The good guys thread

[pomtzu]

I have a couple to get the ball rolling. Nothing tremendously heroic, but both are worth honorable mention.

The first one was actions taken by my son. He was stopped at a red light on a 6 lane divided highway, when out of the corner of his eye, he noticed movement. He glanced over at the car next to him, and a small kitten dropped out onto the road from the undercarriage - right by one of the tires. If the car moved, it would have been the end of kitty. Son jumped out of his car and started banging on the window of the other car, until the woman rolled the window down. In the meantime, the light turned green and other cars, not knowing what was going on, started honking their horns impatiently. Son is holding up his hands and waving them - getting people to calm down and not to move their cars. The woman in the other car got out, and between the 2 of them, they managed to rescue a very frightened kitten from the middle of a very busy highway - and from certain death. She had no idea where the cat came from - it wasn't hers - but living in the country, it could have come from just about anywhere. Another woman and her young son pulled off the highway to see what was happening, and she offered to give the kitty a home. A happy ending!

The second involved me and some total strangers. It was a cold day and a freezing drizzle was falling. I glanced out my front window and saw a car skid off the road and end up in the ditch across the street from my house. After not seeing any movement in the car, I decided to walk out to see if anyone needed help. I got almost to the road and stepped off of the grass (which wasn't slippery), onto the gravel driveway (which was slippery), and my feet went out from under me and I landed with a thud and couldn't get up. Cars are going by and either no one noticed me laying there, or just couldn't be bothered stopping to help. Finally a couple of guys in a pickup truck saw me and stopped, carried me almost 100' back to the house, got me inside and called for an ambulance, and then went to check out the car in the ditch - 2 teenage girls and they weren't hurt. As it was, I had a fractured femur which required surgery - almost a week in the hospital - then another 2 weeks in rehab - and several months of outpatient p.t. after that. I certainly wish I had gotten those guys names so I could at least have thanked them properly when I was able. And when I was in the hospital - in walks a nurse with her teenage daughter, with a big bouquet of flowers for me. Come to find out that it was the teen that was driving the car that I went out to check on, and she felt responsible for me ending up in the hospital and wanted to try to cheer me up.

[kuhio98]

Thank you pomtzu. It is so nice to hear happy and inspirational stories.

[Karen]

Here's a nice one, of humans helping a fellow primate!

Surgery allows blind Orangutan to see her babies!

[sana]

Wow! Nice idea, Lisa I really like this thread Those stories were amazing!!
Loved your stories Pomtzu Wowie!! The second one was jaw-dropping!
What happy (and awesome) news, Karen Its sad that the Sumatran orangutans are endangered..


Well, I'm not sure WHAT to share, so, not sure about what good news I can tell you all :P

Ooh! My aunt sent me a video. It was about a duck and her little ducklings. They were crossing a highway, and it was so terrifying! And in the end of the clip, it said, "#YouCanBreatheNow"
It did have a happy ending. Here's the video for those who haven't seen it

http://newspeak.cc/story/3b7ba0fa573...0edb63512125e6

[kuhio98]

....
Ooh! My aunt sent me a video. It was about a duck and her little ducklings. They were crossing a highway, and it was so terrifying! And in the end of the clip, it said, "#YouCanBreatheNow"
It did have a happy ending. Here's the video for those who haven't seen it

http://newspeak.cc/story/3b7ba0fa573...0edb63512125e6

Whew! My heart was in my chest. I'm so glad the family made it across.

[Jessika]

Ooh! My aunt sent me a video. It was about a duck and her little ducklings. They were crossing a highway, and it was so terrifying! And in the end of the clip, it said, "#YouCanBreatheNow"
It did have a happy ending. Here's the video for those who haven't seen it

http://newspeak.cc/story/3b7ba0fa573...0edb63512125e6

Talk about a real life Frogger!

Awww. Humans made a difference in the quality of her life. I had no idea that Orangutans could get cataracts.
I wonder if all animals (if they have an injury or live long enough) can develop cataracts?

I'm pretty sure any animal can develop cataracts, though it definitely has a lot to do with genetics.

[momcat]

There's a wonderful story on the front page of the Trenton Times. 13 year old Jordyn Cascone is working towards her Girl Scout Silver Award and decided to do something for pets. Jordyn is aware that many homebound senior citizens on a fixed income will feed their pets before they eat themselves so she decided to create "Jordyn's Cause 4 Paws" and works with Meals on Wheels of Trenton/Ewing in delivering a bag of pet food once a week to clients who have pets. This great program started in October and each week Jordyn "...puts together food bags tailored to the individual needs of 11 dogs, 15 cats, and one fish. The food is provided through donations and purchase." Jordyn said, "I organized this program because the companionship of pets plays an important role in the quality of these recipients' lives. I was very happy that Meals on Wheels of Trenton/Ewing was so open to working with me on my project." The article goes on to say that the Banfield Charitable Trust gave a $2,500 grant to Meals on Wheels to get the Cause 4 Paws program started.
It was wonderful to see this story on the front page, exactly where it belongs. This wonderful young lady deserves a lot of credit and recognition for her understanding of the importance of pets to seniors and doing something positive to help. I'm definitely going to make a donation to this program. Anyone wanting more information can go to JordynsCause4Paws.org

[cassiesmom]

Police officers in Kansas City surprise motorists (source: Huffington Post)

In Kansas City, flashing red and blue lights had drivers seeing green earlier this month, after an anonymous wealthy benefactor enlisted sheriff's deputies there to pull over motorists, then hand over $100 bills instead of tickets.

The $100,000 giveaway was the brainchild of a wealthy Missouri businessman, known only as "Secret Santa," who donates similar amounts of money each holiday season. This year, reports CBS, he trusted officers to seek out drivers in need, as indicated by the condition of their vehicles, then hand out money.

The heartfelt gesture brought many motorists to tears. But it wasn't just drivers who benefited -- "Secret Santa" hoped the sheriff's deputies would earn some joy, too.

"As tough as [the officers] are they have hearts that are bigger than the world," "Santa" told CBS.

A similar campaign in Lowell, Mich., funded by UP TV, also provided unsuspecting drivers with Christmas gifts earlier this month, ultimately furnishing around $8,000 worth of handouts to 50 motorists in need.

"Most of the contact police officers have with the general public is on a traffic stop, and you can find out a lot about that person in that 10 to 15-minute window," Lowell Police Chief Steve Bukala said, explaining the project. "We got this idea, what if we could change that person's day in real time?"

[kuhio98]

Here's a nice one, of humans helping a fellow primate!

Surgery allows blind Orangutan to see her babies!

Awww. Humans made a difference in the quality of her life. I had no idea that Orangutans could get cataracts.
I wonder if all animals (if they have an injury or live long enough) can develop cataracts?

[Taz_Zoee]

I have a couple of stories. One I believe I posted pictures here somewhere. But a mother duck and her 11 babies were in our court when the babies fell down into the (dry) drainage grate. The mother duck was so upset. I called AC and while waiting my neighbor came down to see what was going on. There were a couple of people with him. The woman said she had long arms and could probably reach them. She got more than half of them out and then used a pool net to get the rest.

This morning on the local radio station I listen to on my way to work, one of the guys told the story of how his mom was walking into a store and saw a little girl walking with a man and the little girl was very upset. For some reason the woman stopped and asked the little girl if she was okay and asked where her mom was. Apparently this man has just grabbed this girls hand and was planning on walking out the door with her. I guess while the woman was talking to the child the man just left. So she helped the girl find her mom. End of story. She just saved that little girl from being kidnapped!!!

[Karen]

Awww. Humans made a difference in the quality of her life. I had no idea that Orangutans could get cataracts.
I wonder if all animals (if they have an injury or live long enough) can develop cataracts?

I believe any animal can, as I know humans and other primates can, dogs can, cats can, sea lions can, snakes can ... all very different animals, but that have eyes.

[pomtzu]

I wonder if all animals (if they have an injury or live long enough) can develop cataracts?

I imagine most animals can if they live long enough. Myndi has one that is very visible in one of her eyes, and the other eye isn't quite as bad. One of my RB Lhasas also had cataracts and eventually went blind.

[kuhio98]

THE NURSERY COORDINATORS

My husband and I were just 4 months into the waiting period for a domestic adoption when we got the call that changed our lives. We had been matched with a birth mother 800 miles away, and we had only 2 days to get on the road and get our baby! (We couldn't fly because she was a preemie.) We were totally unprepared. But when we finally came home with our newborn after 11 days out of state and a 14-hour car ride, we couldn't believe what we saw: Our extended family had decorated the nursery, loaded the closet with baby clothes and even installed a changing table with diapers, wipes and supplies. I was already in tears, but then I noticed a sign hanging on the nursery wall that read, "However motherhood comes, it's a miracle." We called every member of our family to thank them, and we all cried together.

Andrea Fox, Boston

[kuhio98]

THE FLOOD FIXERS

After my husband, Sean, deployed with his National Guard troop in August, I immediately took my kids on vacation to Chicago so we wouldn't come home to a sad, empty house. While we were gone, our town flooded, leaving my basement under seven inches of water. I was expecting to return to a nightmare, but when we got home, some neighbors had pulled out all our sodden carpet and another neighbor left a note on my cupboard that said, "Welcome home! Supper is in the fridge." It was so nice, it still makes me cry.

Shannon Taylor, Ames, Iowa