Hello, and welcome to The Silver Lining Series, where I discuss the
silver lining of a news cycle that’s full of trash and chaos. Today, we
have how the band Metallica both funded a Romanian children’s
hospital AND saved a woman from a cougar, the brave little pit bull
who saved his owner’s life, Joe Rogan’s incredible generosity, plus
the kindness of cops, helpful ducks, and breakthroughs in prosthetic
limb construction. So, here we go!
But before we get started, pretty please like this video if you enjoy it,
and let me know why in the comments. This isn’t going to replace my
regular content; it’s just a fun positive series I will make every few
weeks when I think we all need a pick me up. If this one gets 5000
likes, I will absolutely keep making this series.
Legendary rock band Metallica has proved incredibly helpful over the
last month, in two very different ways. First, the band has donated
250,000 Euros to a Romanian association called, in English, Give Life,
in order to build the country's first children's hospital. Carmen
Uscatu, President of Give Life, made a statement about the band’s
wonderful deed, saying that –
"The donation made by Metallica has a special meaning to our
project. On one hand, their music inspires and touches so many
Romanians, and at the same time so many Romanians are inspired
by and contribute to the establishing of the first Pediatric Oncology
and Radiotherapy Hospital in Romania, in order to give children with
cancer a chance to live."
The hospital will be funded exclusively by private donors, which is
the best way to fund anything, let’s be real, and is set to launch at
the end of 2020. Now, not only will Metallica have helped save the
lives of children by contributing to this project, they also kind of
indirectly saved the life of a young woman in Canada.
Dee Gallant was hiking with her dog through the Vancouver Island
wilderness when she saw a cougar just up the trail staring at her. And
that cougar looked hungry. Dee remained calm and yelled at the big
cat, which caused it to stop moving closer, but did not make it
retreat B ROLL
Since yelling hadn’t worked, Dee figured she had to scare the animal
off with something loud, but a little different. Thinking quickly, she
opened up a music app on her smartphone, and started to play a
Metallica song.
Lo and behold, the cougar was daunted by the loud rock music, and
ran away. Dee said she chose the song “Don’t Tread On Me” not just
because it’s loud and aggressive, but because it conveyed the
message she wanted to send to the hungry cougar.
Anyway, after her story was picked up by news outlets around the
world, Dee received a call from none other than Metallica’s
frontman, James Hetfield. At first she couldn’t believe he was calling
her, and even asked him, "How do I know it is really you?" Just to
prove he was in fact legit, Hetfield sent her a friendly selfie after the
call.
And as for what James Hetfield was like on the phone; Dee said he
was a wonderful guy, very down to earth, who even took the trouble
to learn her dog Murphy’s name. Very cool!
In a story sure to melt the hardest of hearts, a six-year-old boy set up
a lemonade stand to raise enough money to take his mum on a date,
following the death of his father from stage four colon cancer. Brady
Campbell from Denver, Colorado set up the stand the day after his
father passed away, using the structure and signs his dad had helped
him create before he lost his cancer battle.
Soon enough, friends and neighbours saw the stand, along with a
local police officer, who put out a radio call for other first
responders. It wasn’t long before police and fire trucks started
pulling up, full of officers, all smiling, congratulating little Brady, and
of course, buying his homemade lemonade. Brady raised a grand
total of $244 that day, more than enough to take his mum out for a
slap-up evening.
We can all learn a lot from Brady Campbell; even in the face of
tragedy, this little boy was able to remain a shining light for those
around him. His father will be looking down from above, filled with
pride in his young son. As the old saying goes; when life gives you
lemons, make lemonade.
In good news for both the environment and people with disabilities,
an engineer at De Montfort University, Dr Kandan, has developed a
prosthetic limb socket made from recycled plastic bottles. It is
believed to be the first of its kind made from recycled plastic.
Prototypes of the prosthesis were successfully tested on two
patients, both from India. Both patients were very pleased with the
outcome, and said the prosthetic was lightweight and easy to walk
with, and also that it allowed air to flow to the rest of their leg, which
is so important for India’s hot climate.
Dr Kandan used polyester yarns spun from ground up-plastic bottles
to make the product, and happily, it cost only about £10 to produce,
compared to an industry average of £5,000. Quite a saving, and more
to the point, terrific news for people in developing countries who are
in need of prosthetic limbs but do not have the money or the health
facilities to obtain them. Bravo Dr Kandan!
Proving yet again that masculinity is not toxic, 20-year-old Derrick
Byrd from Aberdeen, Washington, is being hailed a hero for rushing
into a burning house to rescue his young niece and two nephews.
When the fire started, Derrick leapt into action to help the children’s
mother get them out of the house.
He ran down the stairs, through the fire to outside the house so he
could catch the little kids as their mother helped them jump out the
window. While he managed to catch his nephews, one a toddler and
the other a baby, his eight-year-old niece, Mercedes, was too scared
to jump.
Eventually, her mother fell off the roof, and little Mercedes fell
backwards back into the burning house. Without thinking twice,
Derrick dashed back into the inferno, fought his way up the stairs
through the fire, even though he could feel it burning him, to find his
terrified niece.
He wrapped his shirt around her face so she wouldn’t breathe in any
smoke, then carried her down the stairs, and back through the fire
outside and to safety. Wow. Even though Derrick is suffering from 2 nd
and 3 rd degree burns to his face and body, he said he’d do it again in
heartbeat.
Of his niece, he said, “I'd rather get burnt than her. She's young.
She's still got a lot of stuff going for her. She's a good kid.” Such
incredible bravery for one so young. Great to know there are people
out there as selfless and courageous and 20-year-old Derrick Byrd.
Prolifically popular YouTube podcast host and former UFC
commentator Joe Rogan has proved he’s more than meets the eye.
He recently gifted MMA fighter Miriam Nakamoto $30,000 to pay for
her much needed knee surgery. Rogan is also covering all her
expenses to get to Panama so she can have the procedure. Miriam
shared the news of Joe’s generosity on social media with a screen
shot of a text conversation, with the caption:
"So ...this happened today. I'm struggling to find the words. I've been
trying to make a comeback for almost 6 years now. I've come close a
few times. But I kept having difficulty with my knee. There's not
much to be down with a grade 3 lesion on a meniscus besides stem
cell therapy. I didn't have $30,000 so I did the best that I could, but I
still always came up short. And then this happens today. I'm still in
shock. Thank you @joerogan. See you soon Dr. Riordan!"
Yet another reason to love Joe Rogan. But, as if we needed another!
Cops tend to get a bad wrap in the mainstream media, but there are
countless examples of how the reality does not live up to the
negative stereotype. Like this Lawrenceville police woman, Dena
Walker Pauly.
Two years ago, Dena was called into a pawn shop to deal with an
elderly man named Bob, who the staff were unsure how to help.
Bob’s life was hard; he had been homeless for most of it, he had
been on his own since he was a child, and had suffered a stroke
which left him unable to speak.
When Dena saw Bob, she was also unsure what to do, but sensed he
needed help, so offered to take him home. When she did, she was
horrified by the squalor in which he was living. However, rather than
leaving him and washing her hands of it, she taught him basic skills to
help him improve his living conditions, like throwing garbage in the
bin rather than on the floor.
She also ensured he had food, and regularly cleaned his small
apartment. Eventually, she sought and received a Power of Attorney
for Bob's medical care. In May, Bob went into hospital, and soon
enough, Officer Pauly had to make the difficult decision to begin
hospice care for him.
When she did, she held his hand and told him over and over again
that she loved him. In fact, she may be the only person ever to have
said those three words to Bob.
On July 17 th , Bob sadly passed away. But thanks to the love and
selflessness of Dena Walker Pauly, his last days were far from the
drudge of poverty and loneliness that had characterised the rest of
his life. Never feel like you can’t make a difference; just so long as
you take care of your little pocket of the universe, you’ll be surprised
at just how much good you can do.
In cute animal news, a brave little pit bull has saved his owner’s life.
By which I mean, he saved him from being eaten by a six foot long
shark. James White had been fishing off the coast of Bodega Bay in
California when he felt a whopping tug at the end of his line. Hoping
for a big catch, he spent 10 minutes reeling it in only to find that he
had hooked a massive seven gill shark.
When James attempted to free the shark from the hook, it fell to the
ground and bit down on his ankle, puncturing an artery. James
couldn’t dislodge the shark himself, so he yelled to some nearby
fishermen for help. But before they could reach him, Darby the pit
bull sprang into action. B ROLL
What a story of bravery from that little dog. I don’t think we humans
deserve dogs; they are way too good for us. Never underestimate
the love that a dog has for it’s owner, and never take it for granted.