The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

I'm a sucker for men who love animals. Especially cats. This story touched my heart.

I am a Merchant Marine Officer and when I reported to one of the ships I worked on, someone mentioned they had a cat on board. I didn't believe this at first, but finally saw her racing down the passageway one day. I also found out the Captain had ordered her to be found and thrown overboard, but the crew had been "unable" to find her. When I asked the Captain this point blank, he said she was feral, mean and spiteful. I love all animals, so I loaded up at first port with every treat and toy in stock at Walmart I think, and proceeded to try and win this frightened kitty over. I knocked out the panel in my stateroom door and set up for her. As she had a way out, it wasn't too hard to coax her in, and before I knew it, she was waiting at my door every night when I got off work and was in my bed until I fell asleep, so happy for attention. My wife said no matter what you do, don't leave her there, and I didn't. I managed to get her off the ship when I signed off, and flew her home to be with us. One month after getting her home, I took a picture of her curled up between my dogs legs and sent it to the Captain who told me how "feral" she was. Bridgette has now been with us over 10 years. Healthy, sweet and loving and I never regretted any part of bringing her home from that ship.

John Ratcliffe
Tuftonboro, NH

[Taz_Zoee]

I'm a sucker for men who love animals. Especially cats. This story touched my heart.

I am a Merchant Marine Officer and when I reported to one of the ships I worked on, someone mentioned they had a cat on board. I didn't believe this at first, but finally saw her racing down the passageway one day. I also found out the Captain had ordered her to be found and thrown overboard, but the crew had been "unable" to find her. When I asked the Captain this point blank, he said she was feral, mean and spiteful. I love all animals, so I loaded up at first port with every treat and toy in stock at Walmart I think, and proceeded to try and win this frightened kitty over. I knocked out the panel in my stateroom door and set up for her. As she had a way out, it wasn't too hard to coax her in, and before I knew it, she was waiting at my door every night when I got off work and was in my bed until I fell asleep, so happy for attention. My wife said no matter what you do, don't leave her there, and I didn't. I managed to get her off the ship when I signed off, and flew her home to be with us. One month after getting her home, I took a picture of her curled up between my dogs legs and sent it to the Captain who told me how "feral" she was. Bridgette has now been with us over 10 years. Healthy, sweet and loving and I never regretted any part of bringing her home from that ship.

John Ratcliffe
Tuftonboro, NH

I'm reading this, thinking where did I see this? Oh yeah!! On the Pet Rescue Site this morning!! I loved it too!!

[phesina]

I'm a sucker for men who love animals. Especially cats. This story touched my heart.

I am a Merchant Marine Officer and when I reported to one of the ships I worked on, someone mentioned they had a cat on board. I didn't believe this at first, but finally saw her racing down the passageway one day. I also found out the Captain had ordered her to be found and thrown overboard, but the crew had been "unable" to find her. When I asked the Captain this point blank, he said she was feral, mean and spiteful. I love all animals, so I loaded up at first port with every treat and toy in stock at Walmart I think, and proceeded to try and win this frightened kitty over. I knocked out the panel in my stateroom door and set up for her. As she had a way out, it wasn't too hard to coax her in, and before I knew it, she was waiting at my door every night when I got off work and was in my bed until I fell asleep, so happy for attention. My wife said no matter what you do, don't leave her there, and I didn't. I managed to get her off the ship when I signed off, and flew her home to be with us. One month after getting her home, I took a picture of her curled up between my dogs legs and sent it to the Captain who told me how "feral" she was. Bridgette has now been with us over 10 years. Healthy, sweet and loving and I never regretted any part of bringing her home from that ship.

John Ratcliffe
Tuftonboro, NH

God bless you, John Ratcliffe.

[kuhio98]

Nurses in Children's Cancer Unit Encourage Their Patients to Be 'Brave'



Fun is a priority at this Minnesota children's hospital.

Two nurses in the cancer unit at the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital recognized that good health care is more than just measuring stats and giving meds, but also keeping up the kids' spirits. So they decided to make a music video to the song "Brave" by Sara Bareilles, and feature their patients in the starring roles.

The video, which has since gone viral, also features 70 staff members singing and dancing, LEX18 reports.

"There aren't always bad times, like you know, you need to be able to laugh about it," Sarah Ewald, a patient battling cancer for the second time, said. "You need to have fun."

[kuhio98]

A doctor did the CUTEST thing for this little boy

Hospital stays can be really scary when you're a kid. Luckily for this little boy, he got to bring along a friend.

Joshua, 9, had severe reflux as a baby, and recently had to undergo an endoscopy. For comfort, he clutched his favorite toy, a little stuffed wolf pup.

While he was under anesthesia, pediatric gastroenterologist Christine Hurtado took a few minutes to sew up a small tear in the animal's fur, and marked a little "intravenous site" with a Band-Aid. When the procedure was over, she sent the wolf out with a little mask and gloves on his paws.

Joshua's dad, Kevin Wade, said Hurtado's small gesture delighted his son. "That stuffed animal means the world to him, that's his baby, and to know they thought enough of him to take care of his little baby is sweet," he told a CNN producer.

Hurtado says part of her job is to make the hospital environment seem a little less intimidating, and she has "operated" on a lot of stuffed animals so kids wouldn't feel like they were alone. "Being part of a children's hospital, they really encourage us to go that little extra bit to make a difference for families and kids."

Joshua is now doing much better, thanks to a special diet, and a few days after he got home from the hospital he took the bandages off his wolf friend and declared him "all better."

[kuhio98]

911 operator saves bride's big day in the best way

Seriously, who steals a wedding dress?!

Bride-to-be Amanda was mere hours away from walking down the aisle when she discovered that her $6,000 wedding dress had been stolen out of her car. In tears, she called 911 to report the robbery.

"I'm calling to report my stuff stolen," Amanda stammered into the phone.

"I'm sorry, you said your truck was stolen?" the dispatcher interpreted.

"No, I'm trying to...my...my wedding dress!"

What happened next was like a real-life version of "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." Candice, the dispatcher, felt horrible for Amanda. The 911 operator had just gotten married a year and a half before, and she had a perfectly good wedding dress sitting in her parents' closet.

A perfectly good wedding dress. From the same store Amanda had bought hers. In almost the same size that Amanda wore. It was almost too perfect to be true.

Candice talked to her manager and got permission to offer Amanda her wedding dress as a stand-in. With the help of Candice's husband, the group managed to get the dress to Amanda before she got married.

The dress fit. The day was saved. And two random women became friends for life thanks to some kindness and quick thinking.

The two ladies got to meet face-to-face shortly after Amanda's wedding day, and Amanda had some warm words for Candice on "Good Morning America."

"I want you to know you're seriously an amazing person and not a lot of people would have done that," she said.

For Candice, it was an easy choice. After all, it just seemed like fate.

“If I hadn’t taken that call, I wouldn’t have heard about it. If she wasn’t my size, it wouldn’t have worked. If my husband had gone camping instead of staying home, I couldn’t have gotten to the dress," Candice told the News Tribune. "God does awesome things, and this woman, whose wedding day might have been ruined, had her special day, after all.”

[kuhio98]

DETECTIVE INSPECTOR HOWARD GROVES, 42
Visiting the U.S., an English tourist catches a thief

It was supposed to be a welcome break from work for British police officer Howard Groves, who arrived last March for a week of sightseeing in New York City with girlfriend Rachel Double. But stepping out of their Manhattan hotel on just their second morning in town, the pair heard shouts from a nearby store. "I went into police mode right away," says Groves, a detective inspector in the London suburb of Uxbridge. "I started to walk across the street, but I remember thinking, 'Whoa, this is New York, be careful.' "

Very careful. Next thing he knew a man burst out of the shop. "He was running toward me covered in blood, shouting, 'Help, help, they're trying to rob me,' " says Groves. When two suspects emerged from the shop and began walking calmly down the street, Groves barked at them. One took off, but the other glared at Groves, then pulled a gun from a paper bag. "Without saying anything—bang!" recalls Groves. "The shot echoed around the buildings."

Unhurt, he and Double, 28, ducked back into their hotel lobby. But Groves, who like most British policemen has never carried a firearm on duty—and had never before been shot at—refused to give up. He followed the two men and quickly came upon a parked patrol car. Hailing an officer and identifying himself as a cop, he headed toward a subway stop where the suspects had fled. "I ran into the subway thinking, 'This is not happening to me,' " he says. One suspect jumped onto the tracks and escaped, but Groves—now with three NYPD cops—spotted the other and helped wrestle him to the ground, seize his gun and handcuff him. Only later, during a press conference, did fear get the better of Groves. "There was a sea of photographers clicking away," he says. "My knees were shaking."

[kuhio98]

Andrew Stoloff Gives Recovering Addicts and Ex-Convicts Jobs At His Second Chance Bakery
On paper, Andrew Stoloff knew it made no sense to buy Rubicon Bakery in Richmond, Calif.

But the former Wall Street analyst's decision to take over the failing business in 2009 and save the jobs of its 14 part-time employees – most of whom were recovering drug addicts or ex-convicts – had little to do with dollars or cents.

"I fell in love with its mission: to give people a second chance," says Stoloff, 53.

Today, the wholesale bakery has $8 million in sales and 80 full-time employees, who earn between $8.50 and $24 an hour, receive health insurance, paid vacation and have access to an interest-free employee loan program.

"Not only are we doing the right thing by giving people a second chance," says Stoloff, "but I've found that it's great for business."

It's also great for the employees.

"It was like God sent Andrew to this bakery," says Sheila Young-Eberhart, 55, the bakery's quality assurance manager and one of the original 14 employees who worked for the shop when it was run by a nonprofit.

Before Stoloff stepped in, the bakery was in bad shape.

"We knew we could lose our jobs at any moment," says Eberhart, a former drug addict who was determined to turn her life around.

Then Andrew came in. "He's saved a lot of lives," says Eberhart.

The main reason? "Our employees are very, very loyal," says Stoloff.

They're people like David Johnson, 44, the bakery's maintenance technician. An ex-convict, Johnson says, he struggled to find work.

"I couldn't even count how many times I'd been turned down," he says, adding that, at Rubicon Bakery, he finally feels at home.

"I actually feel like I belong here. I've never felt like that in my entire life."

"Andrew has always been there for us," adds his wife, Leslie Johnson, 45, who works as an oven manager at the bakery. "You couldn't ask for a better boss."