CategoryGoodNews

Last year, Emily Mejia’s 13-year-old sister, Megan, was diagnosed with a childhood cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Emily and Megan are the closest among six siblings, making the news especially devastating to Emily.

“Definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever been through,” Emily Mejia said. “She was just kind of like ‘let’s get started and then get it over with.’ We were on the floor crying, and it was a lot for us.”

Their mom, Christine, was with Megan for every moment of her cancer journey. Together, they braved several rounds of harsh chemotherapy. But unfortunately, the treatment didn’t work as well as they hoped. So, doctors started Megan on a form of immunotherapy called CAR-T, and the family prayed for good news.

Christine was out doing errands with her son, Ben, when she got a life-changing call. Megan’s test results showed she was cancer-free.

“When I answered it, and I heard those words, I just started crying as a mama and hugging Ben, my youngest. And I didn’t even think to go home and tell Megan, the patient,” Christine Mejia said. “I was like, I’ve got to go tell Emily, and she was at work.”

Elated, Christine drove to Starbucks to give Emily the fantastic news. To make the moment even sweeter, she pretended to be ordering coffee, then stunned her daughter with the big announcement.

On hearing that her sister was cancer-free, Emily cried with joy and disbelief, and her coworkers celebrated with her.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/good-news/mom-fakes-starbucks-order-to-surprise-barista-daughter/ar-AAVkHLQ

A new controller that works using head and tongue movements is one of the only options for patients with paralysis to not only control their own power wheelchairs but to use smartphones and computers.

Georgia Tech unveiled the results of a study that showed how their engineers were able to transform research prototypes into a user-ready version that was tested by 17 power wheelchair users living with tetraplegia—a spinal cord injury that affects the arms, hands, trunk, legs, and pelvic organs.

They described it as a first-of-its-kind, innovative application for individuals living with disabilities.

Collaborating with physicians and clinical therapists at Brooks Rehabilitation, the team was able to show how useful and easy the MagTrack technology worked for patients.

“To see where the MagTrack project has advanced even just since the early stages of this study is incredible,” said Geneva Tonuzi, medical director of the spinal cord injury program at Brooks Rehabilitation.

Collaborating with physicians and clinical therapists at Brooks Rehabilitation, the team was able to show how useful and easy the MagTrack technology worked for patients.

“To see where the MagTrack project has advanced even just since the early stages of this study is incredible,” said Geneva Tonuzi, medical director of the spinal cord injury program at Brooks Rehabilitation.

In the coming year, the team plans to make MagTrack available to early adopters for at-home validation testing, to further improve the technology.

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/head-tongue-controller-lets-paralyzed-patients-operate-phones/

For those of us that live and breathe sports, legacy means championship rings and championship banners. Legacy means record books and retired jersey numbers.

While this Suns team looks to create their legacy on the court, Bismack Biyombo’s legacy off the court has already begun.

On Friday, Biyombo publically announced that he is donating the entirety of his 2021-2022 salary, a figure of about $1.36 million according to Spotrac, towards building a hospital in his home nation, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The project will be overseen by the Bismack Biyombo Foundation, which he had started with his late father, François, back in 2016.

“Hopefully, we can save as many lives as we can. I know he couldn’t be here to witness that, but I’m sure he’s happy on the other side that I get to do something from this,” Biyombo said after practice on Saturday. “[It’s the] least I could do for him, after all [that] he has done for me, for my brothers, my sisters and so many people back home that he has helped.”

As Bismack explained to Andscape’s Marc Spears last month, François had contracted COVID-19 back in July 2021 and Bismack flew home to take care of his ailing father. While he did recover from COVID-19, François Biyombo passed away later in August at the age of 61.

“My dad was my first believer,” Biyombo said. “He spent his own money to allow me to perhaps follow my dreams and paid money out of his own pocket because he just believed that I could make it.”

The loss of his father was difficult for Bismack, as he sat out of the 2021 NBA offseason and did not sign a new contract ahead of the 2021-2022 season.

“I was kind of away from the game, trying to figure out what could motivate me to play for something bigger than just myself,” Biyombo said.

But when he did decide to return to basketball and join the Phoenix Suns, the 29-year-old returned with one thing on his mind: to dedicate this season to his father.

https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2022/3/14/22975547/bismack-biyombo-making-a-difference-in-home-country-congo

A couple seriously injured in a rollercoaster crash at Alton Towers have announced their engagement.

Leah Washington and Joe Pugh were both teenagers riding the Smiler when it crashed in 2015. Leah’s leg was later amputated and Joe had shattered knees.

Leah showed off her engagement ring in a photo from Venice on her Instagram page.

She received thousands of likes and wrote: “So this happened yesterday… I SAID YES.”

Joe wrote on his Instagram page “What a great end to a long weekend in Venice… SHE SAID YES”

The pair, from Barnsley in South Yorkshire, were among 16 people hurt in the crash, five of them seriously, when two carriages on the ride collided in June that year.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-60749626