The week's good news: August 10, 2017
It wasn't all bad!
- 1. Piglet rescued by loving locals after falling off livestock truck
- 2. Runner helps competitor with heat stroke cross the finish line
- 3. Florida 8-year-old becomes youngest girl to reach the top of Mount Kilimanjaro
- 4. New Jersey cat that escaped during drive through Florida reunited with family
- 5. After years of saving lives, Texas postal worker donates his 100th gallon of blood
1. Piglet rescued by loving locals after falling off livestock truck
One little piggy will live to see another day, thanks to the generosity of a Pennsylvania community. Six-week-old Enzo had fallen off a livestock truck in Lancaster and was dodging traffic when Francesca McAndrews, 27, spotted the piglet and rushed into the road to save the animal. McAndrews soon discovered that Enzo needed at least $600 worth of surgery to fix a hernia the porker had developed in the fall. To help cover the cost, one local business hosted a "Swine & Wine" event; an online fundraiser raised another $1,650. "She's growing really fast," McAndrews told WDEL. She will take Enzo home after the piglet recovers from surgery.
2. Runner helps competitor with heat stroke cross the finish line
Jesse Orach was just 100 yards from the finish line when he knew he wasn't going to be able to cross it. The 23-year-old runner was about to win his second consecutive Beach to Beacon 10K in Maine on Saturday, but he had heat stroke, and stumbled before he could cross the line. "It kind of seemed like it was over for me," Orach told the Portland Press Herald. "Then, I felt someone pick me up." It was Robert Gomez, another runner. Gomez held Orach up and pushed him across the finish line, where he collapsed. Both men completed the course in 31 minutes, 31 seconds, but Orach "ran a better race," Gomez said. "He gave it more than I did. I didn't deserve to win."
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3. Florida 8-year-old becomes youngest girl to reach the top of Mount Kilimanjaro
Roxy Getter had a summer vacation she'll never forget — during a family trip to Africa in July, the 8-year-old from Punta Gorda, Florida, climbed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, becoming the youngest known girl to do so. It was her family's first time camping, and on the seventh day of the trip, they reached the 19,341-foot summit. Getter was born with a heart defect and had open-heart surgery as a baby, making her successful journey to the top of Africa's highest peak even sweeter. She told ABC News she's ready for her next adventure, but might want to do something on a smaller scale. "I would like to go up the mountain for a couple of hours and then come back down and go home," she said.
4. New Jersey cat that escaped during drive through Florida reunited with family
Ana Fontana never gave up hope that she'd be reunited with Trotskaya, the cat she rescued from a foreclosed home seven years ago. A New Jersey resident, Fontana was driving home from Arizona in mid-June with her companion when they stopped for lunch in Crestview, Florida. They left Trotskaya, aka Trotsy, in the car with the window slightly rolled down. When a storm came in, she got scared and went out the window. She hid under the hood, then took off again when Fontana and Krueger came back and started the car. They looked everywhere for Trotsy and posted missing signs, but there wasn't a break in the case until last week, when Trotsy was sent to the animal shelter. An employee recognized her from the posters and called Fontana, who raced down from New Jersey. "She's a survivor," Fontana told Northwest Florida Daily News.
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5. After years of saving lives, Texas postal worker donates his 100th gallon of blood
When Marco Perez was a baby, he had needed a blood transfusion in order to survive. Family friend Tony Aguilar donated the blood that saved his life, and Perez decided to follow his example. After years of giving the maximum amount of blood every year, Perez just donated his 100th gallon. "One donation just saved my life," he told Inside Edition. "If it wasn't for [Aguilar], I wouldn't have 100 gallons right now." A postal worker and Air Force veteran living in San Antonio, Perez visits the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center every two weeks to give blood, specifically platelets that are in demand for cancer patients. "It's safe to say he's saved over 1,500 lives with his donations," Roger Ruiz, STBTC's corporate communications specialist, told Inside Edition.
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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