The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

High School Senior Austin Mobley Cares for Mom Who Has Dementia


Austin Mobley was just 6 when his mom, Tracy, asked if he knew the owner of a black-and-white dog running around their yard. "Mom," he said, laughing, "that's Daisy," their longtime family pet.

Twelve years later, Austin cooks, balances the checkbook, drives Tracy on errands from their two-bedroom apartment in Buffalo, Mo., and manages his 48-year-old mother's medication for the dementia diagnosed when she was 36.

"The hardest thing for me," says Austin, 18, "is not knowing what an actual mom is."

Every morning the high school senior rises at 6:30 a.m., makes sure his mom takes her meds – Namenda for dementia, Valium for paranoia, Prozac for depression – and then gets a ride to school.

After school, he heads home, does his homework and gets to his other job – paying bills, picking up around the house and helping Tracy cook a dinner of spaghetti, steak or pork chops
.
At night, he makes sure Tracy settles under a blanket in a recliner and gives her a bedtime hug; she keeps the TV on all night because it soothes her.
That's on a good day.

[kuhio98]

Mail carrier performs CPR on unconscious dog trapped in house fire

EVANS CITY, Pa. — A mail carrier is being credited with rescuing a dog from a burning home in Evans City Friday morning.
Firefighters were called to the home on Pioneer Road about 10:30 a.m. when the mail carrier, Jo Amerson, noticed the flames.

Channel 11’s Amy Marcinkiewicz reported that Amerson knocked out windows of the house in an effort to make sure no one was trapped inside.

Amerson said she found an unconscious dog inside the house, performed CPR and brought the dog back to life.

“It’s all in a day’s work. I did whatever everyone would do,” Amerson said. “It’s a life, whether it’s a dog, cat or any animal.”

The homeowner and her daughter left the house moments before the fire started, officials said.

The homeowner told Marcinkiewicz that she was with her 3-year-old daughter at her doctor’s appointment.

The woman also said she and her daughter lost everything in the fire because they don’t have insurance.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

[kuhio98]

Toledo, Ohio police veteran surprises needy family with food

TOLEDO -- When Toledo Police Officer Melvin Woods responded to an attempted suicide call, he never imagined what the impact of what he was responding to would make.

When he arrived at the scene Saturday, he found a woman on the brink of taking her own life. "She told me that her and her husband wasn't working." said Woods. "They didn't have no food in the house. The kids was hungry."

After one stressful day too many, Faith Dashner had had enough. "I just wanted to say goodbye world. I don't want to be here. I'm done," said Faith, who was threatening to end her life by taking a bottle's worth of prescription pills.

She told Officer Woods that she was upset because they had no money for food.

"They said they hadn't had food in the house for four or five days. I said, 'How are you feeding the kids?' She said, 'we're not.' That's when the little one told me she hadn't eaten in two days," explained Woods.

After leaving the house, Woods decided he wasn't going to let the story end there. He said something had to be done, starting at the grocery store.

After spending $100 on groceries at Kroger, he then went to his own freezer and took out roasts, steaks and vegetables. On his day off, Woods took all the food and hand delivered it to the front door of the Dashner family.

Woods recalls arriving at the home, "I knocked on the door and said remember me? Oh yes. I said I got some food out here for you guys."

Faith Dashner and her entire family were shocked. "I gave him a bear hug. I was crying. The whole family was crying," admits Faith.

She says the gesture is something that has taught her a lesson in life about having faith in human nature. "Mel has opened our eyes a lot," she said.

As for Woods, a 29-year veteran of the Toledo Police Department, he hopes this may inspire others to pay it forward, and says he was only doing the right thing. "I believe it was something I was supposed to do...from my heart," said Melvin.

The family has received an outcry of support. So much so that they are donating anything in excess to other family members that are in need.

[kuhio98]

Valentine Surprise

I just recently moved to a new apartment complex and found out that I have an amazing neighbor. Bobby's retired and lost his wife last year. He's done many kind acts for me, including bringing me a loaf of banana nut bread he'd just taken out of the oven on the day I moved in. This was his first Valentine's Day without his wife, Evelyn. She spoke her last words to him on Valentines Day 2011 so he was having a tough time of it. But, even in his grief, he knocked on my door and presented a box of chocolates to me. He said he'd always given a box to his wife and this year he was giving them to me. He is a precious man!

[kuhio98]

Clearwater Fire crew saves ducklings

CLEARWATER, FL - When a mother duck called for help, the Clearwater firefighters answered.

The Clearwater Fire Department officials say a citizen called them Monday afternoon and told them about a duck standing over a drain on Court Street and making noises of distress.

It turned out the ducklings were trapped in the drain under the grated cover. The firefighters got them out in no time, according to the Department's report.

The mother duck and six babies seem to be doing fine.

[Scooter's Mom]

[kuhio98]

Snow plow driver praised for steering Sylvania wrong-way driver to safety
SYLVANIA, Ohio -- They often don't get much respect, but now one Ohio Department of Transportation snow plow driver is being cheered for what he did to save lives.

Around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 26, highway tech George Seambos was driving his snow plow along US 23 in Sylvania near the Michigan border. Seambos was on snow and ice patrol in the frigid temperatures. While driving, he noticed a set of headlights coming right at him in the wrong direction.

Immediately, Seambos called 911 and turned on his flashers to warn oncoming traffic. He then maneuvered his truck in a way that forced the driver of the wrong-way vehicle to turn around. Seambos then followed the vehicle, of which he assumed an intoxicated person was driving, until police caught up to it.

The driver of the wrong-way vehicle was charged with operating a vehicle under the influence, and due to the quick-thinking of Seambos, a 17-year ODOT veteran, possible tragedy was avoided.

"Every day, ODOT employees do amazing things but what George did for everyone on the road that night is beyond amazing," said ODOT Director Jerry Way. "We will never know if his actions avoided a tragedy...but what we do know is George had the courage to do something..."

The courageous act came less than a year after multiple wrong-way crashes in northwest Ohio killed five six people in a two-week span. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, alcohol is the leading factor in wrong-way crashes that kill hundreds of people each year.