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6Foot2

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Link 1: Thread by @infamousfiddler on Thread Reader App [Original Thread: 11 Tweets]

 

Who needs a quick wholesome story break?

 

So I grew up in the middle of nowhere, Ohio. My house was in the center of a bunch of neighboring cornfields.

 

We didn't get girl scouts, encyclopedia salesfolks, knife sharpening, or proselytizers.

I read about some of the door-to-door stuff in books, but I had never seen an ice cream truck.

 

One day, I heard music, and my mom looked out the window, and did something strange and rare (we didn't have a lot growing up).

 

She handed us money from her purse and said, "RUN."

"RUN, I will give them directions after you get your ice cream, they must be SO lost."

So, my sister and I ran.

 

I don't even remember what I got. I remember it was sweet and cold. I remember my bare feet pounding on the grass in the front yard. I remember panting in the sun.

 

But I have never, ever forgotten the magic of that day.

Well, now I live in a big town! In a neighborhood! And I have heard ice cream trucks go by in recent years.

 

But none this year.

 

So I called an ice cream truck that I googled, asking if they ever came by.

"We're not out at a lot of places, gas prices being what they are, but we are doing events."

 

"Events like... birthdays?" I asked.

 

"Yeah!"

 

"Y'all free for an hour on June 27?"

Today, we had a small and careful outdoor party.

 

And I asked them to tally up the ice cream at the end, and I'd cover it.

 

It was great fun, and my inner child was greatly pleased.

 

I had a snocone and a TMNT Raphael with bubblegum eyes and a blue raspberry Icee pop.

but my favorite part of the day.

 

My favorite part of the MONTH.

 

Was the neighbor kids coming by. Running. Bicycling. Money tucked tightly in their fists.

And I'm not like a wealthy person. I'm a musician.

 

But I have never felt richer than when I gestured to the kids who followed the music and said, "The ice cream is free."

Nobody abused my hospitality, and it'd honestly probably be okay if they had.

 

But I got to give some kids a tiny bit of the magic that that one terribly lost ice cream truck gave me on a summer day when I was a kid...

 

Link 2: https://twitter.com/infamousfiddler/status/1541594948792979458

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elsiegee40

elsiegee40

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Hedgehog drowning in River Wensum in Norwich saved by paddleboarder

 

https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2022-07-12/hedgehog-drowning-in-river-saved-by-paddleboarder

A hedgehog found drowning in a river has been saved by a paddleboarder and passersby.

 

The hedgehog, now named Winston, was spotted in the River Wensum close to Norwich city centre.

 

Victoria Mayo was out with friends where they spotted the creature in distress “at first we thought it was a rat. But it quickly became apparent it was a poor hedgehog.”

 

“He was really exhausted. He must have been swimming for ages” she added.

 

After one family tried to help the hedgehog with a long pole to no success, two paddleboarders came to the rescue.

 

“One of the paddleboarders managed to get Winston on the front of their board, and paddle him to the side where my friends and I looked about getting him into a hedgehog sanctuary” Victoria Mayo said.

 

Despite the traumatic experience the little animal is now being looked after by a sanctuary in Norfolk.

IMG_8288.JPG

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6Foot2

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Link: Man Rescued 100KG Elephant By Carrying It On Shoulders Through Forest - Kingdoms TV

 

This is the amazing story of a forest guard who has made headlines after rescuing a baby elephant from a ditch by carrying it out.

 

Many were curious as to how he managed to lift the animal that was larger and heavier than himself.

 

Palanichamy Sarathkumar, 28, the man who weighs 80kg and still managed to carry the 100kg elephant on his back, has received a flood of letters of support.

 

It was quite hefty. Later, the mother and calf were reunited.

 

Mr. Sarathkumar is a member of a forest team stationed 50 kilometers (32 miles) from Ooty hill station, close to Mettupalayam, India.

 

“After the video of me lifting the calf was shown on local TV channels and social media, many called to congratulate me,” he told the BBC.

 

“Everyone in my village is now asking me the same question. How did you lift an elephant?

 

“I was scared of losing my balance. But my friends stepped in and restrained the calf a bit and helped me to carry the animal.”

 

One day, Mr. Sarathkumar received a call as he was leaving for home following a night shift, this led to the rescue.

“The caller informed me that a female elephant was blocking the road near the Vanabhadra Kaliamman temple.”

 

Using firecrackers, he and his colleagues could force the elephant back into the woods. The group then looked around for other elephants.

 

“We saw this calf stuck inside a small ditch,” he said. “It was tired and confused, so we moved a big boulder that was blocking its way and brought it out.”

 

They attempted to reunite the pair after realizing that the calf was the source of the female’s anguish, but the animal was too frail to move.

 

“Initially, four of us carried the calf,” said Mr. Sarathkumar. “We wanted to take it to the other side of the road to reunite it with its mother. But there was a danger of being attacked as she was still nearby.

 

“So, instead of all four of us being put at risk, I decided to carry the calf by myself across the road.”

 

He carried the infant elephant for approximately 50 meters before dropping it off near a watering hole, hoping the mother would discover it.

 

“We waited many hours, but she didn’t turn up. Sensing our presence might have been making her hesitant, we all withdrew.

 

“Next day when I went there, the calf wasn’t there. But I could see the pugmarks of a big elephant on the forest floor. It seems they were reunited before dawn and slipped away into the forest.”

 

Elephants are extremely social, highly developed animals who live in big herds. According to forest officials, if they had not stepped in, the calf would have passed away.

 

After seeing the human-elephant conflict in Tamil Nadu, Palanichamy Sarathkumar joined the forest department and works in the Anti-Poaching Squad.

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6Foot2

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Link: Shopkeeper with 'pay later' receipt wall sheds tears at donations - including stranger's £100 in envelope - Teesside Live

 

A convenience store owner says donations have been flooding in after word got out about a £2,000 'pay later' wall of receipts he's built up, from struggling customers who can't afford goods. Abid Hussain broke down in tears after the community rallied, sending hundreds of pounds to his East Cleveland store.

 

Former colleagues for Tui, where he worked as cabin crew, raised £420 after hearing the story. And a generous stranger even dropped off an envelope containing £100. Abid says while staff at his Family Mart store in Lingdale have always let people have the odd item "on tick", things have been getting worse as the cost of living soars.

 

Now he's in talks with the parish council to start providing hot dinners for vulnerable people in the village and has already carried out a trial run. Abid said "wonderful, caring, decent' ex-colleagues he worked with as cabin crew for 23 years had reduced him to tears with their kindness.

 

He said: "I worked at Luton, Manchester, Gatwick. Five or six years ago I ended up with bowel cancer. I had major surgery and have a colostomy bag. I worked with some fantastic, caring, decent people. But because of my surgery, it became difficult to go back to work.

 

"My colleagues saw the story and began raising money, they said 'you are not alone'. They sent £420, these are cabin crew, they're not rich, they're ordinary people with big hearts.

 

"I was quite touched. They had me in tears. I thought 'that's why I worked with these people for so long', they were my family.

 

"Strangers I don't even know have been dropping money off, we've had letters in the post, somebody walked in with an envelope and gave me £100, they said 'I don't want my name mentioned'.

 

"We've had messages from all over the country. We never intended to humiliate anyone or gain sympathy, we would never say who we were helping.

 

"Our message was that there are good people out there who need help and have just got into a situation where they can't afford things. Hopefully we've inspired other people to do the same.

 

"Other companies are starting to help with food parcels. That's what we had hoped would happen. I'm not a major charity, we're a business. The response has been marvellous, I'm grateful."

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elfdaughter

elfdaughter

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I'm back home safe after an INCREDIBLE two week safari in Africa (week-old lion cubs, painted wolves, hyena, zebra, cheetah, leopard - even saw a Serval and had a camp visit from a honey badger!)
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LeMarchand

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John Cena has now granted 650 wishes for "Make a Wish". His first was in 2002 and in 2012 he granted the foundation's 1000th wish. The clip is from a few years back, when he had done "only" 500.

 

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6Foot2

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Link: Jack Grealish England World Cup worm dance delights young fan - BBC News

 

 

The boy who inspired England footballer Jack Grealish's goal celebration said it was "the best thing ever" to see his hero perform the unusual "worm" dance.

 

Grealish scored England's sixth goal as they thrashed Iran 6-2 in their opening World Cup match in Doha, Qatar.

 

The Manchester City forward had promised to do the special dance for 12-year-old Finlay, who has cerebral palsy, the next time he scored.

 

Grealish said after the match: "Finlay, that was for you."

 

The footballer met Finlay, who is from Manchester, after receiving a "touching" letter from the youngster referencing Grealish's bond with sister Holly, who also has cerebral palsy.

 

The condition affects movement and co-ordination.

 

Speaking after the England match, Finlay told BBC Radio Manchester: "It's the best thing ever. I love you Grealish!

 

"It was amazing because he is my idol."

 

Manchester City fan Finlay, whose dad Dan happens to support rivals Manchester United, said he only just got home to watch the game.

 

"In the morning I injured my leg, so I had to go to A&E," he explained.

 

"But thankfully I got back 10 minutes before the match started."

 

He said when Grealish scored he was "jumping around, or trying to jump" and he screamed "come on" but he did not think his idol would do the special dance.

 

"I actually thought he'd forget - but he remembered!

 

"When he did it I was like 'oh my God he's done the worm'!"

 

Finlay, who plays football at City in the Community, said the whole experience had left him "starstruck".

 

"I just can't believe it. It feels like a dream come true."

 

He said his "superhero" was "very inspirational" and the fact he had given up his spare time to meet him had "brought me confidence".

 

"I really want to thank him for that," the youngster said.

 

He now hopes Grealish will be doing more "signature Finlay" celebrations on the way to England winning the World Cup.

 

Grealish said after the win: "I got on really well with [Finlay].

 

"He asked me to do a celebration for him and luckily for him it come at the World Cup."

 

Putting aside his allegiances as a United fan, Finlay's dad Dan said he had a "lot of respect" for Grealish.

 

"He had so much on his plate; he had just scored a goal for England and he has remembered to do that celebration for Fin.

 

"Just shows what a legend the guy is."

 

As well as thanking his football idol, Finlay also praised City in the Community for providing a place where children like him can play football.

 

"Anyone with disabilities, they can play with a smile on their face," he said.

 

"Before City in the Community, I got upset because I couldn't really play football.

 

"When I went there, it just made me happy that I could actually play football."

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6Foot2

6Foot2

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Link: World Cup 2022: Japan's fans clean up stadium after win over Germany - BBC Sport

 

The magnitude of their win over Germany could have seen them go off into the night in celebration but Japan's fans demonstrated that the best manners and habits are ingrained, no matter the situation.

 

Come full-time, the stands of sporting stadia are usually littered with used food trays and wrappers and empty drinks cups, left behind for someone else to clean up.

 

But not when the Samurai Blue are in town.

 

Their players, fresh from a 2-1 victory over the four-time champions in their World Cup opener, had barely left the pitch when the Japanese in the crowd pressed pause on the party to tidy up after themselves at Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar.

 

They did the same at the World Cup in Russia four years ago, most notably after a 3-2 defeat by Belgium in the last 16, and again in the 2022 tournament opener between hosts Qatar and Ecuador on Sunday - a match their team wasn't involved in.

 

In Japan, cleanliness is a part of the culture and is drilled into its people from early childhood.

 

In 2018, Scott North, a professor of sociology at Osaka University, told the BBC that tidying up is a way Japanese people "demonstrate pride in their way of life".

 

"Cleaning up after football matches is an extension of basic behaviours that are taught in school, where the children clean their school classrooms and hallways," he said.

 

Japan play Costa Rica in their next Group E fixture on Sunday, followed by Spain on Thursday.

 

But even if they don't win the World Cup, their fans are already winners.

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6Foot2

6Foot2

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Link: Chichester: Care home resident, 84, returns to school for physics GCSE - BBC News

 

An 84-year-old care home resident who failed his physics exam five times has returned to school after 66 years to fulfil a dream to complete his secondary education.

 

Ernie Puffett has returned to class to take weekly physics lessons at Chichester College in West Sussex.

 

He said he would be "elated" if he passed GCSE physics next summer.

 

College principal Helen Loftus said there were "so many benefits" to having students of all ages in the classroom.

 

Mr Puffett said: "I really think I can pass it this time with all the help I am getting, and I would be elated if I did.

 

"I am amazed that youngsters today can take it all in because physics is such a vast subject."

 

He was able to return to school through a scheme run by his care home, which allows residents to suggest new hobbies, places to visit or activities linked to past careers that they would like to try.

 

'No age limit'

 

Ms Loftus said: "As soon as we heard Ernie would like to study physics with us, we didn't hesitate in saying yes.

 

"We all have ambitions and aims and we're proud to be supporting Ernie to achieve his."

 

Mr Puffett's course fees have been waived to help him achieve his dream.

 

"We often say there is no age limit on studying, and it has been fantastic to see that in action," Ms Loftus added.

 

"There are so many benefits of having people of different age groups and backgrounds learning together.

 

"They bring a range of experience and knowledge to the classroom which can add to their learning development."

 

Ryan Harris, manager at Mr Puffett's care home, Care UK's Chichester Grange, said: "Most people would have given up after the second attempt, but this never stopped Ernie in completing his dream."

 

:thumb: :)

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6Foot2

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Link: Base editing: Revolutionary therapy clears girl's incurable cancer - BBC News

 

Alyssa.PNG

 

A teenage girl's incurable cancer has been cleared from her body in the first use of a revolutionary new type of medicine.

 

All other treatments for Alyssa's leukaemia had failed.

 

So doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital used "base editing" to perform a feat of biological engineering to build her a new living drug.

 

Six months later the cancer is undetectable, but Alyssa is still being monitored in case it comes back.

 

Alyssa, who is 13 and from Leicester, was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in May last year.

 

T-cells are supposed to be the body's guardians - seeking out and destroying threats - but for Alyssa they had become the danger and were growing out of control.

 

Her cancer was aggressive. Chemotherapy, and then a bone-marrow transplant, were unable to rid it from her body.

 

Without the experimental medicine, the only option left would have been merely to make Alyssa as comfortable as possible.

 

"Eventually I would have passed away," said Alyssa. Her mum, Kiona, said this time last year she had been dreading Christmas, "thinking this is our last with her". And then she "just cried" through her daughter's 13th birthday in January.

 

What happened next would have been unthinkable just a few years ago and has been made possible by incredible advances in genetics.

 

The team at Great Ormond Street used a technology called base editing, which was invented only six years ago.

 

Bases are the language of life. The four types of base - adenine (A), cytosine ©, guanine (G) and thymine (T) - are the building blocks of our genetic code. Just as letters in the alphabet spell out words that carry meaning, the billions of bases in our DNA spell out the instruction manual for our body.

 

Base editing allows scientists to zoom to a precise part of the genetic code and then alter the molecular structure of just one base, converting it into another and changing the genetic instructions.

 

The large team of doctors and scientists used this tool to engineer a new type of T-cell that was capable of hunting down and killing Alyssa's cancerous T-cells.

 

They started with healthy T-cells that came from a donor and set about modifying them.

 

  • The first base edit disabled the T-cells targeting mechanism so they would not assault Alyssa's body
  • The second removed a chemical marking, called CD7, which is on all T-cells
  • The third edit was an invisibility cloak that prevented the cells being killed by a chemotherapy drug

The final stage of genetic modification instructed the T-cells to go hunting for anything with the CD7 marking on it so that it would destroy every T-cell in her body - including the cancerous ones. That's why this marking has to be removed from the therapy - otherwise it would just destroy itself.

 

If the therapy works, Alyssa's immune system - including T-cells - will be rebuilt with the second bone-marrow transplant.

 

When the idea was explained to the family, mum Kiona was left thinking: "You can do that?" It was Alyssa's decision to be the first to take the experimental therapy - which contained millions of the modified cells - in May this year.

 

"She's the first patient to be treated with this technology," said Prof Waseem Qasim, from UCL and Great Ormond Street.

 

He said this genetic manipulation was a "very fast-moving area of science" with "enormous potential" across a range of diseases.

 

Alyssa was left vulnerable to infection, as the designer cells attacked both the cancerous T-cells in her body and those that protect her from disease.

 

After a month, Alyssa was in remission and was given a second bone-marrow transplant to regrow her immune system.

 

Alyssa spent 16 weeks in hospital and couldn't see her brother, who was still going to school, in case he brought germs in.

 

There were worries after the three-month check-up found signs of the cancer again. But her two most recent investigations have been clear.

 

"You just learn to appreciate every little thing. I'm just so grateful that I'm here now," said Alyssa.

 

"It's crazy. It's just amazing I've been able to have this opportunity, I'm very thankful for it and it's going to help other children, as well, in the future."

 

She's eyeing-up Christmas, being a bridesmaid at her auntie's wedding, getting back on her bike, going back to school and "just doing normal people stuff".

 

The family hope the cancer will never return, but are already grateful for the time it has bought them.

 

"To have this extra year, this last three months when she's been home, has been a gift in itself," said Kiona.

 

Dad James said: "I find it quite hard to talk about how proud we are. When you see what she's gone through and her vitality of life she's brought to every situation, it's outstanding."

 

Image caption,

Most children with a leukaemia respond to the main treatments, but it is thought that up to a dozen a year could benefit from this therapy.

 

Alyssa is just the first of 10 people to be given the drug as part of a clinical trial.

 

Dr Robert Chiesa, from the bone-marrow transplant department at Great Ormond Street Hospital, said: "It is extremely exciting. Obviously, this is a new field in medicine and it's fascinating that we can redirect the immune system to fight cancer."

 

The technology, though, only scratches the surface of what base editing could achieve.

 

Dr David Liu, one of the inventors of base editing at the Broad Institute, told me it was "a bit surreal" that people were being treated just six years after the technology was invented.

 

In Alyssa's therapy, each of the base edits involved breaking a section of genetic code so it no longer worked. But there are more nuanced applications where instead of switching an instruction off you can fix a defective one. Sickle-cell anaemia, for example, is caused by just one base change that could be corrected.

 

So there are already trials of base editing under way in sickle-cell disease, as well as high cholesterol that runs in families and the blood disorder beta-thalassemia.

 

Dr Liu said the "therapeutic applications of base editing are just beginning" and it was "humbling to be part of this era of therapeutic human gene editing", as science was now taking "key steps towards taking control of our genomes".

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