The good guys thread

[Karen]

Good gracious, what a risk he took! But being a cabbies, he was likely even more acquainted with the horrors on the road every day!

[kuhio98]

Police officer saves boy’s life 20 years ago, man is now an officer himself

MALDEN, MO (KFVS) - Jacob Redden doesn't remember the day he almost died, but Sergeant Scott Wilson said it's one day he will never forget.

"When I got there, there was this mother and father and they had a small child and he was real blue and wasn't breathing," Wilson said, "He didn't have a heartbeat."

Redden said he owes Wilson his life.

"Luckily Sergeant Wilson showed up and did CPR and saved my life," Redden said.

His parents had been taking him to the hospital after a seizure when little Jacob stopped breathing.

"You could tell that it wasn't going to be long and he wasn't going to recover from it," Wilson said.

However, when the two-year-old started crying, Wilson said the feeling of relief was indescribable. He said he didn't want Redden's parents to experience something he has dealt with himself…the loss of a child.

"Trying to hold back the tears. I had lost my own son a few years before that, 8 or 9 years before that. [He was] about the same age. And it was really scary," Wilson said.

Twenty years later, Redden said he's doing what he loves as an officer for the Campbell Police Department.

"After he saved my life I always figured if I can save another person's life then I've completed my goal," Redden said. "The only thing that pops in my mind when I think about that day is lucky that he was there, that he arrived so fast."

Wilson has watched Redden become a man and said he's proud of the career he's chosen. He made that clear when he spoke at Redden's graduation from the police academy.

"I actually told the story of Jacob and I then at the end I got to give him his diploma," Wilson said.

Redden and Wilson have kept in touch all these years and don't plan to stop any time soon.


"Luckily Sergeant Wilson showed up and did CPR and saved my life,” Redden said.

[cassiesmom]

(Reuters)
The Dallas Zoo will raise a pair of cheetah cubs with a Labrador retriever puppy, believing the dog will be a calming influence on the big cats as they grow to adulthood.

The 8-week-old male cheetahs Winspear and Kamau have arrived in Dallas, the zoo said, after a team of experts spent two weeks with them at their birthplace, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va.

They will be raised alongside an 8-week-old black Labrador retriever puppy named Amani, the zoo said in a statement on Thursday.

"Zoological experts have found that because dogs are naturally comfortable in public settings, Amani will provide a calming influence for the cubs, as well as another playmate as they grow to adulthood," the statement said.

Cheetahs are endangered with an estimated 10,000 in existence, the zoo said. In the wild, adult cheetahs are the world's fastest land animals reaching speeds of 60 miles per hour (97 kmph), according to National Geographic.

Now weighing about 8 and 6 pounds (3.6 kg and 2.7 kg), the cheetahs are expected to grow to about 3 feet (1 meter) tall at the shoulder and weigh up to 140 pounds (63 kg), the zoo said.

[kuhio98]

CMN Miracle Kid saves family from sinking boat


CMN = Children’s Miracle Network http://childrensmiraclenetworkhospitals.org/


LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - A Sudan, Texas girl is being called a hero after rescuing a family on Buffalo Springs Lake over the weekend.

It's a scary story with a happy ending and the hero of the story is a familiar face on KCBD.

Natalee Olivarez says she was out on the lake with her family on Saturday evening when she noticed a nearby boat was overtaken by waves, causing the occupants to jump out in the middle of the deep lake.

"The first thing I saw was a man holding a baby and the baby was going under," said Olivarez, 16.

Natalee Olivarez is a 2013 CMN Miracle Kid and she proved to be a miracle child in more ways than one this year.

"When I realized they needed help, my reaction was to jump in the water and get to the first person that I could," Olivarez said.

Olivarez says that was the little baby. However, her job was far from over.

"I saw a woman holding a two-year-old and I helped get the two-year-old on our boat. Then I pulled a little boy about five away from getting squished between our two boats and treaded water until I could find the time to put him on our boat. Then I helped another little girl about 11," she said.

Natalee has been fighting a chronic pain disease for the past three years. But through treatments, she says the pain stopped a few months ago. And she believes she was there for a purpose.

"I believe that God put me in the right place at the right time and gave me the strength and courage to jump in the water to help pull the people out."

Olivarez is a 2013 CMN Miracle Kid. You can see her story here. http://www.kcbd.com/story/22544038/c...talee-olivarez

[kuhio98]

Cheryl and Keith Wyse Adopted Four Girls With Brittle Bone Disease



Cheryl Wyse already had two great teenage sons, but the yearning for a girl never left her. So, in the mid-1990s, she and husband Keith looked into adopting from China.

They never imagined their quest for a daughter would lead them to a new life as parents of four girls whose bones are so weak a mere cough or sneeze can break a rib.

"When I met them," says Cheryl, 53, of her two oldest, "they looked so fragile. They captured my heart. I just wanted to mother them."

But make no mistake. While the Wyse girls of Archbold, Ohio, have Osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease, they share an indestructible spirit.

From Rachelle, 15, who has endured more than 75 bone breaks while maintaining a straight-A average (along with twin Rebekah), to 7-year-old Lydia and 4-year-old Esther, both abandoned as babies, the four overcome daunting obstacles in the most matter-of-fact manner.

[kuhio98]

Family speaks out after mystery diner's good deed, encouraging note

CHINA GROVE, NC - A family in Rowan County got an unexpected, and inspiring, note when they were out to dinner on Friday. A photo of the note is going viral.


Ashley England went to dinner at the Stag-N-Doe pizza restaurant in China Grove with her family on Friday evening, including her 8-year-old son, Riley. The family was sitting at the table when Riley, who has special needs, began to get "a little rowdy."

"He threw the phone and started screaming," she recalled. "The past few weeks have been very hard and trying for us - especially with public outings. Riley was getting loud and hitting the table and I know it was aggravating to some people."

Just when England was ready to leave, a waitress appeared.

"I'll try to do this without crying," the waitress told the family. "But another customer has paid for your bill tonight and wanted me to give you this note."

The note read: "God only gives special children to special people.”

Riley is non-verbal and has been through three major brain surgeries for a severe form of epilepsy. The seizures started when he was 18-months-old, robbing him of his speech. His mom says he had more than 100 seizures a day.

Riley's frustration with being unable to speak, often leads to outbursts England says causes many to cruelly judge her son.

"Until a person has walked in the shoes we have walked in," she said. "They have no right to say one thing."

What they should focus on instead? Remembering the one thing she longs to hear from Riley.

"They take just a simple 'I love you' from your child for granted," she said.

"Because you have never heard that from your son?" asked WBTV's Brigida Mack.

"Never," England replied, getting choked up. "Never."

England says the kindness of the mystery diner made her cry.

"To have someone do that small act towards us shows that some people absolutely understand what we are going through and how hard it is to face the public sometimes," she said. "They made me cry, blessed me more than they know - I felt like out of all the rude negative comments that we are faced with - these outweighs them. The people who care!"

She says she wants to say thank you to the person that paid for their meal and sent the encouraging words.

"Little did he know what struggles we had been facing lately and this was surely needed at that moment," she said. "Thank you!"

[kuhio98]

Roseville Girls Look to Help Santa Cruz Teen Pay for a Heart Transplant


If all goes as planned, a green bracelet will help save the life of 18-year-old Gavin Jack.

“It kills me to know that he’s going through this right now,” said Kyli Oleson.

Oleson wants to help Jack get a heart transplant.

“It’s not fair that it costs $75,000 to save a kid’s life,” said Oleson.

Oleson lives in Roseville and Jack 160 miles away in Santa Cruz.

“It hurts, I know it hurts,” said Oleson.

The two have never met.

“When I found out about Gavin’s condition, it hit home for me. He’s also in high school and I realized that could be me,” said Oleson.

It started as a senior project at Granite Bay High School and quickly turned in to an all-out fundraiser.

“If I reach the goal of 300 bracelets [and] t-shirts in one month, that’s already $7,000 alone,” Oleson said.

And this purple-y nail polished 9-year-old is the artistic master-mind behind the bracelets.

“It makes me feel good he could die at any time now I know I am helping someone and changing his life,” said Angelina.

Oleson and Angelina met through the “Beside the Blue Foundation” – meant to help law enforcement families across the state who may have financial hardships.

“The goal is to sell 300 bracelets and 300 t-shirt by the end of the month,” Oleson said. And if they do, they could end up saving the life of a total stranger.

For more info on how you can help Gavin Jack, go to http://www.facebook.com/teamgavinj