Sliver of Hope

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Miracles happen

Man Labeled 'brain dead' May Be First to Recover from Extreme Locked-in Syndrome

A man labeled “brain dead” has become the first ever to recover from an extreme form of locked-in syndrome, which paralyzed him so completely he couldn’t even blink—something patients of this disease have in the past used to communicate—and even write books.

In 2017, Jacob Haendel was living a normal life as a head chef in Boston, Massachusetts.

But in the space of just a few weeks, his life was turned upside down after he was diagnosed with acute toxic progressive leukoencephalopathy, which in turn progressed into locked-in syndrome.

Locked-in syndrome can be caused by brain trauma, infection, or exposure to toxins, and results in slow, complete paralysis. Jacob ended up paralyzed and unable to talk or blink for a few months.

“By month five, I was at stage four, which they said no one ever recovers from,” Haendel said. “They told me I would enter into a coma and pass away.”

He is the first ever person to recover from stage 4 acute toxic progressive leukoencephalopathy.

Jacob, now 35, says “everything has changed after what happened. Everything is much more positive in all regards.”

At 27, he developed a strange pattern of symptoms, involving a high-pitched voice, dizziness, and impaired balance. Doctors at a hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts, initially suspected Jacob had had a stroke, but tests revealed it was far worse than anyone could have imagined.

“Eight doctors were standing in my room, and I knew right away it was bad news,” Jacob said.

I can't imagine going through this.

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What are the odds?

Chicago Man Finds Out His Favorite Bakery Owner Is His Biological Mom

Today's good news story comes from Chicago, Illinois.

For years, 35-year-old Vamarr Hunter had a favorite spot in Chicago—the Give Me Some Sugah bakery, just a block from his home. He couldn’t get enough of the lemon bars and enjoyed chatting with the bakery’s warm and welcoming owner, Lenore Lindsey.

But what began as a simple love for baked goods led to the discovery of a lifetime: the owner was not only his favorite baker but also his biological mother.

Hunter recently learned he was adopted and, curious about his roots, submitted genetic testing to search for his biological family. His results finally matched with his birth mother, and when she felt ready, she gave him a call. The number that popped up on his phone was instantly familiar.

"I had the bakery in my phone," he said. "I'm like, 'Give Me Some Sugah'? And all I'm thinking in my head is why... I didn't order anything."

When he answered, Lindsey shared the stunning news.

“And that’s when we started screaming,” she said. “And I started crying on the phone.”

Lindsey was just 17 years old when she made the heartbreaking decision to give her newborn son up for adoption. Now, reconnecting years later in such an unexpected way, she believes it was fate.

"The fact that I have him now in these later years, it’s just... that’s just God,” she said tearfully. “God is love.”

Since reuniting, Hunter has joined his mom at the bakery, turning their reunion into a beautiful new beginning. Together, they’re building both a family bond and a bakery business, mixing love and second chances into every treat they make.

Two minute news clip in the article.

Adoption may not be an easy choice, but it is the right one sometimes. I really like that they've been able to connect on a deeper level.

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You love to see companies like this helping the community.

KAKE - Cargill donates $250,000, turkeys to Kansas Food Bank

The Kansas Food Bank received a massive donation ahead of Thanksgiving.

Those with Cargill were on hand Wednesday to donate 40,000 pounds worth of turkeys and $250,000 to the food bank.

Kansas Food Bank said the donations will go a long way to help those struggling to afford food for the holidays. The Kansas Food Bank supplies food to 85 Kansas counties.

What’s really crazy is inflation has drove the need more than Covid did,” Kansas Food Bank President and CEO Brian Walker said. “One of the craziest things we’ve seen is our seniors used to run about 8 percent of the clients we serve. Now that number runs about 25 percent of the clients we serve, and I think it’s just one of those things that prices have gone up and they’re just trying to get by.”

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Couple Uses Wedding Fund to Pay for Surgery on Injured Dog Found on Side of Road: 'She Deserved a Chance'

A couple in Arkansas have emptied their savings and wedding fund to save a 10-month old dog found stricken by the side of the road.

Weeks have passed, and their their love has inspired $39,000 in donations to help save the pooch and replace the money they so self-sacrificingly forked over for emergency surgery.

It was Halloween day when Dylan MacCay was leaving work that he saw on Facebook a notice that a Goldendoodle had been seen on the side of the road, apparently injured, near his home.

“She had been struck by a vehicle in a hit and run,” he wrote in a Facebook post about the ordeal. “It had been raining all day and she was wet. I gathered towels and blankets and sped to the location.”

The dog was still there with her back legs bloodied and broken, unable to move. Some strangers helped lift the dog into McCay’s car when he made the fateful choice to speed towards the nearest emergency hospital.

“Despite her life threatening injuries, she did not whine, she did not growl. She tried to crawl towards me and laid her head on my lap,” he wrote.

Joined later by his fiance Emily Roberts, McCay stood at Greenbriar Animal Hospital and was told that no microchip was present, and that any and all expenses would fall on the young man just beginning to make his way in life.

“I decided in that moment that I would do whatever was necessary to help this puppy. She deserved a chance at life,” he wrote in a GoFundMe set up with Roberts to take care of the dog, which they named Acklin.

Deep down, humanity is good and full of so much potential for good.

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Officials Applaud Canadian Woman Who Saved Boy from Drowning in Frozen River

In northern Saskatchewan Province in Canada, a woman has been hailed as a hero for risking death in an icy river to save a child.

Falling through whilst playing, the boy’s friend rushed to the Sucker River Community Store where Elaine Ratt was just clocking in for her shift.

The member of the Lac La Ronge Band of Indians was probably expecting a normal day on the job, but as soon as she saw the child’s face, she knew something was dreadfully amiss.

“The fear in [his] eyes scared me,” Ratt said, running down to the Sucker River.

When she arrived at the edge of the river she began calling repeatedly for him to keep his head above water, but seconds later she was inching herself along, hearing the cracking of the ice beneath her.

“By the time I was getting toward him, he was already starting to float down underneath the water,” she told CBC News.

As soon as she was close enough to perhaps help the boy, the worst happened and the ice gave way beneath her, leaving them both treading in the frigid water.

It wasn’t long until she got him to a patch of solid ice and hoisted him up. Even in his state of shock, he remembered that if one finds themselves in that situation, never try to stand up, but always keep the lowest center of gravity possible to avoid breaking the ice anew. The boy rolled like a seal onto the bank.

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Next level customer service.

A Waiter in Canada is Learning Cree to Better Serve Customers: 'Immediately People Would Light Up'

Allegedly, there is a saying among the Cree Nation that goes “listen or your tongue will keep you deaf.”

For Adam Rieger, a waiter at a cafe in Saskatchewan, it was his listening that opened up a world of human connection when he decided he should learn the language of his customers.

Smitty’s Restaurant in Prince Albert, Sask. sees its fair share of tribal members, and the personable Rieger found it difficult to connect with them.

According to an interview with CBC News, Rieger explained that when he lived in Edmonton, he made the effort to serve diners in French, something the French-speaking Canadians warmly appreciated.

Despite the obvious challenges in learning a language beyond Latin, Rieger decided to listen so as not to be deaf to the hearts and culture of his customers. He began learning Cree to take orders and welcome guests, and helped break the ice by asking tribal customers to help him with certain words.

“He has positive energy, and then when he came back to us, that’s when he told me that he’s been trying to learn Cree,” Natasha Wolfe, a Cree Nation member told CBC’s Louise BigEagle.

Wolfe shared a video of him doing his job in Cree on social media to alert Tribal members of his compassion and interest in their language.

GNN reported earlier this year on a famous polyglot Youtuber visiting Cree Nation lands and surprising the people there by speaking Cree with semi-fluency. According to the Youtuber, going by the handle Xiaomanyc, Cree is difficult even among native languages, and for this reason there is a real concern it will die out in the coming generations.

This is impressive, especially considering how difficult Cree is to learn and speak.

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Eagle - K-State QB Avery Johnson raising money to help Maize principal in battle with cancer



Outside of his ugly ass car, I haven't seen or heard anything bad about Avery. Props to him for using his position to help raise funds for someone who apparently has meant a lot to him.

KWCH - Avery Johnson fundraiser for Maize principal nearing $80K

The latest update on Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson’s fundraiser for Maize High principal Chris Botts, who is battling cancer, shows it nearing an $80,000 goal.

As of Monday afternoon, donations have exceeded $74,000, far above the fundraiser’s original goal of $20,000. Johnson has dedicated every touchdown he has scored this season to Botts, and supporters have either made one-time donations or pledged a certain amount every time Johnson scores. Johnson, a Maize graduate, has accounted for 25 touchdowns so far this season.

Botts was diagnosed with large-cell neuroendocrine thymic cancer in March 2022 before going into remission seven months later. Botts’ cancer returned as stage 4 cancer in January 2023, and the funds will be used to help him travel for treatment.

Botts has made weekly trips to MD Anderson in Houston for chemotherapy and to participate in at least one clinical trial.

Felt this one deserved an update.