Crowds cheered as Kieran Maxwell, donning a cane and heavy prosthetic leg, carried the Olympic flame through northeast England in June. During the torch relay, the young teen who became an amputee after a battle with a rare form of cancer tripped and fell. His parents had been fundraising to buy him a lighter replacement limb, and this week Britain's biggest lottery winners stepped in to supply the money.
They stayed behind rather than evacuating their Louisiana home in the path of Hurricane Isaac. While police and the fire department were unable to reach stranded people using their vehicles, Jesse Shaffer, 25, and his father were able to save dozens of lives using boats.
Sean Jacklin, 21, is riding his bicycle coast to coast -- 4,660 miles (7500 km) -- in an effort to shine a light on a topic many people find difficult to talk about, raising awareness and funds for the hospice movement across Canada. As the second cyclist to organize a solo tour supporting end of life care, Sean knows it is hard to raise money for something no one likes to talk about. He had already raised $10,000 before leaving the province. He had already raised $10,000 before leaving his home province of Victoria.
A World War II hero from Maine gave himself a 90th birthday present — his first skydiving jump from an airplane. Lester Slate, of Exeter, said he wasn't nervous as he strapped on a parachute, although he'd never jumped with one even during his more than 40 years flying for the Navy and the Coast Guard.
A national non-profit group, Flashes of Hope, photographs children who are facing serious health issues, in an effort to change how they view themselves. To date, more than 22,000 children have sat for portraits by skilled artists who know how to capture the spark in each person. The portraits, taken by award-winning photographers who volunteer their time along with make-up and hair stylists, preserve forever the beauty, grace and dignity of the children and their families.
The social media community of Reddit has once again responded with incredible generosity to a personal story of tragedy posted on their website. Jake Villanueva, 23, was given six months to live after a surprise diagnosis of terminal kidney cancer and he posted his story on the website. Not to ask for anything, but just to talk. What happened next is the stuff of Reddit legend.
A former bus driver, who in her senior years works as a bus monitor, sat patiently through ten minutes of relentless and brutal bullying by middle school kids on her route, as a video camera rolled. The video went viral and an online social media community so sympathized with her that they raised money to send her on a vacation to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
An online pop culture editor posted a collection of 20+ heartwarming photos to illustrate inspiring stories of kindness.
It was a house she and her late husband built in 1956. Mary Cate Jones had spent the past few weeks packing up memories and preparing for a forced eviction from the home where she lived in Tennessee for 56 years. But after her plight was featured in the local paper last month, donations began pouring in. And now, thanks to more than 500 people and a $15,000 check from an anonymous donor, Jones and her family will be able to keep their home.
This July, after an Oregon couple walk down the aisle, they will hit the open road on a unique journey from Portland, Ore., to Portland, Maine, taking a leap of faith with dozens of people they've never met. The leap? The new bride and groom will sit down to breakfast with strangers across America and select 50 of those breakfasts to highlight in a book, Breakfast with Strangers: 50 Meals across America.
One night last month, Russell, who was unable to sleep, climbed out of bed and sat down at his computer to do some late night eBay searching. Russell, who lives in Southland, Texas, says that every so often he'd do a search for his 1967 Austin Healey, a beloved sports car that was stolen in 1970.
The funeral of a 28-year-old waiter in southern Egypt turned into a celebration when he woke up after being declared dead.
After a massive tornado hit Joplin, Missouri last year, thousands of families whose homes were destroyed lost their most treasured mementos. But thanks to the dedication and hard work of Abi Almandinger, tornado survivors have been reunited with thousands of old photographs that were blown away with the wind and found by strangers. Her webpage, Joplin's Found Photos, acts as a clearinghouse for photos that had been been blown away by the storm.
Two-thirds of Americans are optimistic that they will be better off financially next year than they are now, according to a new poll. In a separate Gallup survey, fewer Americans are experiencing daily worry or stress, and their emotional heath, self-measured by how much they remember smiling, laughing and enjoyment of recent days, is now higher than it has been in any month since Gallup and Healthways started tracking it in January 2008.
A 6 year-old boy and his mother probably would have died of starvation at sea had the Coast Guard not found them and their fellow migrants from Haiti. The gratitude he felt as a boy led Orlando Morel to eventually join the Coast Guard. Today, 18 years later, he graduates as a cadet.
A West Vancouver bus driver and passengers on an express bus to Horseshoe Bay are being hailed as Good Samaritans after they stepped up to get a woman to Nanaimo to see her dying mother on Mother's Day.
No relative or friend proved to be a suitable donor match for Michael Andrade's mom. Weeks dragged on, with Lucy on a waiting list, while her condition grew visibly worse. Michael decided they needed to cast a wider net, and do everything he could to find a donor. Under the headline "Please help us find a liver donor," he added a grainy photo of himself as a boy on his mom's lap and wrote a detailed appeal on a Tumblr blog post.
Since 9/11, more than 2 million service people have been deployed overseas. But the strain of long-distance relationships makes the moment when families are finally reunited that much sweeter. A Memorial Day TV special on Nat Geo channel reveals the emotional back-stories behind the best surprise soldier homecoming videos.
Greg Rubar still can't believe how his bad luck turned into good fortune. On Saturday, he was working in the Italian cafe where he's been a waiter for 16 years. A couple, who are regular customers at the restaurant, gave him a tip he will never forget. They had heard about him losing his car recently and wanted to help.
Through next Saturday, people in Maine's easternmost county are being urged to think positive and be especially kind as the county celebrates what's been proclaimed as Positively Kind Week. Washington County commissioners are encouraging agencies, businesses, religious organizations and people to kick their kindness levels up a notch.
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