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From prisoner escapes to MERS outbreaks, the news this week got down right depressing. To remember that good things are still happening, we rounded up our favorite feel-good (and do-good) stories of the week.
2 Million Babies Were Saved From This Man’s Blood
Every week for the last 60 years, an Australian man named James Harrison has donated blood plasma from his right arm. His reasoning? “The Man with the Golden Arm,” as he’s nicknamed, received 13 liters of blood from donors during a lung removal operation when he was a child. His life was saved as a result of the donations, Harrison told CNN.
“When I came out of the operation, or a couple days after, my father was explaining what had happened,” Harrison told CNN. “He said I had (received) 13 units (liters) of blood and my life had been saved by unknown people. He was a donor himself, so I said when I’m old enough, I’ll become a blood donor.”
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Not long after becoming a donor for the first time, he found out that he was the carrier of a rare antibody in his blood that can be used to treat a deadly problem—a condition called rhesus disease, which affects pregnant women and babies. Rhesus disease occurs when a pregnant mom lacks the rhesus antigen in her blood, making her Rhesus-negative, while the baby has Rhesus-positive blood. If this type of mismatch occurs, the woman can develop antibodies that attack the baby’s blood cells, causing anemia and jaundice. (Testing for the disease is part of routine prenatal care.)
Treatment for the disease is an injection called Anti-D, which can only be created with the help of certain blood donors—like Harrison.
According to the Australian Red Cross, Harrison’s donations have saved the lives of more than 2 million babies.RELATED: Pregnancy and Childbirth Condition Center
The Internet Helped This Paralympic Hopeful Run Again
Fans from around the world rallied together after thieves broke into athlete Paul Peterson’s home in Charlotte, North Carolina on June 3 and stole almost everything. This included competition medals and three of his custom-fit running blades, which halted Peterson’s training for the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
After a friend set up a GoFundMe page the next day, the donations began poring in. NBC reports that more than 600 people donated $30,000 over the course of just four days.
Peterson took to his Facebook page to thank his supports and express his excitement to begin training again. “I am truly blessed to be put in the position to see that people do care,” he wrote. “Even more motivated to get back on the track seeing all the comments on the fund me site.”
Peterson, who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident at 15, is now one of the highest-ranked runners in the world.
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This Service Dog Saved His Blind Owner’s Life
There is nothing more heartwarming than the love of a dog, and this one is one of the best we’ve ever heard.
A service dog from Putnam County, New York, jumped in front of a bus to save his blind owner’s life, CBS New York reported this week.
Figo, a Golden Retriever, was crossing the street with his owner Audrey Stone when he noticed a bus coming their way. Figo moved swiftly from Stone’s right to left side putting himself in the way of the oncoming bus. Even after getting hit, which resulted in a severe leg injury, Figo refused to leave Stone, who had suffered a fractured elbow, ankle and broken ribs.
“I thank him. I thank God that I have him and that he survived too. I love him,” Stone told CBS New York about her beloved service dog.
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from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1B8T9KE
