Angela McQueen: Hero teacher takes down student gunman and saves lives

By
Monica Pop
-

The number of shootings in the schools around U.S. is staggering. Most of them result in innocent students and teachers being either hurt or left dead, and that’s beyond sad.

The shootings cast dark shadow over the educational institutions which should otherwise be safe shelters for the students. So, instead of being at peace while their children are at school, many parents worry for their safety. These incidents are usually easy to carry because of the fact that buying a gun in the country is pretty easy. And as the wider public asks for stricter gun control laws to be passed, the debate is still going on.

Among the possible victims and people involved in the shootings, there is always someone who is brave enough to fight against the shooter. It’s because of these people that the death toll of shootings is lower than it could’ve been.

In a recent accident that took place at Mattoon High School in Illinois, such courageous person who made sure students won’t get hurt is teacher Angela McQueen. She has been working as a P.E teacher at the school for 17 years and is regarded as a shy person and an awesome educator.

When she recalls that day, Angela says that the only thing that crossed her mind after she spotted the teen lifting the gun was, “You’re not going to do this to my kids.”

As the boy started firing shots, Angela didn’t hesitate even a bit before she tried to disarm him.

“I sprang into action because I looked over and I saw a student pull a gun out and he was aiming it at students to his right,” Angela said in a video released by the Illinois Education Association.

“I immediately lunged at the gun and I got the gun up in the air as quick as I could, as fast as I could because I didn’t want him to hit the students.”

Angela held down the shooter who was still trying to use the gun and fired a couple of shots into the ceiling. Once the sound of a shot was heard, another teacher rushed towards the cafeteria, and soon after, it was full of police officers who disarmed the teen.


Bridget Shanahan, spokeswoman for the Illinois Education Association said that one 16-year-old student was shot during the incident, but he recovered and was soon released from the hospital.

The shooter whose name wasn’t revealed because he’s a minor was charged with one count of aggravated battery with a firearm.

Angela’s quick thinking helped in preventing greater tragedy from taking place that September 20, 2017.

“Had the teacher not responded as quickly as she had, I think the situation would have been a lot different,” Mattoon police Chief Jeff Branson said.

Once the shooter was in the hands of the police, Angela made sure everyone was fine.

“She was walking around and making sure everything was OK. And I went up and gave her a hug and thanked her because she could have — that could have been a lot worse and she made it to where it wasn’t,” student Anna Morton told CBS.

What Angela did that day made her a hero. Her big heart and bravery got her the award for outstanding service.

“We are forever grateful to Angela for her courageous actions that saved the lives of our kids. She was a ray of light in our darkest hour,” Superintendent Larry Lilly said in the release.

Ed Sheeran Surprises Teen Performing One of His Songs in a Mall

By
Monica Pop
-

Most of us have a favorite celebrity person that we admire and die to meet in person one day, although we know that may never happen. But in case it does, it looks just like this 13-year-old girl named Sydney Bourbeau meeting Ed Sheeran while performing one of his songs at a mall. How incredible is that?

Sydney was singing at a fundraiser event for the local Humane Society. The song she chose was “Thinking Out Loud” and she had fun time. But little did she know the day would turn to be even better than she ever expected. 

The encounter between the teen and the super star took place back in 2015, but it was so cute that we had to share it with you. 

Ed Sheeran is one of America’s sweethearts but has fans all around the world, including Canada, where Sydney is from. His songs are number one hits and people of all ages enjoy his music. 

It was a fortunate stroke of serendipity that Sydney performed the song live on the day when Sheeran and his cousin Murray Cummings were taking a walk around the mall. 

Sheeran felt pleased and decided to surprise the girl while Cumming was holding the camera. They really wanted to put the whole thing on tape. 

At the time, Sydney was performing in front of a small group of people. Needless to say, they were all very happy they took a minute of their time to stop and listen to the teen. 

As all eyes were on Sydney, the crowd didn’t notice when Sheeran walked up on the stage. 

But the moment they realized it was really him standing right next to the girl, they couldn’t hide their excitement. Sydney, however, didn’t understand what was happening. Speaking to The Edmonton Journal, she said how she though someone was coming to fix the sound or something. 

When she saw Sheeran staying by her side, she covered her mouth in surprise. Was that really happening?

In the next moment, her solo performance turns into a duet she will never forget. It doesn’t happen that often that your favorite musician runs into you singing his song in public and joins in. 

Sydney was all confused and had no idea what to do next. “I was like, should I stop? I didn’t want to stop, but I wanted to talk to him,” she told The Edmonton Journal. “This is, like, the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Well, she did the right thing finishing that song, despite her voice was shaking. 

The crowd went wild and felt lucky to be sharing this one-of-a-kind experience with Sydney. 

What Cumming caught on tape was plenty of surprised faces of passersby at the moment they realized it was in fact Sheeran himself who was dueting with the girl. 

The best part of the whole thing was that the voice of Sheeran and Sydney blended just perfectly. It looked as though they were practicing for this. 

At the end of the mesmerizing performance, Sydney got a hug and a kiss from the music star.

We all know that Ed Sheeran is a very kind and humble person. It was later reported how his manager contacted Sydney and offered her tickets for an upcoming concert of Sheeran. Isn’t that adorable?

The video of the unexpected mall performance is a must see. Check it out below. 

Elderly Widow Enters Restaurant Alone Not Knowing Three Young Men Are Watching Her Closely

By
Monica Pop
-

Some encounters are meaningless and fade away as though they have never happened, others, however, have the power to change one’s life in a ways they have never expected. Such was the meeting between an elderly lady and three men who watched her closely as she entered Brad’s Bar-B-Que in Oxford, Alabama, one evening. 

Now, as she recalls that faithful encounter, 80-year-old Eleanor Baker knows it was God’s will for it to take place. “It was a God thing. I think God sent me there [as an example that] people care about other people and how important it is.”

This loving elderly lady is a widow and lives with her furry pal. She does have a family, but they all live in other cities, so she spends most of her days all by herself. 

The evening started as usual, with Eleanor taking a seat and ordering her favorite meal. But then, out of the blue, a young man approached and asked her whether she would mind if he sat with her. 

Jamario Howard and two friends of his entered the place just after Eleanor and they somehow knew she felt lonely, so they wanted to make her evening by keeping her company. 

“He just came up and he said ‘I saw you sitting over here alone’ and he said ‘do you mind having some company?’” Eleanor recalls.

She said yes, and had no idea she would have that much fun. They, on the other hand, were happy they met such positive person like Eleanor. “When you make that kind of connection with somebody, it’s hard to let it go,” JaMychol Baker, one of the boys, said.

Jamario, who says he always wanted to change the world and make it a better place for everyone, says how meeting Eleanor had deep impact on him and his friends. They knew that their act of joining her table that evening meant the world to her, and they are glad they put a smile on her face. 

“I’m not rich. I’m not famous. And I’m not very smart either, so I can’t be president. But we can show the world it’s alright to be kind,” Jamario said. “And then, before long, maybe the world will be a much better place.”

These guys showed us that we should always make sure those around us are happy, because that’s the only way that leads to our own happiness. 

If this story inspired you to do good yourself, share it with your family and friends. 

Exhausted Dog Found Swimming a Staggering 130 Miles From Shore

By
Monica Pop
-

As a group of workers was toiling on the massive oil rig in the Gulf of Thailand, one of them spotted a pretty unusual sight.

A terrified dog somehow found himself there in the ocean and no one knew how. It was Vitisak Payalaw who alerted the crew of the poor animal.

The shivering dog was all puzzled, as was the entire group of people. How could an animal so tiny end up 135 miles off the coast?

But that was not really important. What was crucial was for them to come up with a plan to get him out of the water.

First, the workers tried pulling him off by lowering a pole, hoping the animal would be able to climb onto. But the plan failed as the dog kept slipping off.

“I thought that if we didn’t move quickly, I would not be able to help him,” Vitisak said. “If he lost his grip, it would be very difficult to help him.”

Eventually, they managed to lasso the poor soul with a rope. Once on the rig, the dog felt relieved knowing he was at a safe place.

“His eyes were so sad. He just kept looking up just like he wanted to say, ‘please help me,’” Vitisak said. “At that moment, whoever saw this, they would just have to help.”

The kind people not only saved the dog from certain death, but they also gave him lots of food, water, and a bunch of hugs. His tiny eyes were filled with gratitude for those who lent him a helping hand. They named him Boonrod, a Thai word for ‘survivor.’

“He looked extremely exhausted and ran out of energy. He didn’t move much,” said Vitisak. “He was shaking and he couldn’t stand, he had to sit all the time.”

The next thing they needed to do was to come up with a plan on how to transport Boonrod to the mainland. How they did it? They erected a special cage with a blanket and water and had it lifted by a crane onto a ship.

All of the workers said how they would miss the sweet pup, but they knew he was about to start his new, better life.

Once on a land, Boonrod was taken in by Watcdog Thailand, an organization that helps neglected and abused dogs. They took him for a check-up and were willing to help him recover from the ordeal.

They also hope someone will come along and offer him a forever home. But in case that doesn’t happen until Vitisak returns home, then he would be the one taking the dog in.


Boonrod is only able to start his life again thanks to the workers who spotted him and wanted to help.

Doctors diagnose teen with constipation, dies 24 hours later

By
Kelly White
-

Jack Dunn was 17 years old, a teenager and he was having terrible stomach pains, he even struggled to walk properly with the pain he was in. His parents were quite rightly concerned and took him to a hospital for doctors to assess him.

The doctors gave their opinion to the boy and his parents, they said he had really bad constipation. They gave him a laxative but by the lack of a few more simple and inexpensive tests, they didn’t realize his condition was far more grave! His father found Kieron, from Wales in the UK, in his bed just 24 hours after he had been released from the hospital, he was dead…
Source: Wales News Service
Hi parents say that the doctors were not really concerned about his really bad stomach pains at all, they scanned his stomach to check is was not appendicitis then they just moved on. Jack’s father said:

“We took him to A&E and completely trusted the doctors in telling us what was wrong with him. He could barely walk he was in so much pain. He was given a bladder scan but it didn’t really show anything up. The doctor said he was baffled and believed Jack was suffering from nothing more than a bad bout of constipation”

Source: Wales News Service
Sadly though, the doctors were not able to find Jack’s medical condition at the time, its really sad to think a small, fast, and inexpensive test could have saved his life. Jack had a condition known as diabetic ketoacidosis, it slowly turns the blood acidic, damages organs severely producing excessive ketones in the blood.

It turns out that Jack had diabetic ketoacidosis.

It all happens as a result of the body not producing enough insulin from the pancreas…
Source: Wales News Service
Kieron said:

“When Jack was finding it difficult to breathe the doctor thought it was probably anxiety because Jack was anxious about being in the hospital …But him struggling to breathe was because his organs were closing down because of the ketoacidosis.”

“Finding my son dead in his bed was the worst moment of my life. I believe Jack would be alive today if a few more simple tests had been carried out.”

Jack’s family are really emotional knowing that it could have easily been prevented if the doctors gave him a very simple glucose test, it would have taken less than two minutes to do the test with a straightforward prick of the finger and a small drop of blood!
Source: Wales News Service

“Jack’s white blood cell count was up so that was an indicator something was going on in his body that wasn’t right. If they had tested him for ketones he would probably be alive today.”

If ketoacidosis is suspected, it’s easy to test for ketones in the blood with a finger prick test, its also easy to treat with insulin, if caught in time it is very manageable.

Ketoacidosis also presents symptoms of fatigue, states of confusion, unusual and great thirst, rapid breathing, and the need to urinate much more frequently, keep these in mind, maybe one day you can help someone knowing this! Jack’s parents really want to use their story and the tragedy to educate people that could end up in similar circumstances, so that this easily treatable condition doesn’t take any more lives, especially of children or young teens, which is usually when it tends to happen most of the time. Please SHARE this story with everyone you know and let’s raise awareness and possibly even save lives!

Woman demands a mother and daughter speak English, gets completely ridiculed

By
Monica Pop
-

Nowadays, although everyone leads a very busy life and follows tight schedules, many people still find the time to stick their noses in someone else’s business. 

Just recently, a woman was caught on tape arguing with a mother and a daughter she stumbled upon in a store because they weren’t speaking English but another language.

People who have seen the video can’t help but wonder why would someone even mind what language people are using in order to communicate between each other. 

America is a free country in which people are entitled to the freedom of speech and are allowed to express their opinions on whatever language they feel most comfortable using. 

The incident took place at Walmart in Appleton, Wisconsin. As the mother and the daughter were engaged into a conversation, this random and quite rude woman appeared in front of them out of the blue and started yelling at them. She could be heard saying, “speak the language,” referring to English.  

The daughter, Jasmine, who later posted the video of the incident on her Facebook page, and her mom were not harming anyone. They could speak English because they both know the language but opted to use their native language, Hmong, because the mother was more comfortable speaking it. 

After they told the woman that they were allowed to speak whatever language they wanted, she got even madder. She didn’t know what to reply so she said something that sounded very confusing. Her exact words were, “I guess it’s, like, because, it’s just kinda like, ok, you don’t know what, not that it’s any of your business.”

Honestly, with such poor language skills, she isn’t really eligible to tell others how to speak. 

Jasmine tried being reasonable and told the woman that according to her logic, she should be speaking Hmong if she ever visits her native land to what the woman replied how she took some Spanish classes before she went to Mexico once. Trying to defend her point, she even counted to 10 in Spanish. 

Both Jasmine and her mother felt humiliated and required the woman stop making racist comments. She replied that asking them to speak English wasn’t racist at all after she simply walked away.  

The video of the unpleasant encounter got more than a million views and people said how Jasmine and her mother did the right thing by not getting into conflict with the woman who attacked them verbally. They were calm and polite, which couldn’t be said for that woman. 

We are glad the video was shared on the social media because it’s one of the ways through which we can raise awareness of the negative effect racism has on people.

You can take a look at it below. 

“God Doesn’t Make Mistakes”: Rory Feek’s Emotional Tribute to His Daughter With Down Syndrome

By
Monica Pop
-

Joey and Rory were a beloved country music duo up until 2016, when Joey lost her battle to cervical cancer and said the last goodbye to her husband and their two-year-old daughter Indiana.

Ever since the loss of the person he loved the most, Rory spent his days taking care of Indy. No matter how much it hurt, he always knew he had to remain strong for his little girl. Sweet Indy is 6 today, and her father says she’s the best thing that has ever happened to him.

Despite the sadness and the grief that came with Joey’s passing, Rory never stopped inspiring his fans by sharing stories of his and Indy’s everyday life on his blog “This Life to Live.” People love how devoted, supportive, and loving Rory is. Raising a girl all by himself isn’t an easy task, but he believes Joey’s spirit is still there and guides him through the way.

Indiana was born a few months before her mom’s diagnosis and Rory and Joey didn’t know she had Down Syndrome until she was welcomed into the world. But that never bothered them even a bit. On the contrary, they knew Indy was a blessing and now Rory wants the whole world to know that by paying emotional tribute to his girl.

In one of his blogs he titled “Crib Notes” Rory speaks of Indy and says, “God doesn’t make mistakes.” He wants people to know that being a girl with Down Syndrome doesn’t make Indy less loved, or a mistake, as some people would say. No child can ever be a mistake, regardless of how they look. And Indy is a real beauty.

Rory goes on writing how his daughter’s life is as meaningful as that of any other child out there. She has her likes, dislikes, and dreams.

“…somewhere between 70 – 90% of pregnant mothers that get tested and learn that their unborn child has down-syndrome abort the baby.   I get it though.  The world has told us that they are less.  A mistake.  But I don’t believe they are.  At least I know Indiana’s not.  When she was born, Joey and I said, ‘this is the child God wants us to have’, and we believed it.  And we were right.  I can not imagine Joey not having those two years to be a mama to Indiana and get to experience the love and happiness that Indy brought to her,” Joey wrote.

Rory, we are very glad you shared your daughter’s story with us and brought a spotlight to these incredible kids.

Take a look at the emotional video below.

Camera Footage Shows Stranger Saving Lifeless Child at Supermarket

By
Monica Pop
-

Different people react differently in stressful situations. While some get easily frightened and start to panic, there are also those who stay calm and are able to pull themselves together. And it’s not about how brave they are, it’s simply in people’s nature to react one way or the other.

A video footage caught on the security camera of a supermarket shows how a man who found himself in a middle of a stressful situation managed to keep a cool head and save a child’s life. 

The video shows a distressed mother carrying her lifeless daughter in her arms and running around in panic. She then hands her baby over to the stranger standing at the checkout. As everyone is shocked by what is going on, the mother gets out of the shop to get to her husband. 

The father is as panicked as his wife and they anxiously wait for the ambulance to come, but the stranger who has the girl in his arms knows they are running out of time so he takes matters in his own hands and gives the child CPR. Thankfully, she starts breathing.  

This stranger became the family’s hero. He saved the girl’s life and they can’t thank him enough for acting that fast. 

1...721722723...899Page 722 of 899