By: Mya Starks and Jacob Pelayo With all the negative and endless tragic stories from 2021, the year has finally come to an end. To end 2021 on a good note, a story from December, in the Swedish city of Trollhättan, a 71-year old man survived a cardiac arrest through a miraculous method. A cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly stops beating and leads to unconsciousness and unresponsiveness. When someone has an attack, they have around ten minutes to get help before the attack completely takes over them. Fortunately for the man, a telephone call was immediately made to get emergency services. Just a couple of minutes later, a drone safely delivered an automated external defibrillator (AED). Even more fortuitous, a doctor was driving around and was able to help. The patient was rushed to the hospital and has made a speedy recovery. He is in the small ten percent of people who survive a sudden cardiac arrest. Picture via Good News Network
Within this first month of this year, many positive, uplifting, and inspirational stories have been shared and created. This story comes from Alabama, where two children were almost stolen away by an oncoming car during a family party. One child, a six-year-old boy, Kayden saved his younger sister from being hit by the car. Unfortunately, trying to save his sister, he was hit and now had to be hospitalized. He’s recovered now and has received a hero’s welcome from his local fire department as he came back home. Upon the young boy’s arrival home, he was granted a tour of a fire truck from his local fire department. Donald Huisenga, who is now a 98-year-old man from Texas, finally received his school diploma earlier this year in January. In March of 1943, when Huisenga was just six weeks away from graduating high school, he was drafted into the U.S. Army to fight in World War ll. He said, “He turned 18 in the fall of his senior year, got drafted the spring of his senior year and was supposed to graduate in May.” He mentioned that he had never received his high school diploma and regretted it for many years. As he was drafted for World War ll, he served for two years but became a prisoner of war (POW). He spent eight months in a German POW camp. After his service, he returned to civilian life in the United States but still had never got his high school diploma. He spoke about his deep regret with Tess Gooding, a VA social worker, and she called Huisenga’s former high school, Auburn High School. She asked if they would be able to help Huisenga get his diploma, and Principal Kevin Litterer assured her he could. As a principal, Litterer believes, “Everyone who wants a diploma and really wants it, should be able to get one.” So, school officials started tracking down a high school diploma from Auburn High School from 1943 so a replica could be made for Huisenga. Litterer also spoke with the school board and superintendent to see if they would count Huisenga as a high school graduate in the state of Iowa, and they unanimously voted yes. While that was happening in Iowa, Gooding and Huisenga were in Texas trying to get his health care in order so he could attend the diploma ceremony. Within a few weeks, everything was sorted out, and Litterer drove down to Texas to present Huisenga with his diploma on January 5.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
StaffLearn more about the people behind the stories by clicking the button below. Archives
October 2023
Categories |