For a person to save one life is rare, but to save four in eight years is a miracle. Just ask the footballers saved from the grim reaper by Togo footballer Francis Kone. Kone is known as a miracle man on the football pitch. Not because he can bend it like Beckham [add link] or pass it like Pele [add link], but because he is famous for saving other players’ lives.
Saving Human History From Space
Khalid al-Assad lost his life protecting the history and culture of his country. This 83-year-old scholar was retired, but still an active expert at the museum that he used to run in Palmyra, Syria. On July 13th, 2016, ISIS demanded he tell them where all the cultural treasures were hidden. Fearing that ISIS would destroy, steal or sell them, al-Assad refused to help them. A month later he was dead. An acquaintance, Abu Ahmad, said, “He knew they would kill him, but he said, ‘I’m not going to leave the city. I’m staying.’”
Meditation In School Transforms Kids
One morning, the kids of Visitacion Valley Middle School found three dead bodies dumped in their schoolyard. Sadly, these kids were used to violence and murder. In 2006 alone, there were 38 murders in the neighborhood. Crime and violence surrounded this San Francisco school. The kids were anxiety-ridden and stressed, and their neighborhood was terrifying.
Secret Library
Imagine taking a risky walk through bombed-out buildings, the entire time hiding from snipers. Now imagine that you’re dodging bullets and risking your life to…read. For many of us, this seems crazy, but for some people in Damascus, Syria, risking their lives to read is the only thing that keeps them sane.
Man Lives 555 Days Without a Heart
To “wear your heart on your sleeve” means to show your feelings to the world. It describes a person who hides nothing, and that emotional honesty makes them vulnerable. Stan Larkin didn’t wear his heart on his sleeve. He literally wore his heart on his back.
A Heartwarming Friendship
Imagine loving someone so much that you’d swim more than 5,000 miles to see them. Dindim manages to swim that far every single year to visit his friend Joao Pereira de Souza in Brazil.
Sitting Is The New Smoking
The results are in folks and they aren’t pretty. I hope you’re sitting down for this. Well actually, on second thought, why don’t you stand up for it: Chairs are the new cigarettes. That’s right. Sitting is actually worse than smoking when it comes to health. Evidence is piling up that prolonged sitting increases the risk of …
Animal Human Healing
Almost everyone who has owned a pet knows the experience of bonding with an animal. For many pet owners, these animals become our friends and family members. According to research over the last few decades, these animal human relationships can improve our health. Since the 1980s, we have known that having a connection with an animal reduces blood pressure. Contact with animals has also been shown to reduce stress hormones, which allows our bodies to heal faster. Animals are also believed to increase oxytocin, which is a hormone related to feelings of love and trust. This may be the reason that animals aren’t just good for our physical health, but also good for our mental and emotional health.
Image adapted from: Greg Westfall, License: (CC BY 2.0)