5 heartwarming and ‘good news’
stories of 2014
An
Ohio high school student may have just won the hearts of some of his fellow
classmates after he took his great-grandmother to his prom.
TORONTO – A high school senior
takes his great-grandmother to prom because she’s never been—a simple gesture
that warmed the hearts of thousands on social media. In Alberta, strangers open
their doors and wallets to the family of three triplets battling a rare eye
cancer.
Alberta
triplets battling eye cancer receive support from strangers
The family of three triplet
boys battling a rare eye cancer in Alberta received an outpouring of support
and thousands of dollars in donations from strangers.
The Low family said they were
seeking temporary affordable housing while their children received treatment in
Toronto and were overwhelmed with the offers from strangers who said the family
could stay in their home while the boys—Thomas, Mason and Luke— received
treatment.
“So many kind offers, donations, and heartfelt
emails have poured in. Thank you,” read the post. “We didn’t realize how
quickly this story would spread, and how generous people would be. We’ve
learned to never underestimate the good people in this world!”
According to the family’s blog,
the boys are “recovering nicely” as the three celebrated their first birthday
on Dec. 5.
Canada’s
cross-country ski coach rushes to help Russia’s Anton Gafarov after fall
Back in February, in true
Olympic spirit, Canada’s head cross-country ski coach Justin Wadsworth rushed
to help a Russian skier after the athlete crashed in the semi-final of the
men’s freestyle sprint and broke one of his skis.
Russia’s Anton Gafarov falls with a broken ski
during his men’s semifinal of the cross-country sprint at the 2014 Winter
Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia.
Cross-country skier Anton
Gafarov tumbled on the course for the third time as he was heading down the
hill toward the finish line. With a new ski in hand, Wadsworth rushed toward
the struggling athlete and fixed the new ski to Gafarov’s ski boot.
The crowd burst into cheers as
Gafarov finished in a distant last place.
High school senior takes
great-grandmother to prom
An Ohio high school student may
have won the hearts of some of his fellow classmates after he took his
great-grandmother to his prom.
Delores Dennison, 89, said she
never went to prom because times were tough and her family did not have a lot
of money.
Dennison said she received a
phone call from her 19-year-old great-grandson Austin, who said he had a very
important question.
“He said, ‘Grandma, I want you
to go to the prom with me,’” said Dennison in an interview with the Times
Bulletin. “I had a bad heart attack and stroke. ‘I’m not that good on my feet,’
I told him.”
Good
Samaritan’s note goes viral
Thanks to the kind deed of a
stranger, a drained car battery turned out to be the highlight of a University
of Alberta student’s day.
Law student Derek Murray
accidentally left his car headlights on all day last month. When he returned to
his parked car to find the battery drained, he found a note on his windshield.
“I noticed you left your lights
on,” the note said. “The battery will probably not have enough charge to start
your vehicle. I left a blue extension cord on the fence and … a battery charger
beside the fence in the cardboard box. If you know how to hook it up, use it to
start your car.”
In
May, a 21-year-old woman dressed in a nurse’s uniform allegedly
took a newborn from her hospital room. Authorities issued an Amber alert
shortly after the infant was taken. The family turned to social media, pleading
to their friends and family on Facebook to help them find their missing
daughter.
Thanks to the quick thinking
and the power of social media, the baby was found safe within hours.
An
online craze earlier this year had people running around cities across North
America searching for hidden cash.
The hidden cash trend was
started in San Francisco by an anonymous donor who called it a “social
experiment for good.” It spread across the U.S. before spawning copycats in the
United Kingdom and in Canada, including Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver.
– with files from Amanda Kelly and Patricia
Kozicka, Global News
