’re most comfortable.

MORE: The Proven Health Benefits of Positive News—and How to Deal With the Reality Today

“This study will have a lasting impact on one of our nation’s most at-risk populations when it comes to high blood pressure,” said Eduardo Marbán, director of the Smidt Heart Institute. “As an institution, we are proud of these results and know Ron Victor would have been proud to see his vision produce such successful results that will have a positive effect on thousands of lives.”

Patients with hypertension have a blood pressure score above 130 over 80, although those with the first number above 120 are now considered to have elevated blood pressure. If left untreated, hypertension can lead to heart failure, stroke and kidney disease. It’s often considered a silent killer because patients typically don’t feel symptoms.

CHECK OUT: Give Yourself a Break – New Research Says Kicking Back in a Sauna Has Surprising Health Benefits

According to the research, at 12 months, the average systolic blood pressure – the top number in a blood pressure reading – fell by nearly 29 mmHg in the intervention group and by 7.2 mmHg in the control group – a difference of just over 21 mmHg.

With these positive results, Smidt Heart Institute researchers will now shift their focus to identifying cost-effective ways to broaden barbershop-based care and implement this novel model to other high-risk communities outside of Los Angeles County.

Cure Your Friends Of Negativity By Sharing The Good News To Social Media – Photo by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Newly-Discovered Cave Big Enough to Fit the Statue of Liberty Proves the World is Still a Wondrous Place

By
McKinley Corbley
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Catherine Hickson/Tuya Terra Geo Corp.

A “honking big” cave has been discovered tucked away in the rugged Canadian landscape – and geologists are in awe of its magnitude.

The cave, which is located in British Columbia’s Wells Gray Provincial Park, was first spotted by researchers when they were performing a routine caribou survey by helicopter. From their air-borne position, it looked like a black hole amidst a sea of snow.

After waiting for the snow to melt, the researchers raised about $5,000 – a large chunk of which came out of their own pockets – for a day-long expedition. They returned to the massive void in early September and were stunned by what they found.

At its opening, the cave is 330 feet in length and almost 200 feet across – which is wide enough to comfortably accommodate the State of Liberty.

RELATED: Man Postpones Retirement to Save Reefs After He Accidentally Discovers How to Make Coral Grow 40 Times Faster

John Pollack, who is a governor of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and an archeological surveyor who went on the expedition, revealed the existence of the cave in an interview with Canadian Geographic explaining the enormity of the discovery.

“I’ve been in some of the biggest caves in the world, and this thing has an entrance that is truly immense, and not just by Canadian standards,” said Pollack.

Catherine Hickson/Tuya Terra Geo Corp.

“The opening is 100 meters long by 60 meters wide, and when you’re standing on the edge looking down into it, your line of sight is nearly 600 feet [183 meters],” added Pollack. “You don’t get lines of sight of 600 feet in Canadian caves — it just doesn’t happen. And this is a shaft. It goes down quite precipitously, it had a large amount of water flowing into it and is wide open for as far down it that we’ve gone.

“The scale of this thing is just huge,” he added, “and about as big as they come in Canada.”

The pit as been affectionately dubbed the “Sarlaac Pit” in a reference to the tentacled creature that briefly appears in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. The name is only temporary, however, as the British Columbian parks department is currently consulting First Nations tribes to see if the cave has already been given a more culturally significant name.

WATCH: After Planting a Tree Every Day for 40 Years, Man Has Created Blossoming Forest on Barren Wasteland

Researchers are also keeping the location of the cave a secret not only to keep the area unsullied by human presence, but also to prevent amateur mountaineers from attempting to explore the fissure because “this cave is truly in the middle of nowhere,” Pollack added in his interview with the geological magazine.

“We don’t even think it’s feasible for someone to walk in and do anything. You might be able to reach it, but you couldn’t bring in enough equipment to do anything about it. It’s out there in mountainous terrain, surrounded by glaciers and at the bottom of a 45-degree avalanche slope that rises 2,000 to 2,500 feet above it, meaning you can’t go to it in winter. The only time you can really do anything there is in September, when the water flow is at its lowest. This is a wild place.”

(WATCH the video taken by Catherine Hickson below)

Be Sure And Share This Fascinating Story With Your Friends On Social Media

Newlyweds Celebrate Tying the Knot By Bringing Wedding Guests to Shop for Toys to Give Away

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Good News Network
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A Florida couple celebrated their wedding day by taking their entire reception party to buy gifts that they could donate to needy children.

Brad and Jennifer Bond’s unique wedding reception stemmed from when they first started dating seven years ago.

According to WESH, Brad always knew that Jennifer was the one he was destined to marry – so when they were on their first date, Brad introduced her to one of his family traditions.

RELATED: After Breaking Off Engagement, Bride Lets ‘Some Good Come’ From It by Donating Wedding to Stranger in Need

Since Christmas is a special holiday for Brad’s family, they always go shopping for gifts that they can donate to Toys for Tots – and he took Jennifer to do the very same thing.

Jennifer and Brad have been continuing the special tradition every year since that first date, so when they finally tied the knot earlier this week, they brought all of their guests to a Target in Orlando to shop for goodies to donate.

They gave all of their guests $10 gift cards to spend on the toys, but according to WESH, everyone spent much more than that.

(WATCH the news coverage below) – Photo by WESH

Pay The Positivity Forward By Sharing The Sweet Story To Social Media

“Let them call it mischief. When it is past and prospered, it will be virtue.” – Ben Jonson

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Let them call it mischief. When it is past and prospered, it will be virtue.” – Ben Jonson, Elizabethan playwright, poet

Photo: copyright GWC

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

After Learning From Deadly Mistakes in the Past, 7.0 Magnitude Earthquake Resulted in Zero Casualties in the City

By
Ryan Morris
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1964 Anchorage earthquake – US Army

The Alaskan city of Anchorage suffered a 7.0 magnitude earthquake last month. It could have resulted in terrible devastation. It could have caused the premature deaths of families, friends, and co-workers—like the disastrous outcomes in 1964.

Yet Anchorage emerged from the potential tragedy with zero casualties and an immense appreciation for proper city planning.

After the 9.2 magnitude earthquake in March, 1964 that killed 131 people, the residents and leaders of Anchorage knew a change was necessary.

The city was founded on a geological fault line, one capable of producing immense, and dangerous earthquakes. If they didn’t want to relocate the entire population, they needed to respond to the problems at hand, and quickly.

RELATED: 30,000 Bees Rescued From NZ Town After Earthquake

In lieu of displacing a significant portion of the town citizens, civil engineers and seismologists joined forces to create a city that could withstand the forces of future seismic events. They enacted proposals and regulations that limited the height of their buildings, delineated safe and unsafe areas for development, and systematically educated the populace as to the importance of these regulations, so that their measures would not become undone.

In truth, their foresight and efforts are to thank for the survival of the people of Anchorage. The fact that an earthquake of such magnitude can occur and result in zero casualties is a testament to the city designs they proposed, and according to an op-ed that was published by Charles Wohlforth in the Anchorage Daily News, the people who implemented these changes are true heroes.

“The 1964 Good Friday earthquake and the quake Friday had many differences, starting with the wonderful fact that no one died this time,” wrote Wohlforth. “But one thing is the same. Like every big earthquake, they taught us who is really in charge. To the extent we listen to that lesson, we can protect ourselves and those who come after us.”

MORE: Major Earthquake May Have Saved Island From Coastal Erosion

Today, Anchorage is rebuilding its damaged infrastructure and their progress is impressive: roads that were almost completely destroyed are now fully operational after just a matter of days.

Senator Lisa Murkowski photo from Twitter

Perhaps their speedy recovery is because the Alaskans have been through this sort of natural disaster before, or maybe it’s because they have the helping hands of an unscathed population. Whatever the reason for their resilience may be, people are celebrating their literal ground-breaking response to the incident.

“Extraordinary that we had 0 casualties in this earthquake and only a few injuries,” Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski wrote in a Twitter post. “The resilience of Alaskans and our buildings is a testament to lessons learned from the ’64 quake and speaks to our level of preparedness.”

Be Sure And Share This Story With Your Friends On Social Media – Feature photo by Senator Lisa Murkowski

Watch Dramatic Video of Surfer Potentially Breaking Record for Riding World’s Biggest Wave

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Good News Network
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SWNS

This is the moment a British surfer claims to have sailed into history by breaking the record for surfing the world’s biggest wave.

29-year-old daredevil Tom Butler took on a huge swell estimated to be more than 100 feet tall (30 meters) at The Nazaré in Portugal earlier this week.

While he still must submit photographic evidence to World Surf League and Guinness World Record officials, he says that onlookers and surfing experts are confident that he has beaten the previous record of 80 feet, which was set earlier this year by Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa.

“When I was going down I thought, ‘Holy f***, this is the fastest I’ve ever been,’” says Butler. “[Then] time kind of slows down – it’s instinct really. I was doing everything to hold my balance.

RELATED: Watch Mother-of-Three Break Record for Fastest Human on a Bicycle – ‘Now I know how Evel Knievel felt’

“You don’t really see it behind you because you’re so concentrated on what’s ahead of you. It’s like running from a raging bull, you don’t stop to think about how much it weighs. If you make eye contact, then you’ve already failed.

“It’s hard to say exactly how big it was, I’d say it was 20 times my height and I’m 6 foot 2,” he added. “I haven’t had a ruler handy while in Portugal but when I get home I’ll try to figure it out. It was a monster, I know that for sure.”

Butler is no stranger to big wave surfing. In 2015, he made headlines around the world after he survived dramatic crash at The Nazaré that left him with a lung injury and bleeding from the ears.

MORE: This 10-Year-old Boy Just Beat Michael Phelps’s Most Enduring Swimming Record

He lived to surf another day, however, and he is now back at the same spot in search of monster waves.

“I fell off here two years ago during a big wave event and the waves were nowhere near as big as this one,” says Butler. “It’s nice to be back here, I didn’t really have any doubts.”

Butler is a professional surfer who grew up surfing the waves at Fistral Beach near his home in Newquay, Cornwall. Since then, he’s gone on to become one of the world’s best surfers with sponsorships from GoPro, NineFeetTall, and Sudeste Sports.

CHECK OUT: Girl Who Wanted to ‘Be Closer to Her Dad’ Becomes Youngest Female to Hike Mount Kilimanjaro

With the hard part done, Butler will now submit his evidence to the League ahead of the Big Wave Awards which will take place in the spring.

“No one knows how they measure it, it’s a closed panel,” says the surfer. “The decision will be made in April, but it’s exciting. They don’t rank it, they just give a winner out. It will either be the biggest wave or not.

(WATCH the awe-inspiring footage below)

Be Sure And Share This Gnarly Story With Your Friends On Social Media

Instead of Dumping Rejected Food Shipments into Landfills, Truckers Are Donating Them to Local Charities

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McKinley Corbley
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Instead of letting thousands of pounds of food go to waste, this new program is allowing truck drivers to donate rejected food deliveries to charity.

Truck drivers will often arrive at a grocery store to drop off several pallets of ordered food only to have the products rejected by the supermarkets because there was either an error in the ordering process; the food was cosmetically damaged in transit; there were equipment failures en route that caused delay; or a variety of other reasons.

Regardless, this often results in tons of edible food being dumped into a landfill.

RELATED: In Bid to Cut Food Waste, Kellogg’s is Using Their Rejected Cornflakes to Make Beer

Instead, the Indy Hunger Network charity created their Food Drop program which connects truck drivers with nearby food banks that can put the products to good use.

In addition to feeding the hungry, the program also benefits the drivers by saving them from having to pay expensive landfill fees, providing them with a tax deduction for donated goods, and helping them to offload the cargo.

Though the program was only launched to operate solely out of Indianapolis in 2017, charity workers say that they documented over 90,000 pounds of food donated within the first six months.

MORE: Massive Company That Sells Your Favorite Cookies and Crackers Cuts Ties With Palm Oil Firms That Destroy Forests

The program’s success led Indy Food Network to expand the initiative to several more food banks across Indiana.

If the Food Drop project continues to prove itself effective, then the charity hopes to expand the program to other states as well.

According to the Network, drivers are only asked to donate groceries that are still edible, non-alcoholic, and individually packaged with unbroken seals.

Be Sure And Drive This Good News Story To Your Friends On Social Media – File photo by Jeremy Levine, CC

64-Year-old Love Letter Mysteriously Found at Walmart is Presented to Emotional Family Who Didn’t Know It Existed

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McKinley Corbley
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A 64-year-old love letter with a proposal of marriage has been reunited with the family of the rightful owners thanks to a persistent Walmart employee.

Jennifer Hendrix, who works at the Walmart in Dalton, Georgia, was stunned to hear that one of her co-workers found the long-lost letter on the floor of the store.

The letter was postmarked for July 30th, 1954 from a military serviceman named Max Holcomb. In the note, which was sent to his sweetheart Martha Young, he writes about how excited he is to return home in 15 days and how he plans to ask Martha’s parents for her hand in marriage.

Though nobody knows how the letter ended up on the floor of a Walmart, Hendrix became determined to track down either the sender or the recipient of the letter.

RELATED: Customers Keep Buying Up All of Donut Shop’s Pastries So He Can Go Home Early to Be With Ailing Wife

In her research, Hendrix found that Max and Martha had unfortunately already passed away – but according to Max’s obituary, he is survived by his grandson Jason Holcomb.

Hendrix found Holcomb on Facebook and sent him a message detailing her discovery.

“The message I got back from him immediately was ‘can you call me?’ And he left his phone number, and I was very nervous, shaken,” Hendrix told WAGA.

Holcomb, who says his family did not even know about the letter’s existence, told reporters: “It just blew my mind, my hair stood up on my neck, and I thought surely not.”

But sure enough, the letter was legitimate, and Holcomb was emotional about reading the words of his late grandfather.

“They were defiantly selfless people, they were, they always thought about each other before they did anything,” Holcomb told the news outlet.

MORE: Stranger Helps Lonely Widower Celebrate After Seeing Flowers and Cake in Shopping Cart

Additionally, Walmart employees were in awe to learn more about the continuing love story between Max and Martha.

“Max apparently had to bribe his future father-in-law with candy to meet Martha, and their first date was at an ice cream parlor,” a Walmart spokesperson said in an email. “Max did eventually come home from military service in August of 1954, and immediately got married to Martha!”

(WATCH the news coverage below) – Photos by Walmart

Be Sure And Share This Sweet Story Of Love With Your Friends On Social Media

Woman Credits Her Brave Chihuahua as the Reason She Survived a Bear Attack

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McKinley Corbley
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A tiny dog is being credited for saving the life of a 51-year-old woman who was attacked by a bear earlier this week.

The canine hero in question is a Chihuahua-mix who is coincidentally also named Bear.

His owner, Melinda LeBarron, had been taking the pup for an evening walk through the rural town of Muncy, Pennsylvania when the dog started to bark. She looked around for the source of Bear’s distress – and then she suddenly found herself being slammed to the ground.

A black bear had seized a hold of LeBarron and started to drag her off of the road. As she was being pulled into the woods, LeBarron defended herself by repeatedly punching the bear. Bear the dog chased after his owner and tried to help her escape by biting the predator.

RELATED: Fearless Uber Driver Stops Mid-Trip to Scoop Up Injured Hawk and Save It From the Highway

LeBarron eventually went limp in hopes of deterring the bear from continuing its attack – which it did. It then turned on the dog, which gave LeBarron a sufficient amount of time to crawl into a bush.

As Bear bravely defended itself against the attacker, LeBarron threw a stick into the woods to distract the bear. Thankfully, the bear left.

Bear and LeBarron both made it home with multiple cuts, bruises, and broken bones. Once they were discovered by family members, they were rushed to the hospital.

MORE: Hiker Was About to Die in a Snowstorm When She Was Saved by a Total Stranger Following Her Intuition

Though they both have a long way to go before they are fully recovered, LeBarron’s son Trent says that LeBarron and Bear are both “very, very lucky to be alive.”

“She’s stable now,” Trent told reporters. “She’s doing good, she’s actually doing very good. She has a long ways to go and a lot of lot of surgeries coming up.”

Before LeBarron had regained her ability to speak, she used a notepad to ask her family members if Bear was okay. After reassuring her about the pup’s condition, Trent then asked her if Bear had saved her life – and he says that she nodded her head yes “so fast it was unreal.”

CHECK OUT: Dog Saves Its Owner’s Life When It Sniffs Out Cancer, Not Once, But Three Times

LeBarron’s family have since created a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for her medical expenses – and in just 4 days, it has almost reached its goal of $6,000.

“We just want to say thank you to everyone who has donated and prayed for Melinda and Bear!” says the crowdfunding page. “Both are stable, but still have a long road of recovery ahead of them!

“We cannot believe the amount of love, support and coverage that this has gotten and are eternally grateful to you all. She is a mother, grandmother, wife, daughter, aunt and the glue that holds the family together! Thank you all for showing her and her precious dog so much support and love!”

Be Sure And Share This Pawesome Rescue Story With Your Friends On Social Media – Photo released by the LeBarron family

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” – Mark Twain

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” – Mark Twain

Photo: by hehaden, CC license, Flickr

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

Australia Slashes Plastic Bag Use By 80% in Just 3 Months, Thanks to Two Grocery Stores

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Good News Network
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After two of Australia’s biggest supermarket chains announced that they would stop offering single-use plastic bags to their consumers, the initiative has heavily contributed to an 80% drop in plastic bag consumption across the nation.

The plastic bag ban that was introduced at both Coles and Woolworths in August has prevented over 1.5 billion bags from polluting the environment, The Guardian reports.

RELATED: Historic Pacific Cleanup Vessel Has Been Successful With Trials at Sea And Will Soon Hit the Patch

Since the initiative has also helped pave the way for smaller businesses and retailers to introduce similar bans, some businesses have reported plastic bag consumption rates have fallen as far as 90%, according to the National Retail Association.

New South Wales is now the only Australian state or territory that has not yet introduced legislation to eliminate excessive plastic bag usage.

Be Sure And Pass On The Positive News To Your Friends On Social Media – File photo by Peteruetz, CC

The Most Common Shenanigans Likely to Irritate Your Holiday Road Trip, and the Perfect Solutions

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Good News Network
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As families take to the roads in droves this festive season, a new study about holiday travel examined the most common shenanigans that go on during car rides.

A ‘cargument’ is most likely to strike 27 minutes into a journey, with which radio station to listen to being the most common disagreement. Other common debates revolve around what temperature the car should be and which route to take.

Drivers will then get asked the infamous question ‘Are we there yet?’ — at least five times on average. (“I have to go to the bathroom”, and I’m hungry” come up an average of six times each.)

Almost everyone remembers being a kid in the back seat and being asked to ‘Quiet down!’ Drivers today report that they are still uttering ‘I will turn this car around’ to passengers at least three times.

Fortunately, the season provides the perfect built-in antidote to any cargument that might come up: singing.

Two-thirds of families (67 percent) frequently sing together in the car while traveling. The 1957 song “Jingle Bell Rock” was rated the tune that drivers and passengers sing along to most often.

Other hits that Americans most often enjoy caroling in the car include the classic singalongs “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”, “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer”, and “I Wish You A Merry Christmas”.

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The study of 2,000 American car owners, conducted by OnePoll in conjunction with Quaker State, found that two thirds of participants (67 percent) said singing is always part of their festive travel.

And traffic at its peak, there are bound to be some hiccups along the way, so motorists should prepare in advance. As many as 32 percent of those surveyed have experienced car trouble during the holiday travel rush.

68 percent have experienced the hassle of dealing with a flat tire on the way to ‘grandma’s house’. 40 percent have seen engine failure, 38 percent had a check-engine light come on, and 32 percent had a transmission issue. Another good idea is to replace those wiper blades if they can’t take care of precipitation.

Getting a fresh oil change and checking your tire pressure are two things that can help prevent such mishaps. Filling up at the gas pump and packing an emergency kit, including snacks, water, and blankets, are easy steps to ensure a safe and hassle-free trip.

THE TOP 10 HOLIDAY SONGS AMERICANS SING IN THE CAR

Jingle Bell Rock
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
I Wish You A Merry Christmas
All I Want For Christmas Is You
Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree
White Christmas
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Santa Baby
Blue Christmas

TOP 5 THINGS TO DO BEFORE TRAVELING BY CAR

Fill gas tank
Check tire pressure
Oil change (if it’s due soon)
Check headlights
Fill antifreeze

TOP 5 SOURCES OF DISAGREEMENTS

What music/radio station to listen to
Temperature in the car (too hot or too cold)
What route to take
Sitting in traffic
When to stop for bathroom breaks

And what travel tips would be complete without reminding you to do a full ‘idiot-check’ before you pack up the car to go home! Phone chargers are the most likely item to be left behind, followed by your toothbrush, phone, wallet, or that dish you brought carrying that “homemade pumpkin pie”.

Share the Fun Advice to Benefit Young Road-trippers…

Rescuers Pull Car From Frigid Water, Find a Driver Who Survived for 5 Hours Using an Air Bubble

By
McKinley Corbley
-

Call it a Christmas miracle or just sheer luck, but this 28-year-old man is grateful to be alive after he managed to survive inside of his partially submerged car for five hours.

Emergency rescuers from the California Highway Patrol in Yreka received a dispatch call early one morning last week in regards to an overturned car in the Klamath River.

The car was turned over onto its roof with its 4-way hazard lights on and the interior of the car almost entirely submerged with water.

LOOK: Hamster Stuck in a Tiny Pipe for Almost a Week is Rescued Thanks to a Miniature Handmade Ladder

The rescue workers managed to tow the car out of the water at about 8AM – but they were stunned to find that the driver was still alive inside.

According to the highway patrol’s Facebook page, Michael Finn told rescuers that he had been driving down the nearby highway at 3:00AM when his car went off the road and into the river. He only managed to survive the 5-hour ordeal thanks to a pocket of air that allowed him to breathe inside of the vehicle.

MORE: Hiker Was About to Die in a Snowstorm When She Was Saved by a Total Stranger Following Her Intuition

Though the highway patrol did not disclose further details about the incident, they said they immediately conducted medical aid on Finn before he was transported by an ambulance to Fairchild Medical Center for exposure to the chilly waters.

“The Yreka CHP would like to remind everyone to slow down during hours of darkness and when roads may be icy,” says the group’s Facebook page.

Save Your Friends From Negativity By Sharing The Good News To Social Media – Photo by Yreka CHP

UCLA Surgeons Develop Simple Spray Gel to Super-Charge Immunity and Prevent Cancer From Returning

By
Good News Network
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A team of researchers have developed a spray-on gel that could prevent cancer from returning to plague a patient after surgery.

Many people who are diagnosed with cancer will undergo some type of surgery to treat their disease. Almost 95 percent of people with early-diagnosed breast cancer will require surgery, and it’s often the first line of treatment for people with brain tumors, for example. But despite improvements in surgical techniques over the past decade, the cancer often comes back after the procedure.

Now, a UCLA-led research team has developed a spray gel that is embedded with immune-boosting nanoparticles that could help.

In a peer-reviewed study, the substance was successful half of the time in awakening lab animals’ immune systems to stop the cancer from recurring and inhibit it from spreading to other parts of the body.

RELATED: Researchers Develop Cheap, 10-Minute Test That Can Detect Cancer Anywhere in the Body

The spray not only inhibited the recurrence of tumors from the area on the body where it was removed, but it also controlled the development of tumors in other parts of the body, said the team’s lead researcher Zhen Gu, a professor of bioengineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering

The substance will have to go through further testing and approvals before it could be used in humans, but Gu said the scientists envision the gel being applied to the tumor resection site by surgeons immediately after the tumor is removed during surgery.

“This sprayable gel shows promise against one of the greatest obstacles in curing cancer,” Gu said. “One of the trademarks of cancers is that it spreads…because of tumor recurrence or metastasis. Being able to develop something that helps lower the risk for this to occur and has low toxicity is especially gratifying.”

MORE: Drug That Can Stop a Dozen ‘Untreatable’ Cancers Gets Approval—And Company Vows to Help Every Patient Afford It

The researchers loaded nanoparticles with an antibody specifically targeted to block CD47, a protein that cancer cells release as a “don’t-eat-me” signal. By blocking CD47, the gel enables the immune system to find and ultimately destroy the cancer cells.

The nanoparticles are made of calcium carbonate, a substance that is the main component of egg shells and is often found in rocks. Researchers chose calcium carbonate because it can be gradually dissolved in surgical wound sites – which are slightly acidic – and because it boosts the activity of a type of macrophage that helps rid the body of foreign objects.

“We also learned that the gel could activate T cells in the immune system to get them to work together as another line of attack against lingering cancer cells,” said Qian Chen, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral researcher in Gu’s lab.

CHECK OUT: 13-Year-old Named America’s Top Young Scientist for Drastically Improving Pancreatic Cancer Treatment

Once the solution is sprayed on the surgical site, it quickly forms a gel embedded with the nanoparticles and promotes wound healing; the nanoparticles gradually dissolve and release the anti-CD47 antibodies into the body.

The researchers will continue testing the approach in animals to learn the optimal dose, the best mix of nanoparticles, and the ideal treatment frequency before testing the gel on human patients.

The study was published earlier this week in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

(Source: University of California, Los Angeles)

Cure Your Friends Of Negativity By Sharing The Good News To Social Media – Photo Tumor Gel Under Microscope by Zhen Gu / UCLA

A Great Gift For News Junkies: An Inspired Collection of GOOD NEWS Stories

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Good News Network
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Here’s a great gift for all the ‘news junkies’ in your life: Our book …And Now, The Good News, shines a spotlight on the extraordinary and everyday heroes and solutions to make you feel optimistic and hopeful about our world.

OUTSIDE THE USA? FOLLOW the AMAZON LINKS at the BOTTOM

Instead of complaining about the news, check out this book to get a dose of GOOD News (for a change)…

  • A small paperback with 28 stories, great for reading on an airplane or daily commute
  • Five categories—World, USA, Animals, Inspiring, and Celebrities
  • Includes photos & exclusive stories not found before on the internet
  • Perfect for office waiting rooms, or thank-you gifts

This collection of unique, inspiring stories celebrates 20 years of Good News Network—the website that features all-positive news from around the world at GNN.org. Created in 1997 by former Washington, DC television news editor Geri Weis-Corbley, these are among her favorite GNN stories from two decades.

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“Sharing the holiday with other people, and feeling that you’re giving of yourself, gets you past all the commercialism.” – Caroline Kennedy

By
Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Sharing the holiday with other people, and feeling that you’re giving of yourself, gets you past all the commercialism.” – Caroline Kennedy

Photo: by GolfGT_Girl, CC license, Flickr

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

Woman is Dealing With Mom’s Death By Traveling to All 50 States to Collect Stories of Kindness

By
Ryan Morris
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The Background: Mary Latham firmly believes that there are always more good stories, and more acts of kindness and love, than there are bad ones. In this TedX talk, she describes her road trip across America and relates how the stories and acts of kindness are much more indicative of the world we live in, than the negativity. Similarly, her road trip wasn’t going to be focused on mourning her mother’s recent death, but on celebrating her life.

Notable Quote: “At the end of that week, my mother passed away, and in that moment, I made a decision. I wanted to do something to honor her. I wanted to create something as a reminder of hope in those waiting rooms; compile these stories. I didn’t know how or exactly what I was going to do but I thought about what she had said to me on December 14th: ‘There is always going to be more good out there, you just have to look for it.’ So I decided I would. I decided I would take her car and drive to every state in the country looking for good.”

The Host: Mary Latham is halfway through her mission to collect stories of human kindness and compassion from all 50 states. As she drives around in her mother’s old Subaru and sleeps on the couches of compassionate strangers, Latham aims to prove that even in the face of adversity and difficulty, “there will always be more good out there.”

If you would like to send Latham a proposal to meet and discuss stories of kindness and positivity, you can visit her More Good website to find out more.

(LISTEN to the inspiring talk below) – Photo by More Good

Good Advice? SHARE It – Or Check Out More On Our Good Talks Page…

Firefighter Dresses Like Buddy The Elf And Starts Pillow Fights With Shoppers–and it’s Hilarious

By
Good News Network
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A Massachusetts firefighter has been spreading holiday cheer by dressing up like Buddy the Elf—played by Will Ferrell in the beloved 2003 Christmas movie Elf—and challenging strangers to pillow fights.

27-year-old Brendan Edwards, a paramedic with the Natick Fire Department, has been sharing funny videos on YouTube for six years—but with this heartwarmingly hilarious post, he finally went viral.

He carried two pillows around Boston’s Faneuil Hall plaza, tossing one to people at random and announcing, “Pillow Fight!”

Dozens of people happily jumped into the fun, breaking into wide grins as they engaged in the friendly battle.

MORE: The Amusing Christmas Card That Two Cheeky Mailmen Have Been Sending to Each Other for 43 Years

It went so well that he decided to do it again, but Round 2 on his YouTube channel included four pillows and his girlfriend Hayley O’Loughlin, who dressed as Buddy’s girlfriend Jovie.

His goal at the start was to make a cute video, but it soon became the perfect way to make strangers laugh without ever using a screen.

(WATCH the video below, and check out more giggles on GNN’s Good Laughs page)  )

Make Someone’s Day Brighter… Share This With Friends and Family!

Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins Pay $2 Million to Bring Hundreds of Therapy Dogs into Children’s Hospitals

By
Good News Network
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Though most people say that “laughter is the best medicine”, young hospital patients often find more joy in a wagging tail.

So as a means of providing happiness and healing to thousands of pediatric patients, Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins are spending $2 million to bring full-time therapy dogs into American hospitals.

The Joy in Childhood Foundation, the independent charity that is powered by the two restaurant chains, is launching Dogs for Joy, a program to bring in-residence pups that are bred and trained as service dogs to “work” full-time in children’s hospitals across the nation.

The ‘facility dogs’ will offer distraction, motivation and joy to patients and families while simultaneously lowering stress and anxiety for pediatric patients and encouraging them to complete their health care goals. Additionally, in-residence dogs can be trained to keep kids calm during medical interventions, teach patients how to take medication, or demonstrate how to put on a hospital gown.

MORE: Watch Hospital Staff – From Janitors to Surgeons – Line Hallway to Honor Organ Donor in ‘Walk of Respect’

This type of in-hospital program is relatively new, and out of more than 220 children’s hospitals in the United States, very few have them. The groundbreaking Dogs for Joy initiative will provide grants to launch a new in-residence dog program or maintain an existing one, covering costs like adoption fees, staff training, and canine care supplies like food, grooming tools, and toys.

 

“Our mission is to bring joy to kids in truly meaningful ways,” said Kari McHugh, Executive Director of the Joy in Childhood Foundation. “As a mother who has cared for a child with cancer, my family and I know well the happiness these dogs create on even the worst days, and the powerful, positive impact a relationship with a dog can make.”

RELATED: From Terrifying to Terrific – Man Redesigns MRI Machine to Delight Children Instead of Scare Them

The first hospital to receive a grant is the Cleveland Clinic Children’s in Ohio—$150,000 to fund a new program employing two therapy pups for three years.

Children’s hospitals across the US are invited to apply for a grant on the foundation’s website before the cut-off deadline on March 31st, 2019.

(WATCH the video below) – Photos by Joy in Childhood Foundation

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