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Defying Their Bullying, Teen Called “Trash Girl” Continues to Save the Planet

By
McKinley Corbley
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Nadia Sparkes doesn’t care about the bullies who try and ridicule her for her eco-friendly habits – she will continue doing all she can to save the environment.

The 12-year-old high school student has spent the last six months picking up all of the trash that litters the 2-mile stretch between Hellesdon High School and her home. The student says that picking up trash is her way of making the community – and the planet – a little bit tidier.

Every day that the youngster heads home from school, she fills up her bicycle basket with the litter that she finds on the side of the road. Since she began her mission, she has filled up two recycling bins of trash.

Unfortunately, some local bullies started making fun of her routine and calling her “Trash Girl”.

WATCH: You Will Laugh and Cry Over Dad Bringing Newborn to Doctor’s Appointment

Instead of being dissuaded by their rudeness, however, Sparkes is more determined than ever.

“I’m not going to stop doing the right thing because of them, and if they are going to call me trash girl, they can say it with respect,” said Sparkes, according to the Eastern Daily Press.

“I’m doing something to protect the world they also live in. It’s everyone’s job. We are all responsible for keeping this world safe, instead of believing that it’s always someone else’s job.”

LOOK: Buff Dad Wears Tutu For Ballet Class When Daughter Invites Him Instead of Her Pregnant Mom

Since news of Sparkes’s hardworking spirit has gone viral, the teen has received an outpouring of support on her Facebook page, which is appropriately called “Team Trash Girl”.

One reader left a comment saying: “I just read your story, and you are truly a strong and independent person. The world need more people like you. It’s hard to keeping doing the right thing when dealing with bullies, but you’ve just become stronger and started something beautiful. Thank you.”

LOOK: Gym Gives Free Lifetime Pass to Refugee Boy Staring Longingly Through the Window

Another supporter wrote: “I am a diehard fisherman and I do everything I can to keep plastics and other waste out of the waters I frequent. Thank you so much for doing your part in your locale. You are a blessing to this Earth and I look forward to seeing you inspire others!”

In light of her latest slew of fans, Sparkes has asked all of her readers to join her mission by picking up at least three pieces of trash today in their community.

Clean Up Negativity: Click To Share With Your Friends (Photo by Paula Sparkes)

“In the hour of adversity be not without hope for crystal rain falls from black clouds.” –Persian poem

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “In the hour of adversity be not without hope for crystal rain falls from black clouds.” –Persian poem

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?

African Children Hear a Fiddle for the First Time and Their Reaction is Priceless

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Good News Network
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These children won’t have to meet the devil at a crossroads to bring their musical spirits to life – instead, a young woman became their angel when she started serenading the African kids with her fiddle.

WATCH: Airline Passenger Hilariously Busts a Move When Gate Agent Tells Him to Sing

According to Paige Parks, the kids had never seen or heard a fiddle before in their lives.

So when she pulled out her trusty instrument and started sawing out a tune for the youngsters, they could not contain their delight.

(WATCH the video below)

Click To Share The Cute Video With Your Friends – Photo by Paige Parks

2 Teenage Girls Saved From Abduction by Airline Employee Whose Name is ‘Miracle’

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Good News Network
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Thanks to the intervention of an American Airlines employee, two teenage girls have been saved from almost falling victim to a human trafficking plot.

The airline worker, Denice Miracle, first guessed that something was afoot when a 15 and 17-year-old girl approached the counter at the Sacramento International Airport in California back in August.

For starters, the girls were traveling alone with only a few small pieces of luggage. In addition to having no forms of identification, they had first-class tickets to New York City that had been bought with a fraudulent credit card.

RELATED: 6,000 Sex Trafficking Victims Rescued Thanks to Ashton Kutcher’s Organization

Instead of allowing the girls to board the flight, Miracle called the police.

Airport police officers later discovered that the girls had been contacted on Instagram by a man named “Drey” who had offered them $2,000 to fly to New York for a modeling gig. The girls, who had not even told their parents about the venture, were shocked to discover that the tickets were one-way.

The teens were later reunited with their parents, and Miracle – whose name is appropriate for the rescue – is being hailed as a hero for her quick thinking.

Click To Share The Inspiring Story With Your Friends (Photo by Patrick Cardinal)

Watch Two Kids Disguised as One Tall Man in Trench Coat Try to Get in to See ‘Black Panther’

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Good News Network
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It’s a gimmick that is straight out of The Little Rascals.

Two youngsters from Carson, California are going viral after they tried to sneak into a screening of the new Black Panther movie by sitting on each other’s shoulders under a trench coat.

Unfortunately, when they were asked about whether the trick worked, one of the pranksters simply said: “Nah. I don’t know how, but he knew something was up.”

LOOK: Cop Surprised – and Delighted – When He Finds the Car He is About to Ticket is Made of Snow

The guys had been hoping that their creativity would get both of them into the theatre for the price of one ticket – but the ticket worker was not having it.

Upon ambling up to the counter and asking for one ticket, the theater employee can be heard saying: “You gotta get down, man.”

“Get down from what?” the unusually tall and absolutely normal looking guy responds.

(WATCH the amusing video below)

Vincent Adultman, Is That You? Click To Share With Your Friends

Beauty Therapy Course Gives Prison Inmates Skills to Make Up a Beautiful Life

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Good News Network
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For the last 13 years, Elsa Lumsden has been giving female inmates a second chance at life with an unusually beautiful set of skills.

Lumsden is the mastermind behind the Beauty Therapy course at Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF).

RELATED: Once a Homeless Teen Mom, She’s Now a Hairdresser Offering Free Makeovers to Girls in City Shelters

In the course, the women are taught how to cut hair, shape eyebrows, give manicures, and apply makeup. Once the inmates complete over 1,600 hours of training, they can apply to the state board for a cosmetology license.

This course does not just offer them a chance at work outside of prison – it also gives them hope and inspiration for a more beautiful life.

“These life skills have changed me. I came from nothing to something,” said one of the participants. “I had zero self-esteem, I had zero confidence, I didn’t believe in myself. These life skills have given me hope. I am confident in what I do.”

(WATCH the inspiring video below)

Click To Share The Beautiful Story With Your Friends – Photo by Barcroft TV

On Death Row for 21 Years, Nick Yarris Visits Us to Talk About Forgiveness on Good News Weekly LIVE (WATCH)

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Good News Network
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Even though convicted of a murder he didn’t commit, Nick Yarris turned his life around while on death row in prison, after he became addicted to books. An amazing story of overcoming, as told in the hit Netflix documentary, Fear of 13, this man’s positive attitude is contagious and inspiring.

He joined us in studio to chat and answer audience questions, streaming LIVE on Facebook.

Author of The Kindness Approach, he has raised forgiveness to an art form and his life will be the subject of a Hollywood movie produced by our co-host, Anthony Samadani. Hear the interview below. (Note: We were experimenting with a new 3-camera set up, which occasionally produced some glitches, but hope you find it inspiring, nonetheless.)

You can jump past the good news segment, right into his interview beginning at 12:20…

SHARE the Event and Inspire Your Friends…

“Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” –Mother Teresa

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” –Mother Teresa

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 Realizes the Old Dog She Just Adopted Was Same One She Had as a Child

By
McKinley Corbley
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Instead of reading, you can also HEAR the story told by The Good News Guru (GNN’s founder, Geri) on KOST 103.5 Radio this week.

It’s been seven years since Nicole Grimes was forced to give up Chloe: her beloved canine companion.

When the girl was 14 years old, her father began a job outside the home and since Chloe was suddenly alone for long periods, she would bark all day long. The Grimes family was forced to consider the neighbors’ complaints about the young noisy pup, and had to give her up for adoption at a local shelter.

Though Nicole understood the reasoning behind her parents’ decision, she was still heartbroken over her lost friend and never forgot her.

Now a 21-year-old mother living in Brownsville, Pennsylvania with her husband, Nicole noticed one of her Facebook friends had posted a photo of a senior dog needing a loving home.

RELATED: Because His AirBnb Guest Had a Heart Attack, Man’s Ingenuity is Now Saving Thousands of Lives

The elderly couple who’d been caring for the dog had died recently so the couple’s neighbor posted the adoption ad on Facebook. The hound looked a lot like Chloe, so she decided to adopt it.

“It just reminded me of my old dog. So I decided to take her in,” Grimes told TODAY.

Even more strangely, the dog was similarly named Chloe.

She couldn’t stop thinking about the resemblance to her childhood pal, so one day Nicole took the dog in for a microchip scan: in a strange twist of fate, the new canine family member was the exact dog that she’d been forced to give up so many years ago.

WATCH: Friends For 60 Years Find Out They’re Biological Brothers

“I felt like I won the lottery,” Grimes said. “I never thought I’d see her again.”

Now, the little family will be giving Chloe all the love and kisses that Nicole missed out on since she was a young girl.

Click To Share The Pawesome Story Of Fate With Your Friends

Can Online Bots Build Peace?

By
Peace News
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Republished with permission from Peace News Network (Written by Kate Roff)

Online ‘bots’ are normally viewed in a negative light, but this social enterprise is proving that they can also be used for good.

In light of the increasing political divisions in online media, the organization Build Up is using social media bots to help depolarize conversations. Their project called The Commons contacts people who may want to connect with others and look for common ground.

Jacob Lefton from Build Up says: “What polarization is as a phenomenon, is that groups of people are separating from each other and building stereotypes of the other groups of people, and losing shared facts and losing shared language to talk about the issues, and it doesn’t matter if one side is right or wrong in this if there can’t be a healthy civic conversation.”

“And for us it’s one of the indicators for a society that’s sliding toward conflict,” Lefton said. “And we’re seeing more extreme hate speech… and these stronger and stronger divisions.”

So first a bot contacts them, and says, ‘Hi, it’s interesting that you’re talking about this.’ Then, they are asked an open question about what they think regarding the broader topic of polarization, which tries to invite a response.

“Then if they respond, we follow up with a facilitator who then takes it and attempts to have a longer conversation with them to find out what their core values are and their issues and invite them to further action in depolarizing the way that these conversations are happening.”

LOOK: Because His AirBnb Guest Had a Heart Attack, Man’s Ingenuity is Now Saving Thousands of Lives

“It’s really hard to bring people together, and so that’s why we think it’s necessary… basically saying ‘Can we do the same types of active interventions in these platforms as people who are using it as adversarial technique, but can we do it as a connecting technique?’”

The project is explicitly non-partisan and has reached out to over 12,400 people online. Build Up will present its full findings at MIT in March – and they hope that the research will show that they have built a little peace online.

“We can’t expect that everyone will become an actor,” said Lefton, “But we can believe that if we raise people’s awareness of it, and engage them in healthy conversations about it then maybe in future conversations they will have more tools to engage with them in a healthy way.”

Pass On This Positive Bot Bit to Your Online Friends, so they can be on the look-out for this…

Chance Encounter Spurs Officer to Help Buy a $2000 Chair For Vietnam Vet

By
McKinley Corbley
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Officer Jordan Gaiche was patrolling the neighborhood on a chilly Monday night when he saw a man walking down the sidewalk in a tee-shirt and shorts.

Since the temperature was only 7º Fahrenheit, Gaiche pulled his cruiser over and asked the man if he needed any help. To his surprise, the man said that he was on his way to help a senior neighbor who had gotten stuck in his chair, “as he had done many times before.”

The man asked if Gaiche could help them, and the Wausau, Wisconsin police officer readily agreed.

“The elderly gentleman had gotten stuck in his recliner and appeared to be immobile and on oxygen,” says Gaiche. “It was evident that this chair was the place this man spent most of his time.”

RELATED: Student Wakes From Nap to Find Stranger Had Overheard Her Financial Difficulties and Left a Pile of Cash

After he and the neighbor fixed the senior’s chair, Gaiche lamented the debilitated state of the recliner.

“It had become more of a trap for injury rather than an assistive device,” wrote the police officer. “The neighbor looked up at the man’s wife and said: ‘I think it’s time you guys got a new chair.’ The wife sadly replied that she knew they needed a new chair, but could not afford one, as they [cost] around $2,000.”

Upon finding out that the elderly man was also a Navy veteran who had served two tours in Vietnam, Gaiche was spurred to help. He told the vet’s wife to pick out a new armchair and he would cover the bill.

LOOK: Instead of Cleaning the Fridge as Requested, Home Nurse Finds it Empty –and Fills it

Once she picked out a new recliner model, Gaiche made a quick post on Facebook to see if anyone would help him buy the chair. To his surprise, he received dozens of donations from folks all over the country.

“Some of the people who donated, I have not seen for a decade… some I have never even met,” says Gaiche.

“The amount of compassion that was displayed for this elderly veteran was so incredible,” he added. “The moral of this story is to look around you and see all of the great things that people are doing. This world is a good place. Turn off the negativity and focus on making the world just a little bit better.”

Pass On The Positivity: Click To Share (Photo by Wausau Police Department)

Man Wins $400,000 By Playing Lottery Numbers That Came to Him in a Dream

By
Good News Network
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So many of us dream of winning the lottery one day, but how many of us see the actual winning numbers in a dream? Victor Amole did just that.

According to WTTG, the computer programmer and resident of Virginia bought four tickets for the state Lottery’s “Cash 5” game. He decided to play the same numbers on all four tickets: 3-10-17-26-32.

The news station says that Amole had seen the lottery numbers in a dream. He told the Virginia Lottery that he knew he had to act on them because “I’ve never had a dream like that before.”

Although it was a risky move, buying the four tickets paid off: since each ticket was worth $100,000, Amole ended up winning it all and walking away with $400,000.

Winning like that is a rare feat, so it is hard to write off Victor’s dream as just a weird coincidence. Check out the interview at WTTG to hear about his dream and how he plans to use his winnings.

SHARE the inspiring luck with your friends on social media…

“It is the chiefest point of happiness that a man is willing to be what he is.” – Desiderius Erasmus

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “It is the chiefest point of happiness that a man is willing to be what he is.” – Desiderius Erasmus

Photo: by jinterwas, 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?

Cop Writes Amusing “Police Report” of Furry Carjacker Found on His Windshield

By
Good News Network
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Everyone needs a break from the seriousness of life – including the police.

This officer in particular took a break from fighting crime to write an amusing police report of an unlikely hitchhiker who somehow made its way onto his windshield.

Officer Brandon Dennington of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office in Oakland, California was on his way to a Golden State Warriors game when he saw a mouse on the hood of his cruiser.

Dennington snapped a photo of the furry passenger, which he later posted to the police department’s Facebook page with a few lighthearted jokes.

The post read: “We are not sure if this was an attempted car jacking but this little mouse popped up on the windshield of Deputy Brandon Dennington’s K9 vehicle. Further investigation revealed the suspect was likely a San Antonio Spurs fan trying to intimidate us.

WATCH: Audacious Arctic Fox Persuades Ice Fisherman to Share His Precious Catch

“Deputy Dennington was able to use de-escalation techniques and get the rabid fan off his car. Luckily, he was able to snap this photo of the elusive bandit.

“The suspect was last seen on foot running to a hiding spot. The suspect is 4 inches tall, weighing 1 ounce and wearing a grey and white fury coat. Thankfully, the Warriors won and Deputy Dennington got to the game on time.

Click To Share This Pawesome Tail With Your Friends (Photo by Officer Brandon Dennington)

Woman’s Near-Fatal Car Accident Led Her to Marrying the Love of Her Life

By
Good News Network
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The police officers who arrived on the scene of Jennifer Lind’s car accident back in December 2013 say that she was lucky to come out of the incident alive. Not only lucky to have her life, but the wreck led to the love her life.

Lind was driving to River Vale, New Jersey when her car hit a patch of black ice. She lost control of the steering and skidded into the safety rail.

Nicholas Angelus was driving behind Lind when he saw the disaster unfolding. Though he tried to use his emergency break, his was the first car to collide with hers.

RELATED: Woman Deceived On the Internet by Older Man Finds Love With Model Whose Photos Lured Her In

He quickly jumped out of his car, opened the door to Lind’s vehicle, made sure that she was okay, and offered her his coat so she could stay warm.

A while after the incident, Angelus called Lind’s phone. She thought that he might be trying to file a lawsuit against her – but he actually asked her out on a date.

Lind and Angelus tied the knot in October – and it’s all thanks to the car accident that sent them crashing into each other’s lives.

(WATCH the video below)

Click To Share This Romantic Story With Your Friends

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” – Lao Tzu

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” – Lao Tzu

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 Realizes the Old Dog She Just Adopted Was Same One She Had as a Child (Good News Guru Radio)

By
Good News Network
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She was just 14 years old when she had to give up her beloved dog. Then a few weeks ago, she saw a dog who looked suspiciously liked the pup from her past. Hear The Good News Guru tell the wonderous story.

Read more and see the photos on GNN…

Founder of Tom’s Shoes Reveals Lessons Learned From Early Business Failure and How to Win

By
Good News Network
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The Lesson: In this podcast, bestselling author, innovator, and business junkie Blake Mycoskie – who is estimated to be worth over $300 million –  gives his thoughts and advice on relinquishing control over a situation, balancing business with personal relationships, how our childhoods affect our current behavior, and how to deal with failure.

Notable Excerpt: “I’ve made and lost several times, so … I made some money on that business, I lost money on the next business, then I made some money on the next business. And it’s been this kind of … I feel like it’s just kind of part of the entrepreneurial journey, so it’s not surprising to me to hear that you made money and they you lost it … because entrepreneurs, I think, are more interested in creating things and building things than they are about accumulating wealth.”

The Speaker: Blake Mycoskie is the Founder and Chief Shoe Giver of TOMS and the brains behind One for One, a unique business model that helps a person in need with every purchase. From shoes, to eyewear, to coffee, to bags – TOMS’ family of products is making a difference all over the globe. Blake, author of the New York Times #1 bestseller, “Start Something That Matters,” also gets personal in this podcast talking about the invisible patterns that shape our behaviors, meditation, finding joy in life’s challenges, and the simple act of gratitude.

The Host: Dave Asprey, the CEO and Founder of Bulletproof, is a biohacker (changing his environment from the inside-out to have full control of his biology). For nearly two decades, he’s been questioning the status quo of nutrition and medicine so he could feel better—and have more energy in his 40s than he had in his 20s. Join more than 1 million biohackers who follow Bulletproof for leading-edge information on how to supercharge your body and upgrade your brain.

Books: Asprey is the author of “The Bulletproof Diet” – a guide on how to feel more energized and lose weight – and “Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks”.

Podcast: The Bulletproof podcast is available on PodcastOne, iTunes, Stitcher, and YouTube.

(LISTEN to the inspiring talk below or read the transcript here)

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

Woman’s Ingenious Invention Generates Electricity Using Wind From Trains, Subways

By
Good News Network
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File photo by Phil Richards, CC

A 27-year-old designer has created an ingenious new way of generating wind power in London – and it is done using the infrastructure that already exists.

Charlotte Slingsby is the mastermind behind Moya Power: a startup that uses cloth-like material to generate electricity from the wind that comes off of subways and trains.

As the cars speed through the stations, the textiles’ motion caused by the resulting gusts of wind accumulates electricity.

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While the electric yield of the sheeting material is relatively low compared to that of turbines and wind farms, the textiles can blend into urban environments and utilize space more efficiently.

Slingsby, who studied design and engineering at Imperial College and the Royal College of Art, has already installed a pilot set of Moya Power textiles along the London Crossway routes, according to WIRED.

“If we all live in cities that need electricity, we need to look for new, creative ways to generate it,” says Slingsby. “I wanted to create something that works in different situations and that can be flexibly adapted, whether you live in an urban hut or a high-rise.”

Power Up With Positivity: Click To Share The News With Your Friends (Photo by Phil Richards, CC)

Want Instant Pain Relief? New Report Says You Could Go For a Swim in Cold Water

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Good News Network
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This new report says that short, sharp, cold water swim may offer an alternative to strong painkillers and physiotherapy to relieve severe persistent pain after surgery.

The doctors in the journal BMJ Case Reports came to their conclusions after carrying out a surgical procedure (endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy) on a 28-year-old man to curb his excessive facial flushing.

The surgery entailed cutting the triggering nerves inside his chest. The procedure itself was successful, but 10 weeks later, the usual postoperative prescription of strong painkillers and staged physiotherapy had barely made a dent in the severity of his pain.

The man explained that exercise and movement just made the pain worse, preventing him from completing his rehabilitation and recovery. Furthermore, the constant pain caused him a great deal of distress and wrecked his quality of life.

RELATED: Dutchman Proves He Can Teach Anyone to Control Health With the Power of Ice

Before his surgery, the young man had been a keen triathlete, and so had swum competitively in open water. He thought that a cold water swim would, at the very least, provide some welcome distraction from the searing pain.

He returned to the same coastal spot where the triathlon took place. The only way to enter the water there is to plunge in from a rocky outcrop, he explained. Competitors are forced to swim for around 60 seconds before being able to clamber safely back ashore.

To his surprise, the young man felt no pain while he was in the water, nor has he felt any since, the authors report. His preoperative quality of life has been fully restored and he has resumed his usual sporting activities without further recourse to any painkillers.

MORE:  Watching Birds Near Your Home is Good For Your Mental Health

This is only one case report, and, caution the authors: “Due to the nature of retrospective case reports, it is unclear, without further evidence, whether the exposure to forced cold water swimming is causally and specifically related to pain remission.”

But given the timeframe and the absence of any alternative explanations other than pure chance, it seems as if the cold water plunge might have afforded some instant pain relief–at least in this case, they venture.

How this might have happened isn’t clear, they admit. But there are some possible biological explanations.

CHECK OUT: Simple Checklist Leads to 82% Drop in Mental Health Patient Suicides

The shock of the sudden cold water immersion might have induced a wave of sympathetic nervous system activity: the body’s response to this has been linked to an altered state of consciousness. This in turn might have altered pain perception, offering instant relief.

As to why the man’s pain disappeared completely over the long term, the authors suggest that his reduced mobility might have helped maintain the pain; the pain relief he felt in the water would have enabled him to move freely, so breaking that cycle.

Nerve pain can be very difficult to treat and is associated with structural changes in the brain and a legacy of psychological problems if it doesn’t respond to conventional treatment, the authors point out.

MORE: How Mindfulness Shattered My Pain Perception

A cold water plunge might succeed where painkillers fail, they suggest, but only if backed up by more substantive evidence.

“Further prospective [exploratory] investigation is needed to assess the replicability and feasibility of forced cold water swimming as a potentially effective, natural intervention to enhance recovery outcomes from common postoperative complications,” they write.

(Source: BMJ)

Water You Waiting For? Click To Share The News With Your Friends

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