Medical miracles and reunions...

There's a pleasing symmetry to today's stories. Well, pleasing to me, since I'm a nerd. : ) There is a story about a reunion, a story about a medical miracle, and a story about a reunion between a doctor and her medical miracle. I'm beginning to see why the Mayans thought 2012 would be the end of the world with what seems like more than the usual chaos reigning lately. But, as always, I'm finding little stories here and there that help keep a positive light shining.

Global conflict has been happening for centuries, but the last round - Iraq and Afghanistan - seems like it will never end. But thanks to Tostitos and the USO, some families got a break from it. Eight children were reunited with fathers they thought were still in Iraq during the halftime show of the BCS college football national title game. The Philadelphia Daily News reports the mothers were in on it, but the kids thought they had just won tickets and field passes to the game. Their fathers were hidden behind a banner until the big reveal, and the looks on the kids faces could have softened the hardest heart. I'm tearing up just thinking about it.

Something else that made me tear up this morning was a story from Yahoo!'s home page about Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. According to Yahoo! she made a Herculean effort to open her eyes on Wednesday, to see her husband and three close friends. Her friends were talking about taking her out for a pizza and a beer when she recovered from her injuries when she started opening her eyes and reaching out for her husband. Her surgeon thinks she has a "101 percent chance of recovery."

Something that has been slow to recover is the island of Haiti. It's now been just over a year since the earthquake that leveled much of the Caribbean nation. Elections were marred by violence and then a cholera epidemic broke out. Talk about apocalypse. But CNN International reported on a doctor volunteering in Haiti during the initial earthquake who recently reunited with a baby girl who has made a miraculous recovery of her own. "Baby Jenny" survived four days buried in rubble without anything to drink and with severe head trauma and her chest caved in. Dr. Karen Schneider, on the island with the Sisters of Mercy, had just started a nap after a 30-hour shift when Baby Jenny was brought in. Schneider did her level best and then sent the child to the US for further care and had always wondered what happened to her.

We should all be like Mylyn...

Ever since I got a normal, 9-5 job, I've had Netflix. I wanted to catch up on all the TV I missed while working 80-hour weeks. Consequently my queue is constantly, like, 27 titles long. My current rotation is Eureka, NCIS and JAG.

Don't judge.

Anyway, one of the current plot lines on JAG is a character becoming an amputee after stepping on a land mine. The season I'm on is set in 2002, so obviously, they're factoring in the war in Afghanistan. The show tried to be honest but sympathetic to the Navy, and this storyline is no different. While the writers picked the most good-humored character to have this happen to, it did explore the ramifications on his career, on his marriage and with his friends. I think sometimes televised war numbs you a little. It's good to be reminded those who are injured are people, not statistics.

The Journal Gazette - Times Courier out of Illinois had a story on an Iraq war veteran's (and double amputee) new home, built by dozens of volunteers from "Homes for our Troops" and "StormHawk Construction." National Guard Sgt. Cameron Crouch suffered his injuries after falling from a roof in Iraq onto marble floors. Presumably, he was in one of Saddam Hussein's palaces. Crouch fell 70 feet and required 25 surgeries. Later this year he is set to marry his fiancee Christy.

Risks for injury do not just occur on the battlefield. EJ Poplawski was competing in the 10th annual US Telemark Extreme Freeskiing Championships when his last descent over a cliff broke one of his skis, according to the Ski Channel. He subsequently hit a tree and shattered his knee. Poplawski didn't get to the hospital quickly enough to save his lower leg. But that didn't stop him from continuing to ski and race. He recently competed in the Winter X Games and tours the country as a motivational speaker.

This next little girl should motivate all of us. One night, three year-old Mylyn Beakley, herself an amputee, saw Haitian children on TV who had also lost legs, and ran into her bedroom. The little girl retrieved a prosthetic leg she had grown out of and told her mother she wanted "to give it to Haiti." The hug she gives one of the staffers at the 1:10 mark in the NBC video is precious.

(Photo courtesy of The Journal Gazette - Times Courier)

Happy health news...

One of my favorite parts of my job is reading the thank you letters we get from former patients and their families. Hospitals are a last resort; you only end up here if everything else has failed. And that generally means you're in dire straits. So it's always nice to get notes from the people who walk out our doors well. Things do go wrong and that makes you sad, so hearing from those who had things go right makes it better.

A lot of the bad news coming out of Haiti now seems to be related to survivors' health, from crush injuries requiring amputation to the smallest of cuts turning into raging infections. The US and other countries have been helping with the injuries, but recently the US put a hold on medical evacuations due to concerns on the pressure they would put on our health care system. The Boston Globe reported on a group of doctors who went around that obstacle by flying three children with tetanus, pneumonia and third-degree burns to Children's Hospital in Philadelphia on a private plane. All were critically ill and would have died soon without the evac.

We have Haitian staffers in all of our hospitals in my health system, and many of them lost contact with family and friends after the quake. Some still have not reached their loved ones. Yahoo! News posted a first-person account of a group of TIME reporters who helped a friend send money to her 94 year-old great-aunt. France St. Fleur came out of the quake okay, but she was living in a tent outside her badly damaged house. The article details the challenges the team faced with tracking down St. Fleur when all their landmarks to her home were demolished.

One of the unfortunate consequences of natural disasters like the earthquake in Haiti can be the rampant spread of disease. Microsoft's Bill Gates has pledged through his foundation to donate $10 billion over the next decade to finding vaccines. He and wife Melinda made the announcement at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, according to a short article on MSNBC.com.

A season for miracles and saints...

People usually associate the phrase in the post title to the Christmas season, but I think it's fair to call every survivor of the Haiti quake a miracle, particularly after the world got a look at the mess that is Haiti's architecture and over-populated cities.

But today, an even larger miracle occurred - a girl was pulled alive from the rubble of the first quake. Fifteen days after the earth first shook, teenager Darlene Etienne emerged from the shattered remains of a house near her university. Doctors have no idea how the girl lasted for so long but say she now has a 90 percent chance of survival. MSNBC says Etienne is stable, drinking and eating yogurt and mashed potatoes to the amazement of her medical team. She was found after a neighbor came back and heard a faint voice and saw her hair through the debris.

Alain Armand joined rescuers like those who found Etienne after Armand, a Haitian living in the US, could no longer simply sit and watch the news. Better known as @thehaitian, Armand flew to Haiti after the quake and has been making an impact there one person at a time. Carrying only a backpack and his Blackberry, Armand uses Tweets to find and help individuals around Port-au-Prince.

And finally, an update on Charlie Simpson, the little boy who raised over $320,000 by riding his bike around the local park. Simpson and his family took a trip to Number 10 Downing Street this week to meet the Prime Minister's wife and tour the residence. They even let him ride inside the house! While there, Charlie met with PM Brown's two children and talked about bikes. All of Charlie's funds will go to UNICEF's Haiti Earthquake Children's Appeal, according to the BBC.

(Photo courtesy of the BBC)

Er, happy Holocaust Remembrance Day?...

It seems wrong to wish someone well for a day that reflects on the epic tragedy when millions of lives were extinguished. But it's an important day. People need to remember what occurred so it doesn't happen again.

My friend Michelle sent me a link to an article from the English version of Der Spiegel, a German news magazine. Esther Bejarano survived Auschwitz, where she was forced to play in a girls' orchestra as people destined for the gas chamber arrived on the trains. Bejarano escaped on a death march, filled the rest of her life with music and spent the majority of her adult life speaking about the Holocaust. In the past, she collaborated with her two children on albums of Jewish and anti-fascist songs, but her latest creation is distinctly street. Bejarano teamed up with the Cologne-based Microphone Mafia (the children of Italian and Turkish families who emigrated to post-war Germany) to produce a hip hop album to combat the work of those who prefer to pretend the mass murder never occurred.

Bejarano's survival of the Holocaust is mirrored to a degree by that of Ena Zinzi, a 69 year-old woman pulled from the rubble of the earthquake in Haiti seven days after it struck. The woman survived untenable conditions, and her first words to her South African rescuer Ahmed Bham upon reaching sunlight were "Je t'aime". According to those around Bham Zinzi, she then began singing a song of praise. The South African Gift of Givers group had partnered with a Mexican rescue group after a dog scented Zinzi among the debris. Bham had helped with the rescue efforts in Pakistan two years ago when an earthquake there resulted in thousands dead, according to the newspaper The Hindu. He went on to describe Haiti as "much, much worse," and thus seemed all the more grateful to find Zinzi alive.

(Photo courtesy of Der Spiegel)

Kids do the darnedest things...

Kids are funny little creatures. They have the ability to speak the truth (see: new clothes, Emperor's) and the wonderful and total belief that nothing is impossible. It's something us old fogies would do better to keep in mind sometimes. My friend Blair sent me the following link to a story on CNN on the amazing Charlie Simpson. The seven year-old British boy wanted to do something for the people of Haiti. He decided to ride his bike five miles around a park near his home with a goal of raising 500 British pounds. Word of his efforts caught the Internet's attention, and he recently passed the $240,000 mark.

The Daily Mail highlighted another seven year-old British boy undeterred by potential limits. Kieron Williamson attracted buyers from as far away as Japan and Canada when his watercolors, oils and pastels went to auction in November. The pictures sold out in under 15 minutes and earned the boy 17,000 British pounds. His mother arrived late to the sale and missed it completely. This after another auction last summer netted him 14,000 BP. Kieron just decided to start painting after a family trip to Devon and Cornwall; he showed no particular interest or aptitude before then.

Finally, the video above, courtesy of YouTube, is just fun. I'm not entirely sure how old the boy is or where he's from, but he exhibits excellent coordination. I've never really seen the appeal of the video game "Dance Dance Revolution" beyond a funny scene in "The Big Bang Theory", but this kid is amazing. I could never do what he does.

Monday round up...

It's been a little while since I've done one of these. I've been on a streak of themes lately, but alas, it came to an end. Much like the Jets' and Vikings' seasons last night. My team was out of the play-offs before last night, so I had no real rooting interest. However, I am glad to see New Orleans make it to the Super Bowl after how much its citizens have endured since Hurricane Katrina.

Another disaster is never far from our thoughts these days, and Ontario's Chronicle-Journal had a short article posted about a member of its Canadian Forces who survived the Haiti quake. Posted in Port-au-Prince as part of the UN efforts there, he was one of the few to get out of the collapsed UN headquarters alive. Lt. Commander Shekhar Gothi dug himself out of the rubble before being airlifted to the Dominican for medical attention. After a brief stint at home in Ontario, he has returned to the island to help with the recovery efforts.

From one side of the world to another, the Guardian reported on supermodel Erin O'Connor's work with some of the garment industry's most oppressed workers. O'Connor has become the spokesmodel for SEWA, the All India Federation of Self-Employed Women's Associations, which represents the women who work out of their homes, creating amazing (and time-consuming) hand embroidered and beaded clothing and home accessories. The middlemen of the fashion industry were exploiting this group, but with the help of SEWA and O'Connor, the women's wages have increased by 100 percent, and they've been able to gather to exchange ideas on family and finance.

And finally, I'm a little obsessed with the following link. I couldn't get the site to work with the first set of puppies, but the Shiba Inus who took the Interwebs by storm are back. Well, a new litter is here. Five puppies eat and sleep and play and wiggle, all on a live stream from their home in, purportedly, San Francisco. You wouldn't really think the lives of dogs which are less than 3 months old would be that captivating, but it's mesmerizing. I cannot explain it. They're just so darned cute...

(Photo courtesy of The Guardian)

Mile-wide smile indeed...

This morning I heard the rescuers in Haiti are changing their mission from rescue to recovery. Not exactly a bright way to start the day. There seem to be miracles around every corner down there, with new stories of improbable survival, so I worry about those still hanging on under all that concrete.

Logging onto Facebook this afternoon, my friend Nancy posted the following link in her status. The CNN video covers the heartwarming and smile-inducing rescue of a boy and his sister yesterday. Pulled from the rubble over a week after the first earthquake rocked the island, the seven year-old had to be coaxed out by a relative. Once he hit fresh air, however, his reaction is both precious and priceless.

I know this is a short post, but this video is such a day-brightener, I can't find anything in its league...

Happy weekend!

(Photo courtesy of the New York Post)

Somewhere out there...

When I was little, one of my favorite movies animated movies was "An American Tail." In it, a young Russian mouse, Fievel Mousekewitz, gets separated from his family after emigrating to America and must find them again while navigating a brand-new country. I have no idea why this resonated with me so much; I've never emigrated and at that point in my life I'd barely left the state much less the US.

Judging by my current inability to watch "Ratatouille," I clearly hadn't yet developed my aversion to mice, so that must have piled on to the sympathy I felt for poor little Fievel. Regardless, when I saw the following two news stories, the signature song from the movie "Somewhere Out There," immediately began playing in my head.

Scripps News posted a story today on the 53 Haitian orphans who flew to Pittsburgh to finish up the adoption process. All but seven of the children aged up to 12 years old were nearing completion of their adoptions when the earthquake hit and leveled their orphanage. Jamie and Ali McMurtrie, sisters from Pennsylvania, ran the BRESMA orphanage in Port-au-Prince.

Their messages home spurred the state and national government to action. Governor Ed Rendell himself flew to Haiti with a medical team to bring the children to the UPitt Medical Center. The children cleared diplomatic and bureaucratic red tape just in time to use their time slot on the runway and take off for their new homes in the US, Canada, and Spain. They appear to be big fans of chicken fingers but not so much of snow.

A lot of families do emigrate to other countries as a whole unit, like Fievel. Somali families have fled their home country for years, leaving behind war, famine and poverty. According to the Boston Globe, 5000 Somalis and Somali-Americans have settled in Lynn, Mass., so the state government has built a Parent-Child Home Program, in which visitors come into the immigrants' homes and teach them skills to assimilate into their new society. One key, and often overlooked, component to the program is teaching the parents and children how to play. For various reasons back in Somalia, parents simply didn't convey this basic skill to their children. The Parent-Child Home Program helps family read and play so their children become school-ready.

MLK still speaks today...

I hope everyone had a great long weekend. It is a fabulous thing to have a short work/school week in January so close to the Christmas/New Years holidays. It does help you get through the dead of winter, particularly when you wake up to an unexpected 4 inches of snow on your car (yes, I'm talking to you Boston).

But I think the meaning behind having a national holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. has been lost. I was among many who worked yesterday, and in catching up on my tasks, I missed most of the articles and stories on the man we were supposed to be recognizing. The day just sort of passed.

The above video is admittedly long. But it is worth turning off the iTunes, ignoring Twitter feeds and getting off Facebook to watch and absorb the scenes captured. In this speech, and in all his speeches, Dr. King exhorted his fellow citizens to be great. Have courage, stand up and do what needs to be done to right a wrong.

The crisis in Haiti is not one simply of the question of race, though that played its part a long time ago. But the basic message Martin Luther King, Jr. preached nearly 50 years ago can be applied here: Have courage, stand up and do what needs to be done to right a wrong.

September 11th and Hurricane Katrina showed disasters of this magnitude can be hard to handle. There are no dress rehearsals that can approximate the logistics and management needed in these situations. But texting Haiti to 90999 and donating to the Red Cross are great ways to be able to help both those affected and those in charge. The New York Times published a link to a site called Charity Navigator, which helps those who want to donate to learn about the charities which have responded thus far and how they are helping the Haitian people.

The outpouring of aid and money so far has been staggering. Four hundred million dollars from 20 countries, including $100 million from the US alone. It's so good to see that even when the whole world struggles, it can still have courage, stand up and do what needs to be done to right a wrong.