Feelgood News... April 09
 

<h2>W.Va. retiree, 70, aces consecutive holes</h2>CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Boone County golfer has two reasons to celebrate a hole-in-one at Charleston's Coonskin Park. Retiree Carl Smith, 70, aced consecutive holes on the executive par 3 course Tuesday. Starting his round on the back nine, Smith used a pitching wedge to ace the 70-yard 18th hole. He said it never entered his mind to try for another.

After a short snack break, Smith used a sand wedge on the 100-yard first hole and saw his tee shot bounce twice before disappearing into the cup. His friend, Bob Roy, witnessed the feats.

Smith took up golf after retiring in 1999 and finding a full set of clubs at a discount store for $4.95. His first hole-in-one came three years ago.

Smith was busy with other matters Wednesday — he's in a weekly bowling league.
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Information from: Charleston Daily Mail, http://www.dailymail.com
========================

Dang... he's got more holes in one than me, with $5 clubs... I can only hope to live so long and be so lucky...

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

<h2>Dog overboard found four months later</h2>SYDNEY (AFP) – A pet dog that fell overboard in rough seas off Australia has been reunited with its owners after surviving alone on an island for four months, reports said.

Sophie Tucker, apparently named after a late US entertainer, fell overboard as Jan Griffith and her family sailed through choppy waters off the northeast Queensland coast in November.

The dog was believed to have drowned and Griffith said the family was devastated.

But out of sight of the family, Sophie Tucker was swimming doggedly and finally made it to St Bees Island, five nautical miles away, and began the sort of life popularised by the TV reality show "Survivor."

She was returned to her family last week when Griffith contacted rangers who had captured a dog that had been living off feral goats on the largely uninhabited island, in the faint hope it might be their long-lost pet.

When the Griffiths met the rangers' boat bringing the dog to the mainland they found that it was indeed Sophie Tucker on board.

"We called the dog and she started whimpering and banging the cage and they let her out and she just about flattened us," Griffith told the national AAP news agency.

"She wriggled around like a mad thing."

Griffith said that when the dog was first spotted on the island she had been in poor condition.

"And then all of a sudden she started to look good and it was when the rangers had found baby goat carcasses so she'd started eating baby goats," she said.

Sophie Tucker, a member of the Australian cattle dog breed, had been quick to readjust to the comforts of home, complete with airconditioning, Griffiths said.

"She surprised us all. She was a house dog and look what she's done, she's swum over five nautical miles, she's managed to live off the land all on her own," Griffiths said.

"We wish she could talk, we truly do."
==============================

*sniff* I loves happy endings, I does...

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

..must have found the immunity idol! ;)

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

Can't beat a good shaggy dog story. Nice stuff Bung :)

Man bites.... snake
 

<h2>Man bites python</h2>NAIROBI (Reuters) – A Kenyan man bit a python who wrapped him in its coils and hauled him up a tree in a struggle that lasted hours, local media said Wednesday.

Farm manager Ben Nyaumbe was working at the weekend when the serpent, apparently hunting for livestock, struck in the Malindi area of Kenya's Indian Ocean coast.

"I stepped on a spongy thing on the ground and suddenly my leg was entangled with the body of a huge python," he told the Daily Nation newspaper.

When the snake coiled itself round his upper body, Nyaumbe resorted to desperate measures: "I had to bite it."

The python dragged him up a tree, but when it eased its grip, Nyaumbe said he was able to take a mobile phone out of his pocket and phone for help.

When his supervisor came with a policeman, Nyaumbe smothered the snake's head with his shirt, while the rescuers tied it with a rope and pulled.

"We both came down, landing with a thud," said Nyaumbe, who survived with damaged lips and bruising.

The snake escaped from the three sacks it was bundled into.

(Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Jack Kimball)
======================

Not your typical feelgood, but I like...

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

??

I think Jack needs some grammar lessons..

A good story though. It was high time for a feel good story.

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

???
You mean Jack NEEDS some grammar lessons? :laugh3:

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

That's what I get for trying to type at 7am, :)

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

For some reason I feel sorry for the snake. Is that evil???

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

I hope not: I did too!

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

<h2>Mich. man helps deliver wife's surprise baby</h2>MONTCALM COUNTY, Mich. – A western Michigan man helped deliver his wife's baby boy despite not knowing she was pregnant. The Grand Rapids Press reported the man called 911 early Thursday as his wife was in labor. The man told the dispatcher that he had not known his 27-year-old wife was pregnant. He said they recently quit smoking and thought her recent weight gain was related.

The couple has two children, and the mother has an additional child from a previous relationship.

Following the successful delivery, the dispatcher talked the man through post-birth procedures. The child was taken to a local hospital.
___
Information from: The Grand Rapids Press, http://www.mlive.com/grand-rapids
=================================

Heard them on the news last night... in the 911 call, they were truly surprised at the arrival of a baby. I guess this could have gone as Odd News, but since the baby arrived alive... ;)

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

<h2>Husky found after fleeing scene of fatal crash</h2>SNOWVILLE, Utah – Volunteer dog lovers have tracked down a Siberian husky that was missing for two weeks after surviving a car accident that killed his owner.

Neo had been wandering the ranch land of northern Utah since April 4, when his owner, 47-year-old Joyce Moore of Kelso, Wash., was killed after her vehicle rolled over on Interstate 84.

Lt. Lee Perry of the Utah Highway Patrol said the dog had stood nearby as rescue crews attended to Moore, but fled when someone tried to catch him.

Volunteers went door to door telling ranchers and farmworkers about Neo. One estimated she had spent 60 hours "networking for Neo."

On Thursday, a man at a ranch the team had already visited waved a searcher down, saying a dog had been found in a shed. He said he backed out quickly when the dog growled, latching the door.

It was Neo — wearing the same harness and heart-shaped name tag he was wearing in photos recovered from the wrecked SUV.

"To make something positive out of a fatal car crash, that's about as good as it gets," Perry said Thursday night in a telephone interview. The dog is a bit thin and dehydrated but overall "is in fantastic condition," Perry quoted a volunteer as saying.

Volunteers quickly notified Joyce Moore's sister, Deborah Moore, also of Kelso. A volunteer was going to take care of the dog until Deborah Moore could pick him up.

"There's so much riding on Deb retrieving Neo, emotionally speaking," family friend Barbara Teasdale told the Longview (Wash.) Daily News. "This is a piece of Joyce coming home."
=======================

Not quite as good as four months on a deserted island, but glad that Neo made it through.

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

<h2>Miss. woman gets shot in head, but makes tea</h2>BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A Mississippi woman who was shot in the head not only survived but made herself tea and offered an astonished deputy something to drink, authorities said Friday. Tammy Sexton, 47, remained hospitalized three days after being wounded by her husband, who killed himself after he shot his wife. A bullet struck her squarely in the forehead, passed through her skull and exited through the back of her head, authorities said. She is expected to fully recover.

"There's no way she should be alive other than a miracle from God," said Sheriff Mike Byrd of Jackson County, Miss.

Byrd said deputies were looking for Sexton's husband, Donald Ray Sexton, earlier in the week to give him a document ordering him to stay away from his wife. Court records show he was put on probation for six months on April 9 for domestic violence.

He showed up at their home in rural Jackson County in Southeast Mississippi about 12:10 a.m. Tuesday and confronted his wife as a relative ran next door to call police, the sheriff said.

"She was at her bed, and he shot her right in the head," Byrd said. "Then he went out on the back porch and shot himself."

A deputy was greeted by the woman when he arrived minutes after she was shot with the slug from a .380-caliber handgun.

"When the officer got there she said, `What's going on?' She was holding a rag on her head and talking. She was conscious, but she was confused about what had happened," he said. "She had made herself some tea and offered the officer something to drink."

Byrd said the bullet apparently passed through the lobes of the woman's brain without causing major damage. She was rushed to a Mobile hospital by a helicopter.

While such cases may be rare, a neurosurgeon who wasn't involved in Sexton's case said such an outcome is possible. Medical journals also confirm people have been shot in the head with little or no lasting injury.

"There is a space in the brain where a missile could pass without doing any major damage. Is it possible? Yes. It would be rare," said Dr. Patrick Pritchard, an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

The sheriff called the case bizarre.

"You just don't hear of something like this. Somebody gets shot in the head and they're dead," Byrd said.
___
Associated Press writer Holbrook Mohr in Jackson, Miss., contributed to this report.
==========================

I'll log this under Feelgood because any time someone gets shot in the head and lives, that's a Feelgood story in my book.

The other stuff... leave it alone. We know. ;)

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

<h2>Centenarian rolls into bowling history in Nevada</h2>RENO, Nev. – A 100-year-old woman from New Jersey has become the oldest competitor in the history of the United States Bowling Congress Women's Championships.

Emma Hendrickson of Morris Plains, N.J., was presented Saturday night with a plaque and a medallion to commemorate her 50th consecutive appearance in the tournament. She also received a pendant with her birthstone in recognition of her status as the tournament's oldest participant.

The great-great-grandmother rolled a 115, 97 and 106 for a 318 series during team competition at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno.

Hendrickson, who celebrated her birthday less than a month ago, said her teammates sometimes help her line up because her eyesight has diminished over the years.

"I can see the ten pins standing clearly, but it's difficult to see what pins are standing for spares," she said.

Hendrickson previously shared the record with Ethel Brunnick of Santa Monica, Calif., who competed in 1987 at 99.

Hendrickson's bowling activity is supported by her 27 grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. Her husband and two children have passed away.

"I think it's what keeps her going," granddaughter Karen Mariani, 45, told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "It's something she did with her husband, with our mother."

She has no plans to stop; she has already signed up to compete in the 2010 event in El Paso, Texas.
====================

Impressive... keeping active enough to bowl at that age.

And sad to say, one of the few people I can beat in bowling. At least, most of the time... ;)

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

Wow. Lady who got shot in the head - lucky as heck.
And 100-year-old bowler is doing pretty damn well for her age. Most people that age wouldn't even be able to hold a bowling ball, let alone use it.
Nice work finding that stuff!

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

" "

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

I try. Here's another:

<h2>Man, 84, fights off carjackers with groin kick</h2>TACOMA, Wash. – An 84-year-old man has a black eye, but he still has his car, after fighting off two would-be carjackers. Ted Mazetier said he stopped Wednesday night to help two men with a disabled car when one punched him in the face and demanded his keys. Mazetier said he kicked the man in the groin and the other in the belly. The two men fled as a passer-by stopped to help.

Police later arrested two suspects for investigation of assault.

Mazetier said he'll think twice before stopping again to help someone on the street. He'll be 85 in June.
____
With information from Tacoma News Tribune, KOMO-TV
==============================

Sometimes, them old people ain't as easy as ya might think... good on 'im!

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

good indeed, ..and pity that he's now turned off from helping others who are stranded on the side of the road.

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

Wow I didn't think that people would sink to the level of hurting elderly people. That's sick. But good on him for fighting back and teaching them a lesson. Best of luck to him for his 85th.

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

<h2>Girl beats off muggers with marching band baton</h2>QUARTZ HILL, Calif. – Don't mess with a marching band girl, especially one armed with a baton. A 17-year-old high school marching band student beat up two assailants who tried to mug her as she walked to school in this high desert community about 40 miles north of Los Angeles, sheriff's officials said Tuesday.

The girl punched one of the men in the nose, kicked the other in the groin and beat both with her large baton before she ran away on Friday morning, officials said.

"The moral to this story is don't mess with the marching band girls, or you just might get what you deserve," said Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Michael Rust.

He said two men approached the girl from behind, grabbed her coat and demanded money. Deputies searched near Quartz Hill High School for the muggers, looking for a man who was holding his bloodied nose and the other limping.

No arrests have been made, but Rust said it appears the girl made her point to her assailants.

"Final score: Marching band 2, thugs 0," Rust quipped.
======================

That'll be another good one in the joint...

"You tried to mug a girl... a band chick... and *BOTH* of you got beat up? Awwww.... C'mere, sugarcakes..."

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

There's a few terrible jokes to be had in that article, but this is a feelgood thread, so I won't.

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

..makes me want to fly all the way there and shake her hand!

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

Hopefully muggers will take the hint (though I highly doubt it) that we WILL defend ourselves if the situation arises. We are no longer helpless victims. Now we know how to fight back.

Re: Feelgood News... April 09
 

I'm rather pleased that the police didn't respond back with the usual "the public shouldn't try to take things like this into their own hands... you never know when it might escalate... etc." bullcrap.