The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENT AUSTIN PAYNE, 8
With his principal in trouble, he applies a big squeeze

Bantering in the cafeteria last month with students at Northridge Elementary School in Oklahoma City, principal Ron Christy noticed a child wasn't eating his Tater Tots. So he asked for one. Then another. Christy's chatting and chewing prompted a pupil to wonder aloud if his mother hadn't told him not to talk with his mouth full. Too late. By now, Christy, 50, was in distress, a Tater Tot stuck in his throat. "I looked around for another adult," says Christy, whose face was turning blue, "and saw only a roomful of children."

With the other students oblivious, Austin Payne sprang into action. Rushing behind Christy, he wrapped his arms around the principal and gave a sudden squeeze, performing the Heimlich maneuver his father, Charley, 30, had taught him last year. Out popped the Tater Tot. A whirlwind of attention has since come the third-grader's way, including a visit to Late Show with David Letter-man. But the straight-A student and budding right fielder is most impressed by the Thank You pin Christy gave him. "He told me he thought he was going to die," says Austin, "and that he was real proud of me."

[kuhio98]

Darla and Jeff Garrison Give Formerly Conjoined Twins and Their Sister a New Life

Racing through the store, picking out new outfits with the money each received as a gift, the three 10-year-old girls still attract attention, just like any set of triplets. No one would ever expect that two of them were once physically attached to one another.

"When they encounter something they can't do," says their mom Darla Garrison, "they don’t dwell on it too long."

Indeed, Macey and Mackenzie – formerly conjoined twins who each have one leg – rely on prosthetics, but in every other way keep pace with their triplet sister Madeline.

Born attached at the pelvis with a shared third leg and entwined intestines, Macey and Mackenzie faced hurdles that would have challenged any family. Yet they carried an extra burden: Their birth parents, who had not seen a doctor during the pregnancy, had drug problems and were unable to care for them.

Happy Home
Enter Darla and Jeff Garrison. Over the years Darla, 42, a homemaker, and Jeff, 52, a construction worker, had welcomed several neglected or medically fragile foster children into their home, only to see each one move on. But they'd always wanted girls to expand their biological family of three healthy boys – Tyler, 20; Matt, 17; and Luke, 16.

Two years after doctors at Children's Hospital Los Angeles separated Macey and Mackenzie in 2003, the Garrisons adopted all three girls and moved from California to a farm in Indianola, Iowa. Their goal, as they told PEOPLE for a 2010 profile, was to create the kind of country childhood Darla and Jeff themselves had known and treasured.

Since then, Macey and Mackenzie have thrived, says Linda Kontis, cofounder of the foster-care agency that placed them.

"When you raise children who are handicapped in any way, when they're surrounded by people who treat them like regular kids, that becomes how they see themselves," Kontis says. "It wasn't just Darla and Jeff, they took in these girls as a family unit. And that's why they’re fabulous kids today."


A Bright Future
Macey and Mackenzie – who each weighed 2.2 pounds at birth – have overcome learning delays to be almost equal with their peers when they enter fifth grade in the fall.

"The girls have succeeded through hard work and the commitment by their family. Their progression is wonderful and inspiring," says Children's Hospital Los Angeles Pediatric Surgeon James Stein, who performed the multi-staged separation in 2003.

Macey, the quieter and more girly of the two, enjoys playing inside and coloring, says Darla. The outdoorsy Mackenzie helped a 12-year-old neighbor train for track last spring by running up and down the Garrisons' driveway.

And along with Madeline, all three girls have embraced household chores, including washing dishes, putting away laundry, feeding the cats and dogs to help out their mom, who was inspired by her experience with the girls to begin studying last year for a degree in physical therapy.

"I see them actually maturing," says Darla. "Now that I'm in school, I'm not as available, and they've really stepped up. They're pretty proud of that. They do a lot for 10-year-olds, really."

But 10-year-old girls they still are. "We used to have Bieber fever, but we've outgrown it," says their mom. "We're loving on Hunter Hayes these days. And also One Direction."

Macey and Mackenzie's rapid growth required them to swap out new prostheses three times this past school year.

"We're not to the point yet where they can just go out and about with their prosthetic legs," says Darla. "It's a balance issue. You have to train and train, and that's what we're doing with them at school."

Crutches are a constant, as are the ostomy bags that each of the girls must wear and change frequently – the primary excuse for their occasional down moments.

"Ostomies do upset your daily life," says Darla. "That's a lot of responsibility for a kid to make sure everything’s intact and they're not going to run into some trouble when they're out somewhere. The positive is that modern medicine has allowed them to be alive."

Finding Normal
Darla says that her daughters do everything they can to participate in activities like other kids their age.

"Mackenzie wanted to buy Rollerblades or a skateboard," says Darla. "I couldn't let her do it. She was bummed for a little while, but she got over it and found some other interest, and to me that is amazing. We talked about a bike. I'm not sure we sold her on the bike yet."

Macey speaks up for her sister: "Are you out of your mind?" she says to Darla. "How are we going to ride bikes?"

"It's possible," Darla says. "We're going to make it happen."

[kuhio98]

[kuhio98]

Little Rachel wants 900 pairs of shoes for her birthday...but not for herself

ATHENS, TX (KLTV) - Little Rachel Beets loves shoes, so it is not surprising that she wants shoes for her eighth birthday.

However, she is not asking for one or two pairs of shoes, she is asking for 900...and she wants to give them all away.

"Because other people can have some shoes too," 7-year-old Rachel said.

She is calling the project "Rachel's Happy Feet," something her mom was a little hesitant about taking on in the beginning.

However, Rachel was persistent and eventually mom started making phone calls.

"34 pair were donated, and she came in from school and just her face lit up like a Christmas tree. I should have jumped on it a little sooner," said Rachel's mom, Amanda Beets.

Rachel's birthday is January 31, and that is when all the shoes they collect will be donated to the Athens' Rainbow Room.

"When a child is removed from a home, usually they have nothing except for the clothes on their back. We work with Child Protective Services case workers so when they remove a child, they are able to bring them to the Rainbow Room and get new clothes or personal hygiene items," explained Rainbow Room board member and former president, Ann Hall.

The Rainbow Room is a non-profit organization that serves children from infants to 18-years-old.

On Wednesday, Rachel's family received a monetary donation to purchase shoes for their cause, bringing their donation count to 78 pairs of shoes.

Amanda knows this project is a constant reminder for her family of how blessed they truly are.

"I want my kids to know that greed is not an option at all in life. It's always better to give to people and have that willing, giving spirit, and that's what we are trying to teach them," she said.

The Beets family and the Rainbow Room hope others will be inspired by this 7-year-old's generosity, and together collect all 900 pairs of shoes.

[kuhio98]

Two Kittens Rescued from Brooklyn Subway After Stopping Service


It only took two kittens to stop New York's subway in its tracks.

Power was cut to the B and Q lines in Brooklyn for more than an hour after a woman reported Thursday morning that her kittens were loose in the nation's largest subway system, transit officials said.

The furry felines, one black and the other white with gray stripes, were finally found on the tracks and rescued nearly seven hours later.

How they made their way to the tracks was a mystery. But they were seen running dangerously close to the subway's high-voltage third rail.

Power was suspended between several stops – about half the Q line and the B line's entire length in Brooklyn – on both the local and express tracks for 90 minutes, Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokeswoman Judie Glave said. The express line was later stopped another half-hour while workers kept searching.

But the skittish kittens disappeared again (and again) before being discovered Thursday evening under the third rail of an above-ground express track. Police officers removed the kittens in crates, Glave said.

Officials said workers and passengers in Brooklyn's Flatbush neighborhood had been on the lookout for the kittens, and train operators were asked to proceed with caution. If they saw anything moving on the tracks, they were required to stop and notify the rail control center.

Though some passengers wanted to help by scouring the tracks, they were turned down by MTA workers citing safety concerns. The cats' owner did rush to a subway station with cat food, though, giving it to the transit workers who were dispatched to try and corral the elusive furballs.

While the effort on behalf of the kittens created delays for passengers, the Q operated a shuttle service between two of its normal Brooklyn stops, said transit officials, who couldn't immediately provide the cost of the extra service and rescue operation.

[phesina]

How wonderful that they did that and they found the kittens!

God bless!

[kuhio98]