Quote of the Day: “To exert his power in doing good is man’s most glorious task.” – Sophocles
Photo: by Ed Hunsinger, CC license
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On a dirt road in the heartland of America, one married couple has persevered to keep the memory of their tiny town from blowing away in the dust.
Back in its heyday, Gross, Nebraska, was brimming with activity and was home to as many as 600 residents. Today, the population is 2.
The town was supposed to become a major Midwest train hub, but the railroad never came, and slowly, everyone moved away – everyone, that is, except Mary and Mike Finnegan.
For the last 33 years, the Finnegans have been the town’s sole residents, and have single-handedly kept Gross on the map. They operate a small restaurant, the Nebraska Inn, where they welcome travelers of all kinds—providing comfort, hospitality, and the best burger around. Through their warmth and steadfast traditions (coffee still costs a nickel, and anyone who dares to curse has to glue a dollar to the wall), Mary and Mike have ensured that the spirit of Gross lives on.
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While not short on visitors or passers-by, Mary and Mike remember the days when the town was lively—and Thanksgiving was a mix of banter and routine for family and friends with a shared history.
Just in time for the holiday perhaps best known for returning to your roots, Ancestry.com staged a unique Thanksgiving reunion for the Finnegans.
The DNA test company that traces family trees searched its extensive historical records and contacted people with a connection to Gross, bringing them “home” to rediscover a piece of their family history—some, for the very first time.
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For one special day, on October 27, Ancestry enabled the past and present to come together, reuniting the Finnegans not only with their own relatives, but also with descendants of the town’s founders, the Gross family.
The huge feast that ended with Mary and Mike’s family and their new friends roasting marshmallows over a campfire will go down in the annals of Gross as perhaps the town’s most memorable Thanksgiving.
(WATCH the video below) – Photo by Ancestry
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This groundbreaking new piece of research could offer a life-saving reprieve for people suffering from the constant danger of accidentally being exposed to peanuts.
According to a new study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week, a drug called AR101 has been shown to prevent deadly allergy attacks in patients who are extremely sensitive to peanuts.
“Because there is no approved treatment for peanut allergy, the standard of care has been a strict elimination diet and the timely administration of rescue medications in case of an allergic reaction on accidental exposure,” reads the study.
“However, despite vigilance, accidental exposures may occur and cause reactions of unpredictable severity, even with small amounts of allergen, leading to a lifelong risk of severe reactions.”
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The oral treatment, which was designed by biopharmaceutical company Aimmune Therapeutics, is designed to gradually increase a patient’s tolerance to peanuts over the course of 6 months.
In the study, which is being hailed as the largest and first successful phase 3 peanut allergy immunotherapy trial to date, the drug was given to 555 people between the ages of 4 and 55, although the vast majority of them were under 17. All of them were tested and diagnosed with extreme sensitivities to peanuts, with a median peanut tolerance of about 10 milligrams.
By the end of the year-long trial, two-thirds of the young participants were able to ingest the researchers’ goal of 600 milligrams of peanut protein (roughly two peanuts worth) without displaying any allergic symptoms. Half of the patients were then able to go on and ingest 1,000 milligrams of peanut protein without any reactions.
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“I can just go to college, meet a bunch of kids, go sit in a place another kid was the day before and not have to wipe off the desk, and not worry about what my friends are eating around me,” one of the teenage patients told the New York Times. “To me, a peanut was like a weapon, like you have a gun to your head and you could have the trigger pulled any time. There’s not really that gun anymore.”
The pharmaceutical company plans on filing for FDA approval in December – and if it is approved, it could be available to families as early as 2019.
“This publication in the New England Journal of Medicine signifies our progress and momentum towards making an approved therapy available to the millions of families who want a robust, reliable peanut allergy treatment that can provide protection in cases of accidental exposures. We are excited to be submitting our applications for marketing approval in the United States next month and in Europe in the middle of next year,” said Jayson Dallas, President and CEO of Aimmune.
Don’t Let Your Friends Go Nuts With Negativity: Share The Good News To Social Media – File photo by Tamburix1, CC
Destinee and Paul Klyne had been planning on pampering themselves with a relaxing vacation to northern California earlier this month – and even though their trip ended up being the opposite of relaxing, it also ended up meaning so much more.
The Canadian couple from Penticton, British Columbia were originally going to stay at an AirBnb in Paradise. As wildfires spread through the area, however, the cabin that they had booked for their trip burned down in the blaze.
So instead of canceling their flights to California, the Klynes decided to use their vacation for a greater purpose than serving themselves.
They found a place to stay in Sacramento and then spent every morning of their getaway driving to Chico so they could help wildfire victims. With additional donations coming in from their friends and family, Destinee and Paul bought gift cards to hand out to the evacuees, served up thousands of meals, filled up gas tanks, and offered help wherever it was necessary.
“It is so nice to be able to bring forth the Canadian spirit of giving, of compassion and generosity,” Destinee told the Montreal Gazette. “Especially in the times that we’re in now, with the political (climate), it’s kind of nice to say, ‘You are our American neighbours and we love you.’”
As a result, Destinee said: “I have had more hugs from strangers than I have had in my entire life
(WATCH the interview below) – Photo by Destinee and Paul Klyne
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If you have ever purchased Oreo cookies, Sour Patch Kids, or Ritz crackers, then unfortunately, you have supported a company that has direct and indirect ties with deforestation. The good news is that very soon these products—and dozens more—will not be such guilty pleasures after all.
Mondelēz International, which is the one of the world’s largest snack food brands as well as one of the world’s largest buyers of palm oil, has announced that they will be cutting ties with palm oil suppliers that contribute to deforestation.
In a statement that was released last week, Mondelēz announced that it is no longer conducting business with 12 of its former palm oil suppliers – a decision that the company attributes to breaches of conduct by these companies in regard to deforestation and Mondelēz’s commitment to 100% sustainability.
Additionally, the company says that it is taking steps to speed up palm oil suppliers’ transition to sustainable and transparent sourcing practices.
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This announcement came after a recently-published Greenpeace report documented deforestation and the destruction of orangutan habitats at the hands of such palm oil suppliers affiliated with Mondelēz.
“Palm oil is just one of several commodities whose industrial production is fueling a climate and extinction crisis,” says the report. “If Mondelēz is serious about ‘building the best snacking company in the world,’ then it needs to drop dirty palm oil and stop sourcing from destructive producer groups.”
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When it comes to its palm oil consumption, Mondelēz has created goals for complete transparency and sustainability – but since the release of the Greenpeace report, they have admitted “there remains a gap between the current state and our goal.” Though they made no mention of the Greenpeace report, they cut the aforementioned business ties and insist that they are committing to better their practices in the future.
“Mondelēz International remains fully committed to driving change in the palm oil sector and today’s actions against 12 upstream suppliers reflect that commitment,” said Jonathan Horrell, Global Director of Sustainability at Mondelēz International. “We will continue to pursue existing and new initiatives that seek to drive effective change across palm oil-growing communities.”
Clean Up Negativity By Sharing The News With Your Friends On Social Media – Photo by Mondelēz International
A peppy Cambodian boy became an internet sensation after a tourist filmed him speaking in almost a dozen different languages – and his linguistic talent has paid off.
A travel blogger who identifies as Venus GWC was visiting Ta Prohm temple in Angkor Wat, Cambodia earlier this month when she started chatting with some of the young street vendors who were selling their wares.
Though she spoke with several different kids, she was especially captivated by a boy named Thaksin who claimed that he could speak in at least a dozen languages – and after Venus started recording him with her phone, he went on to prove it.
At the start of the video, Thaksin switches from speaking Cantonese to French. Then, he continues their conversation in Japanese, Mandarin, Thai, Malay, Filipino, English, and Spanish. He even added that he can speak in German, Korean, and Hainanese.
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Thaksin says that he is selling knick-knacks on the street so he can one day go to school – although he apparently learned a lot of his languages simply by speaking to tourists.
After Venus shared the video to Facebook, it was viewed millions of times. According to the South China Morning Post, Beijing-based television network took particular interest in a part of the clip where Thaksin starts singing a popular Chinese song called “We’re Different” – except he cleverly changed the lyrics from “we are here waiting for you” to “we are here selling things for you”.
The TV station is now financing an all-expenses paid 3-day vacation for Thaksin and his family to visit China for a singing audition. If he nails the audition, he could land a singing contract.
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Additionally, the Cambodian Red Cross volunteered to pay for Thaksin and his siblings to attend school, according to K01 News. They have also given food and supplies to the boy’s family.
Venus, meanwhile, hopes that Thaksin becomes an example of how people can help children in the future.
“I feel grateful that his video gone viral,” Venus wrote in her Facebook post. “It might creates more awareness to people there are kids still struggle to live their life everyday.
(WATCH the amazing video below) – Photo by Venus Gwc
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Quote of the Day: “The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines.” – Charles Kuralt
Photo: by Ed Yourdon, CC license
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Continuing the global battle against malaria, scientists are using a novel tool for the fight: sniffer dogs.
In recent tests, trained sniffer dogs were able to successfully diagnose malaria infections simply by sniffing samples from socks worn briefly by children from a malaria endemic area of West Africa, according to a new study presented today by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).
“People with malaria parasites generate distinct odors on their skin and our study found dogs, which have an incredibly sensitive sense of smell, can be trained to detect these odors even when it’s just on an article of clothing worn by an infected person,” said Steven Lindsay, the lead investigator on the study.
The research was conducted in collaboration with experts from Medical Detection Dogs, a charity that trains dogs to detect a variety of maladies, including cancer and people at risk of slipping into a diabetic coma.
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The canine malaria detection work was supported by a Grand Challenges grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is seeking, among other things, new ways of diagnosing the disease that are non-invasive and quick. New tools are urgently needed because, after more than a decade of dramatic reductions in malaria infections and deaths, over the last two years the world has experienced a slight increase in both.
Lindsay said the experiment began in The Gambia where several hundred school children, who had been recruited to join the trial, were checked for overall general health, sampled for malaria parasites and fitted with a pair of socks that they were asked to wear overnight. The next day, the socks were collected. The socks were sorted according to the malaria infection status of the children who had worn them. Only socks from children with malaria who did not have fever were selected, as were the socks from the children who were uninfected. The socks were then shipped to the United Kingdom where they were stored in a freezer for several months while the dogs were trained.
For the test, trained dogs had to distinguish between socks from children with malaria parasites and socks from uninfected children. They were trained to sniff each sample and to freeze if they thought they detected malaria, or move on if they did not. Using just the sock samples alone, the dogs correctly identified 70% of the infected children and 90% of the uninfected children.
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The researchers said the accuracy of the dogs was impressive and they were identifying malaria infected children with lower levels of parasites than required to meet clinical standards for rapid diagnostic tests set by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, in the future this work needs to be expanded with more samples tested from different parts of Africa.
But Lindsay said the dogs’ success rate actually might have been higher – up to 78% – if the children with malaria were all carrying the same type of parasites. As malaria infections progress, the parasite goes through several stages of development. And Lindsay thinks that when it reaches a certain stage of maturity, the odor it generates on human skin changes.
Further testing revealed some of the children were carrying these more mature parasites. But the dogs were not trained to detect their odor. Moreover, the researchers pointed out that the success rate potentially could have been higher if the dogs were actually with the children or were working with socks that had been worn recently, instead of samples that had been frozen for several months while the dogs were being trained.
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However, Lindsay and his colleagues said their work was only designed to be a “proof of concept study” to show that malaria diagnosis by dogs is possible. They believe that with more training and more samples, the dogs could end up with an accuracy that would be comparable to a clinical test.
As for putting malaria detection dogs to work in the field, Lindsay said they could be helpful assistants in a malaria elimination campaign that requires treating anyone in a village or community who is still carrying malaria parasites, including those who are not showing symptoms. Currently, the only way to address the problem of “asymptomatic” carriers – who still can cause new infections by passing along their malaria parasites to the local mosquito population – is to test or treat an entire community.
The dogs could also be useful for ports of entry into countries which eliminated malaria or are close to elimination.
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“With this innovative approach, these researchers show that new tools to tackle malaria can come from unexpected places,” said ASTHM President Regina Rabinovich.
(Source: American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene)
Cure Your Friends Of Negativity By Sharing The Good News To Social Media – Photo by Durham University / Medical Detection Dogs / London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
When a Florida family was distressed over their injured father, a compassionate police officer used music to ease their anxiety.
Officer Hernandez had been patrolling a Pembroke Pines neighborhood in his cruiser when he heard about a nearby household that had dialed 911.
A sick, elderly man was lying on the floor after a fall, and emergency workers immediately rushed to join Hernandez to make sure that the senior was okay.
“The man’s wife, she was very elderly too, she was stressed out about it and the daughter was stressed out, and [the family’s] aide was stressed out,” Hernandez told Inside Edition. “Everybody was sort of in a panic, not really knowing if he was injured or not from the fall.”
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The officer then saw a piano in their living room and asked if he could play a few songs, as a way to soothe their worried minds.
Hernandez, who had been teaching himself to play the piano since he was 6 years old, then serenaded the family with covers of songs such as “Don’t Stop Believing” and “Fly Me To The Moon”.
Once the senior was confirmed to be in good health, the emergency crew members joined in with the singing until everyone was back in good spirits.
“The mood changed from kind of gloomy to something a bit more happy,” Hernandez added. “Turned out he was OK from the fall.”
(WATCH the video below) – Photo by Pembroke Pines Police Department
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This garbageman ignored his boss’s warnings to evacuate and broke company protocol so he could check on elderly residents on his route—and a 93-year-old lady was so glad he did. Hear The Good News Guru tell the incredible story (from the November 16, 2018 Ellen K. Morning Show on KOST-103.5 radio in Los Angeles).
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Subscribe to our Good News podcast on iTunes, or for Android devices on Podbean.
LISTEN to this story in our podcast, told by The Good News Guru (the GNN Founder) on Friday’s radio broadcast with Ellen K on KOST-103.5 — Or, READ the story below… (Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes – or for Androids, on Podbean)
In Butte County, California, a garbageman refused to evacuate the path of a wildfire until he checked up on all his elderly customers—and a 93-year-old woman was so glad he did.
Dane Ray Cummings has driven the same trash route for eight years – and he knew where all the elderly people lived.
As news reports warned of the fires closing in on Magalia last week, his boss warned him to stop working and get out of town; but Cummings put his own safety on hold, so he could check on the seniors who might need help.
Meanwhile, Margaret Newsum was eating breakfast when she turned on the morning news and saw reports of the encroaching fire. With no family members in the area to help her, she stepped out on her porch hoping that someone would see her – and that’s when Cummings pulled up in his “big green monster” truck.
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“I probably went to 45 or 50 people to see if I could help them, (and) make sure they were getting out,” Cummings told KCRA. “She was my last stop.”
Since Newsum is recovering from a broken back, she depends on a caregiver for assistance. A quick phone call revealed that the caregiver had already left town, so Cummings insisted on evacuating Newsum himself.
With the help of some neighbors, they boosted the fragile senior into the truck and the two of them embarked on the 5-hour drive to safety.
By the end of the trip, Cummings had heard the amazing life story of this sweet old lady who had baked him cookies on his route: She had personally witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor; she tried hang gliding in her 70s; and she worked as a backup singer for Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack, recalling they were “wonderful, wonderful men.”
“I wish I’d known her when she was younger,” said Cummings. “I would’ve married her.”
Breaking company protocol by giving a civilian a ride in his truck led to a a fierce new friendship, and turned this mild-mannered trash man into a local hero.
(WATCH the video below) – Photo by KCRA
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It’s being hailed as the city of the future.
Babcock Ranch is a town in Florida that is being hailed as America’s first ever city that is completely powered by solar panels—and it is quickly shaping up to be an eco-friendly role model for the rest of the nation.
Perhaps most notably, the town is the brainchild of Syd Kitson, the former NFL lineman for the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers—an athlete with a big vision.
He first began development of the 17,000-acre property near Fort Myers by transforming the abandoned mining land into an expansive solar farm comprised of nearly 350,000 panels.
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Taking this developmental approach ensured that the town could be self-sustainable, even as it grows exponentially in size and population.
“We think about the way we develop differently… It’s the most environmentally responsible, the most sustainable new town that’s ever been developed,” Kitson told Fox News. “And, it’s the first solar-powered town in America. And we’re very proud of that.”
Eco-friendly Babcock Ranch offers residents a chance to live their environmentally conscientious dreams as they bike to work, or take the electric shuttle bus to the town square.
One resident, Josh Day, tells Fox News why being part of the Babcock community is truly of importance to him: “To be able to be a part of a community of everyone that cares, and wants that for them, not only for themselves but also for their children and their grandchildren, to have it be a more clean Earth whenever our children are older.”
Although the current population is still small, the town is expected to house nearly 45,000 residents in the not-so-distant future – and the houses only cost between $190,000 and $499,000.
(WATCH the news coverage below) – Photo by Babcock Ranch
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Quote of the Day: “Once you have flown… you will ever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you long to return.” – Leonardo da Vinci
Image: by Jason Jacobs, CC license
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Bernie Dalton was a musician with aspirations of having his songwriting heard – and now, despite his medical condition, he finally has.
Several years ago, Bernie began his musical journey by answering a Craigslist ad for voice lessons that was posted by California singer-songwriter Essence Goldman.
Dalton was so excited for his lessons, he showed up early for every session, despite the 90-minute drive from Santa Cruz to San Francisco.
Soon after starting his work with Ms. Goldman, Dalton lost his voice and experienced difficulty eating and swallowing. Upon seeing a doctor, Dalton was diagnosed with early-onset ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
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Despite his prognosis and the loss of motor function and vocal abilities, he would not defer his dream; Dalton was determined to have his music heard. His teacher began accepting his lyrics by mail, and he continued to book time with her to work on songs.
After months of collaboration, Ms. Goldman eventually became the voice to the voiceless Bernie Dalton, who uses his music to express feelings about his daughter, and his unique world view. She describes it as “the honor of her life.”
Goldman now performs Dalton’s songs alongside a musical group called Bernie and the Believers. They submitted a song to NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Contest in hopes of winning the national competition. They did not win the competition – but the contest producers were so moved by their story, they invited them into the studio for a performance.
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“The story of Bernie and the Believers is the most powerful story that has ever crossed my Tiny Desk,” says producer Bob Boilen. “It’s one that stayed with our team since we received the entry in March of 2018. We knew we had to bring them in for their own Tiny Desk concert.”
“Last month, Essence and her band of Believers came to Washington, D.C. to perform Bernie’s songs. All the while, Bernie watched and listened from his hospital bed on the West coast, communicating with us in a live video feed through the eye-gaze device he uses to speak.”
“Watching the performance itself was intense. I felt profoundly moved by Bernie and Essence’s stories and songs… When it was over, everyone around me was wiping their eyes. What we witnessed was an ultimate act of love: Essence had sacrificed her own musical ambitions to fulfill the dreams of Bernie Dalton. Through tragedy, there was beauty.”
(WATCH the emotional performance below) – Photo by Bob Boilen / NPR
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By Patricia Murphy / SWNS
Mesmerizing footage shows how an artistic hairdresser gives a client rainbow-colored hair—using a paint roller and sponge.
37-year-old Kelly O’Leary created the colorful look by dipping rollers normally used for applying paint into various shades of hair dyes.
The Canadian stylist, who runs the Sapphire Hair Lounge in Winnipeg, Manitoba, then applies the dye to strands of 32-year-old model Amanda Legris’s hair.
The end result is an eye-popping blend of orange, purple, pink, blue, green, red and yellow.
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A clip of the transformation has been watched more than 100,000 times on Instagram.
Kelly, a color specialist of 20 years, said: “I do a lot of stage shows so I am always trying to come up with new and interesting techniques. My model Amanda lets me use her hair a lot, and I really appreciate how she has complete faith in me.”
“I just went down to our local dollar store and picked up the rollers and the trays. The paint rollers take up a lot of space so I wouldn’t say they are for everyday use, but it did work quite well.”
“I also have tried a sponging technique which works a lot better. It is way more practical.”
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Kelly first tested the experimental technique during a hair exhibition in the summer.
While Kelly doesn’t plan to introduce paint rollers into her salon’s daily routine, the hair stylist said she would be happy to pull them out for anyone who asked in advance.
“When I put it on Instagram, everyone was really excited. If someone wrote to me and asked, I definitely would be down for doing it. I’d just have to be prepared in advance.”
(WATCH the aesthetically pleasing footage below)
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After the small town of Paradise, California, was nearly wiped out by wildfires last week, the local high school girl’s volleyball team was still determined to play their semifinal championship match last Saturday—despite having no uniforms or equipment after having evacuating quickly with only the clothes on their back.
But the opposing team from Forest Lake Christian High School in Auburn was waiting with a big surprise.
Within 24 hours, they had collected donations of $16,000 and when the girls from Paradise Adventist Academy showed up, they were greeted with new custom uniforms, knee pads, and socks—and a whole lot of love.
Not only that, a $300 gift card was provided for each player, along with truck loads of supplies and clothing for their families.
After the game, they were all invited to a banquet of warm food prepared by the Forest Lake families.
Paradise Adventist coach Jason Eyer addressed the packed gymnasium, filled with people who had never watched the Interscholastic sport before, but wanted to show support.
“I’ve never been so overwhelmed by so many things I would have never thought possible, and this is one of the most amazing things I could ever have thought would happen,” he said, according to an article in The Union. “Your community is awesome and we are forever grateful.”
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(You can donate to any of the Butte County fire campaigns here.)
For the first time ever, scientists have identified a way to halt kidney disease brought on by a life-limiting genetic condition—and it is expected to be available within the next three years.
Experts at Newcastle University have shown in a cell model and in a mouse model that gene editing could be used to stop kidney damage that is inflicted in patients with the CEP290 faulty gene related to Joubert syndrome.
Joubert syndrome is a brain disorder that causes varying degrees of physical, mental and sometimes visual impairments. The condition affects approximately one in 80,000 newborns, and one third also get kidney failure.
Not all patients with Joubert syndrome carry the CEP290 gene, but those who do will develop kidney disease during their lifetime and may require a transplant or dialysis.
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The study, which was funded by Kidney Research UK, has found it is possible to use a strand of engineered DNA to trick the cells’ own editing machinery to bypass the CEP290 mutation that causes kidney damage—a technique known as ‘exon-skipping’.
Professor John Sayer, from the Institute of Genetic Medicine, Newcastle University, led the research that was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“This is the first time that gene editing within the kidney has been performed, even in a mouse model, as the design and delivery of the gene editing to the kidney has previously been thought to be too difficult,” said Sayer. “Our research is a major step forwards as we now know how we may be able to offer a therapy that corrects the gene mistake within kidney cells and prevent the development of genetic kidney disease.
“This work paves the way towards personalized genetic therapies in patients with the inherited kidney disease.”
The European study used kidney cells from patients with Joubert syndrome and a mouse model to progress the research.
Experts used urine samples to grow kidney cells in the laboratory to see how the cells responded to gene editing. They also performed gene editing to halt kidney disease in a mouse that had Joubert syndrome and rodents suffering from kidney cysts and kidney failure.
Professor Sayer, a consulting nephrologist from Newcastle Hospitals, said: “The treatment of genetic kidney disease is challenging, as this requires both the correction of the underlying gene defect and the delivery of the treatment.
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“We have shown that the kidney disease in a mouse can be dramatically improved using this exon-skipping gene editing technology.
“This will mean that we can edit out genetic mistakes that are leading to inherited kidney diseases such as Joubert syndrome and we are testing this technology in other mouse models before we move into patient studies.
“We expect that we will start to test treatment of patients with exon-skipping within the next three years.”
Scientists are now looking to work with a drug manufacturing company to bring the exon-skipping technology into patients’ clinics.
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The medical breakthrough is in no small thanks to Asher Ahmed, a 19-year-old from Fenham, Newcastle who has Joubert syndrome and will likely need a kidney transplant in the future.
Asher was diagnosed with kidney damage five years ago and is on a number of drugs to keep him well. He has a range of medical issues due to his Joubert syndrome, including visual impairment, communication problems and difficulties with balance and coordination.
The teenager has been instrumental in helping further the research as he has provided many samples over the years, allowing the Newcastle scientists to grow kidney cells, without which the research would not have been possible.
“All throughout Asher’s life, he has lived with the effects of Joubert syndrome,” says Asher’s mother, Nabila. “Anything that helps further understanding into the condition is well worth doing, so it’s great to see the study’s positive results.”
(Source: Newcastle University)
Cure Your Friends Of Negativity By Sharing The Exciting News To Social Media – File photo by John Campbell, CC
It’s been five years since people from all over the world came together in San Francisco to grant a little boy’s wish of being Batman – and now, people are delighted to find out that he has been thriving after his cancer treatment.
Miles Scott was just twenty months old when he was diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia. As he was undergoing chemotherapy when Make-A-Wish asked if he had any wishes they could help to make come true.
While some youngsters might be content to meet Batman at Disney World, Miles said that he wanted to be Batman.
The organization was determined to make the boy’s wish come true, so they put out an international call for people to help orchestrate an elaborate superhero adventure for Miles the “Bat Kid”— and thousands of people volunteered and donated money to bring the tall tale to life; even Lamborghinis were donated to turn into Batmobiles.
Miles was five years old when he finally finished his treatment, and the city of San Francisco was ready to celebrate. Over 20,000 people filled the streets to cheer him on as he battled villainy alongside firefighters, police officers, and the San Francisco Giants baseball team. News outlets televised Miles’s mission to defeat ‘The Joker’ and ‘Riddler’ and celebrities like President Obama tweeted messages of support to the youngster.
Following the crimefighting adventure, the San Francisco Chronicle renamed its paper for a day to the Gotham City Chronicle and published a front-page article with a huge headline reading: “Batkid Saves City”.
An anonymous fan even erected a billboard.
Five years after the incredible event, Miles is reportedly in remission and showing no signs of the disease.
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“Many people ask us, ‘How is Miles doing?’ The answer is, he’s doing great!” says the Make-A-Wish website.
“Since his crime fighting day five years ago, Miles has returned to being a typical kid—playing little league, going to school, helping (on) his family farm.
“Now 10 years old and in fifth grade, Miles loves science and robotics. After fighting his own heroic battle with leukemia, Miles visits his oncologist once a year, and has been in remission from leukemia for the past five years. [Mile’s mom] Natalie also wrote to Make-A-Wish recently to ask whether she could become a volunteer wish granter herself.”
If you want to hear more about Miles’s story, you can watch a documentary about the incredible day called “Batkid Begins”.
(WATCH the film trailer below)
Save Your Friends From Negativity By Sharing This Super Story To Social Media
Quote of the Day: “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one come to you without leaving happier.” – Mother Teresa
Image: by Jill /Blue Moonbeam Studio, CC license
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?
The Lesson: In a work environment where it is easier to become disconnected than it is to form meaningful relationships, how do we stay plugged in? Not just to our work, but to our employees and co-workers. To Dan Schawbel, it’s all about making the effort to establish and nurture friendships, share knowledge, and engage in face-to-face conversation. By taking a step back from the computer screen, and a step closer to a colleague or employer, we can enrich both our work lives and our personal lives – and when we focus on and develop our interpersonal skills, we can become the leaders we wish to see in the workspace.
Notable Excerpt: “Not having your phone is the new vacation. We’re overworked, we’re burned out, people are working longer hours than ever before, without additional pay, and technology has made us on call, 24/7. People answer business e-mail outside of office hours, on vacation, wherever they are. They’re always kind of working. It’s the new norm. It’s almost expected. Busy is no longer a differentiator. Busy is what we’re all feeling, or we think we’re so busy. We think we have all of these friends, but yet, it’s an illusion. Technology has created the illusion of connection, when in reality we have weaker contacts … So we think we have all of these Facebook friends, but Facebook has changed the definition of friendship. Whereas, ‘Who can you really rely on if you’re mentally ill, or you’re in hospital? Who are the three people who are going to call you?’ Those are your real friends. Those are people who are going to be with you for a long period of time.
“It’s like what [Jay Shetty] said to me, he said, ‘I want to be friends with you forever.’ And that hit home so hard … because people, especially men, don’t talk like that … People don’t talk like that. If someone does say that, it really hits home, because it’s like, ‘Wow! What if I can just walk over to the people I really just want to be friends with for a really long time and say, ‘Hey, I want to be friends with your forever.’ That is so powerful. And just going back to the workplace … People spend a third of their life working. So, if you hate the people you work with and don’t extract meaning from the work that you actually do, you’re going to be disengaged, and 85% of the global workforce is either disengaged, or actively disengaged.”
The Guest: Dan Schawbel is the New York Times best-selling author of “Promote Yourself” and “Me 2.0”. He is an entrepreneur, podcast host, and the founder of Millennial Branding and the Workplace Trends website. He has been named one of the top 20 Social Media Influencers by Forbes, and one of the top 16 Brilliant Minds by Huffington Post. His latest book, “Back to Human: How Great Leaders Create Connection in the Age of Isolation”, was published earlier this week.
The Host: After spending years of his young life and athletic career struggling with his own emotional wellbeing, a crippling injury left Lewis Howes without an identity and without any work. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, however, Howes recreated himself as a multi-million dollar media producer, motivational speaker, bestselling author, and podcast host. The ex-football player now spends his days chatting with the most inspirational icons of this generation on his School of Greatness podcast.
Podcast: The School of Greatness podcast is available for download on Soundcloud and iTunes. You can also watch footage of the interviews on Howes’s YouTube channel.
Books: Howes is the author of the New York Times best-selling book “The School of Greatness”: an in-depth collection of lessons and wisdom that he has gathered from interviewing hundreds of the world’s greatest role models and thinkers. Howes’s latest book, “The Mask of Masculinity”, is based on his experience with the dangerous stereotypes and expectations that are placed on men in modern society.
(LISTEN to the inspiring talk below or read the transcript)
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