Veterans at Home, on a Mission of Compassion to Help...

Rachel Gutierrez was an army sergeant in Iraq, but back home in Phoenix she leads a platoon. At 2:30 in the morning last Oct. 18, members of the 1st Platoon Phoenix   gathered at an all-night McDonalds in a bad neighborhood downtown. Their mission was to comb the streets for chronically homeless veterans (who tend to sleep in groups but scatter during the day) and register them to get housing and other services.

A program based on the proven idea that helping others is healing, usually more healing than being helped.

This was the platoon’s first mission. Thirty of its members worked over the three nights of the mission ; there were veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan, Desert Storm and Vietnam, and one 78-year-old who served during the Korean War. The platoon members worked with the Arizona Coalition to End Homelessness, the state’s Department of Veterans Services and Community Bridges, Inc —125 volunteers in total. The organizations drew a grid of the city and divided it between them.

Once on the street, the platoon quickly fell into military habits. “When we came across abandoned homes that were drug dens, we didn’t have to say anything, we just formed a perimeter,” said Gutierrez. “It happened naturally.” They moved quietly, separated by no more than five meters, using the standard military hand signs for stop or rally.

“It was 2:30 a.m. in a bad part of town,” said Alejandro Salazar, a Marine Corps veteran with three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, who is a 1st Platoon squad leader.“We had to be observant, check our surroundings, be aware of people walking in our direction and do a quick salutation to identify them. It felt good and familiar.“

It was a cold night for Phoenix and pitch black. They reached a parking lot and switched on their flashlights — and nearly tripped over eight people wrapped in blankets, sleeping.

Alejandro SalazarRachel Gutierrez, right, the leader of 1st Platoon Phoenix, collected information during a street outreach mission in October 2013.

“It helped that we understood what they were going through,” said Luis Camacho, another squad leader, also a Marine with three deployments in Iraq. “We could share their war stories. They’re a lot more willing to hear out a veteran.” Over three nights, the combined organizations registered 75 veterans. More than 40 of them agreed to leave the streets for housing. In December, the 1st Platoon visited them in their new apartments, delivering food and Christmas trees.

Determined paralyzed rower Nick Malafronte competes to regain use of his limbs and confidence...

Nick Malafronte was just 19 when he was paralyzed in a fall into a shallow swimming hole while working at a summer camp in his hometown of Abington. After hitting his head on the sandy bottom, he lay motionless face-down in the water until he was pulled out by lifeguards. Conscious but unable to move, he was med-flighted to Massachusetts General Hospital.

An accomplished high school athlete who had just completed his freshman year at Westfield State University, he was given a grim prognosis by doctors, who told him he would never walk again and would have very limited use of his arms.

But after meeting other quadriplegics and paraplegics who defied their own odds through intense rehabilitation and made progress in their recovery, Nick decided he would take control of his own fate and do whatever he had to do to improve.

He set a goal for himself and told his tearful mom, Diane, that summer: “It’s going to be OK, Mom. I will walk again.”

That determination is what gets him through each day since he was seriously injured in July 2011. And it’s what spurred the quadriplegic to compete in the adaptive division of this year’s Charles River All Star Has-Beens Sprints World Indoor Rowing Championships at Boston University.

Today, Nick — who can work a stylus for his phone and iPad with good control, feed himself, move his arms up, down, and side to side, and balance in his chair — still has that goal, but he’s working on other targets on a path to get there. Those small accomplishments he has made take a great deal of time, he said.

“It’s sometimes frustrating how slow the progress is. You don’t see results day by day, or even week by week,” Nick said. “Progress is measured month by month, and through the little things I do at home, like balance in my chair, feed myself without my arms getting as tired — basic stuff” that others take for granted.

“Nick can use his arms even though the doctor said he wouldn’t be able to even move them,” said Diane. “That shows you where hard work and determination get you.”

Today's Good Newsz Only Quote of the Day...

Mickey Cockrell found's Catie’s Closet to provide clothing for homeless students...

A not-for-profit that began three years ago in an unused Lowell High School classroom is growing rapidly with the help of local businesses, providing free clothing and toiletries to homeless students.

Named for Catie Bisson, a Lowell High School graduate who died in 2010 of a rare connective tissue disorder, Catie’s Closet is now in 16 schools in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and due to open in four Lowell schools within the next month.

“Our goal is to be in every school that needs us in the Merrimack Valley, and then the state, and then the country,” said Catie’s aunt, Mickey Cockrell, who quit her job at Kohl’s to open a closet in each school, where students referred by a teacher or social worker could find new or slightly used clothing and shoes in an array of sizes and styles, as well as toiletries like soap and shampoo.

There are an estimated 44,000 homeless students in Massachusetts — and 1.1 million in the U.S. — and lack of sufficient clothing is among the top reasons for absenteeism, according to the National Center for Homeless Education.

“They’re subject to bullying,” Cockrell said. “They come to school wearing flip-flops in the dead of winter, and they’re made fun of because they look poor.”

A 17-year-old student at Alvirne High School in Hudson, N.H., was living out of a car last fall when the school’s principal, Steve Beals, told him about Catie’s Closet.

“At first, I blatantly told him no,” said the teen, who asked that his name not be used. “I don’t like accepting free things. It didn’t feel like I earned it.”

When Beals pressed him, the student finally acquiesced and picked out two jackets, a pair of gloves and some school and bathroom supplies, but only on the condition that he stay after school and clear out the trash in the parking lot.

“I couldn’t have asked for more,” he said. “It felt good to know my school didn’t just care about grades. It made me feel relieved.”

To date, Catie’s Closet has helped about 3,000 students with the aid of local companies, including New Balance in Lawrence, which has donated shoes; Sublimagery in Boston, which has helped develop graphics; and Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union, which has donated money, held clothing drives and is sponsoring Catie’s Closet’s annual gala on March 22 at the Andover Country Club.

Over the last three months, the not-for-profit also has received aid from the Merrimack Valley Sandbox, which helps early-stage entrepreneurs accelerate their businesses or nonprofits by matching them with mentors.

Anne Marie Messier, the founder of Straight Line Management Solutions in Chelmsford, has spent a few hours each week working with Cockrell on how to brand and market Catie’s Closet.

“What impressed me most about Mickey and her team was their fearlessness and passion and drive,” Messier said. “To be around that is a breath of fresh air. Who wouldn’t want a shot of that in your life?”

1000's of first responders from around New England and beyond help Tyler Seddon, a RI boy suffering from cancer, celebrate his 7th birthday...

BURRILLVILLE, R.I. — Like many a grizzled lawman before him, Tyler Seddon is a man of few words.

Clad in the dark blue uniform of the Burrillville police, he listened solemnly as the town manager swore him in as chief Thursday morning, crossing his heart and pinky-swearing a pledge to serve to the best of his ability, before turning to face his troops.

“Be safe out there,” he told them.

Then he leaned in for a squeeze from his mom.

At just 7 years old, Tyler is not only the chief of police; he’s also the governor and the deputy attorney general of Rhode Island and a state trooper. He’s a fire chief and a Kentucky state trooper, and he’s probably a few other things, too, but after a while, his mother lost track.

Tyler is battling leukemia for the second time in his life, and his family is hoping for a match on the national bone marrow registry. Thursday was his birthday, and all he wanted was cards from his heroes: first responders. His mother, Rachel Seddon, is a volunteer firefighter in Pascoag, and he loves to go with her to the station to help clean the fire engines and visit with his favorite officer, Burrillville police Sergeant Brian Pitts, who often stops in.

But his simple request so touched police officers, firefighters, military, and emergency workers up and down the East Coast and beyond that about 1,000 of them converged on his town Thursday morning, from as far away as Kentucky, Virginia, and Delaware, to celebrate with him.

“I’m not sure there’s enough words to express how grateful we really are,” said Rachel Seddon, looking out at a sea of uniforms assembled in Wright’s Farm Restaurant for the party that capped the morning’s festivities. “I really cannot believe that all of you have come out here for one child. . . . I think we’ve truly, in whole, have made a huge difference in the world, just for a birthday.”

Today's Good Newsz Only Quote of the Day...

Superheroes Run the Last 17 Miles of the Boston Marathon route getting ready for their big day in April...

It’s far from unordinary to see runners flooding Boston streets on Saturday mornings in March preparing for the marathon, but seeing Superman and Wonder Woman jog by is a different story. That’s exactly what happened over the weekend, thanks to the CharityTeams Superhero 17 run, where more than 250 participants ran the last 17-mile stretch of the Boston Marathon route (from Natick to Copley Square) dressed as their favorite superhero.

CharityTeams is a non-profit organization that works with teams running the marathon in support of particular charities to build up the team and form camaraderie that aids in the process of preparing for the race. “When you bring the charity under the CharityTeams umbrella, it makes it so they have a lot more friends, networking, and people to run with every week,” says Susan Hurley, founder of CharityTeams.

For the past few years, CharityTeams has chosen to take some of the bite out of the longer runs at the climax of marathon training. “It’s really a diversion for the runners to make it fun and so they’re not fearful,” says Hurley of the choice to dress up for the long runs. Many of the runners involved with the fundraising teams are beginners, simply supporting a cause, so the longer runs at the climax of marathon training can seem daunting. This event will be followed by the Hop-21 on Saturday, March 29, where runners don Easter outfits (get ready for sprinting bunnies and chicks) for the 21-mile run.

Besides the spectacle of a pack of superheroes running through the city, “Charity runners kind of are superheroes in their own way,” Hurley says. “They’re balancing jobs and lives, and raising a lot of money for local charities, and then they’re out there training in what I call the ‘Frozen Tundra.’” As all the money raised through the John Hancock Non Profit Partners program and the Boston Athletic Association program goes back into the community, saving lives, the choice of superheroes was an easy one for Hurley.

In case you missed the festivities this weekend, check out the photos below:

PHOTO BY MARGARET BURDGE

For Diane Wilson, who’s already done a 16-mile run, one extra mile shouldn’t be a problem, but she can’t shake the fact that 17 feels like a big hurdle in the training. “As silly as it is to be wearing a Wonder Woman costume down the marathon route, it’s a great way to distract us from the 17 miles, and I’m thankful for that,” says Wilson. “I’m thankful for the chance to be silly, and get 17 miles in in a silly way.” 

24 Year Old William Kyle Carpenter - A True American Hero - to Receive the Medal of Honor...

William Kyle Carpenter, a Marine Corps veteran who was severely wounded during a November 2010 grenade attack in Afghanistan, will receive the nation’s highest combat valor award later this year, Marine Corps Times has learned.

Carpenter, a 24-year-old medically retired corporal, will become the service’s third Medal of Honor recipient from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which date back to October 2001. The Marine Corps is finalizing plans with the White House for a ceremony in Washington, officials said.

Marine Corps Times began making inquires about the status of Carpenter’s case because the statute of limitations for Department of Navy Medal of Honor awards requires that a formal recommendation be made within three years of the combat action in question. Carpenter, the subject of two cover stories published by Marine Corps Times in 2012, also recently appeared in the national media. He was the subject of a January feature story in Reader’s Digest and a related appearance Jan. 27 on Katie Couric’s syndicated talk show.

Carpenter declined to comment on reports that he would soon receive the Medal of Honor.

A Marine Corps spokesman referred all comment to the White House. A White House spokesman said he had no scheduling announcements to make regarding the award. However, Medal of Honor presentations are typically announced only a month in advance.

Carpenter’s Medal of Honor nomination stems from reports that, as a 21-year-old lance corporal, he intentionally covered a grenade to save the life of his friend, Lance Cpl. Nicholas Eufrazio on Nov. 21, 2010, as the two Marines were standing guard on a rooftop in the Marjah district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province. Both men survived the blast, but were badly wounded. Carpenter lost his right eye and most of his teeth, his jaw was shattered and his arm was broken in dozens of places.

Eufrazio sustained damage to the frontal lobe of his brain from shrapnel. Until recently, his wounds rendered him unable to speak.

Today's Good Newsz Only Quote of the Day...

For Kayla Montgomery, an 18 year old runner With M.S., No Pain While Racing, No Feeling at the Finish...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — When a pack of whip-thin girls zipped across the finish of the 1,600-meter race at a recent track meet here, the smallest runner’s legs wobbled like rubber, and she flopped into her waiting coach’s arms. She collapses every time she races.

Kayla Montgomery, 18, was found to have multiple sclerosis three years ago. Defying most logic, she has gone on to become one of the fastest young distance runners in the country — one who cannot stay on her feet after crossing the finish line.

Because M.S. blocks nerve signals from Montgomery’s legs to her brain, particularly as her body temperature increases, she can move at steady speeds that cause other runners pain she cannot sense, creating the peculiar circumstance in which the symptoms of a disease might confer an athletic advantage.

Continue reading the main story

But intense exercise can also trigger weakness and instability; as Montgomery goes numb in races, she can continue moving forward as if on autopilot, but any disruption, like stopping, makes her lose control.

Photo

Kayla Montgomery being carried off by her coach, Patrick Cromwell. Because of her multiple sclerosis, she collapses after every race. CreditJeremy M. Lange for The New York Times

Runners Give Spontaneous Tribute To 95-Year-Old WWII Vet Joe Bell Who Came To Cheer them on...

Runners in Sunday's 408K Race took a spontaneous detour to thank a World War II veteran watching the event in uniform.

Joe Bell, 95, had come out on the drizzly morning to cheer on the runners in the 8-kilometer race from downtown San Jose to Santana Row. The event's charity partner is the Pat Tillman Foundation, which funds scholarships for military veterans and their spouses.

The runners, in turn, showed their appreciation for Bell's long-ago service, detouring from the course to shake his hand.

The Tillman Foundation is named for the NFL player from the South Bay who was killed while serving with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan in 2002. 

Runners in the annual Pat Tillman Foundation race in San Jose detoured to thank 95-year-old World War II veteran Joe Bell for his service. (Julia Prodis Sulek/Mercury News)

Today's Good Newsz Only Quote of the Day...

4 year old Jessica's "Daily Affirmation" - lots to be grateful for...

The ‘Incredible’ thing 8-Year-Old Myles Eckert did for Lt. Col. Frank Dailey will be remembered for a ‘Lifetime’...

Like most 8-year-olds, Myles Eckert was already dreaming up ways he could spend a $20 bill he had just discovered laying in a Cracker Barrel parking lot earlier this month.

“I kind of wanted to get a video game, but then I decided not to,” the child recounted to CBS News.

That’s because Eckert saw Lt. Col. Frank Dailey enter the restaurant. The man in uniform changed his mind.

Why?

“Because he was a soldier, and soldiers remind me of my dad,” Eckert explained to CBS.

Lt. Col. Frank Dailey enters a Cracker Barrel Feb. 7. (Image source: Screen grab via CBS News)

So, instead of purchasing something for himself, Eckert did something very different on Feb. 7. Something Dailey says he will remember for “a lifetime.”

The 8-year-old boy wrapped the $20 bill in a note he had authored to the solider.

“Dear Soldier — my dad was a soldier. He’s in heaven now.”

Share:

“Dear Soldier — my dad was a soldier. He’s in heaven now,” the note said. “I found this 20 dollars in the parking lot when we got here. We like to pay it forward in my family. It’s your lucky day! Thank you for your service. Myles Eckert, a gold star kid.”

Lt. Col. Frank Dailey received a touching note from 8-year-old Myles Eckert earlier this month. (Image source: Screen grab via CBS News)

Eckert’s father, Army Sgt. Andy Eckert, had been killed in Iraq when he was only a few weeks old. The 8-year-old can only think of what he was like.

“I imagine him as a really nice person and somebody that would be really fun,” he told CBS News.

That February day, Eckert even asked his mother to go visit his father.

“He wanted to go see his dad,” said his mother Tiffany. “And he wanted to go by himself that day.”

She took a photograph of her son visiting his father’s grave.

8-year-old Myles Eckert visits his father. (Image source: Screen grab via CBS News)

Dailey, touched by the Eckert’s gesture, said he looks at the note he received each day.

“It’s incredible being recognized in such a manner,” he said, adding that the child’s simple gift has provided him “a lifetime of direction.”

12 year old Louis Corbett goes on 'bucket list' trip before he goes blind...friends and strangers are stepping in to make it all possible.

(CNN) -- As will also happen to two of his older brothers, 12-year-old Louis Corbett will one day be blind.

The three young New Zealanders have retinitis pigmentosa -- a progressive disorder that eventually deteriorates vision over the course of decades.

But for the youngest of the five Corbett children, that day will come much sooner.

"Last year was a hard one for poor Louie," mother Catherine Corbett told CNN over the phone from their home in Auckland. "That's when he learned that his case was accelerated."

Though it may seem like a coincidence of extraordinary odds that three young brothers would be stricken with retinitis pigmentosa, it really isn't. Though rare, the disease is hereditary.

Faced with the grim reality that Louie will soon lose the ability to see the world around him, the Corbetts decided to embark on an international sightseeing tour. "This year we're going to try and fill his world with as many beautiful images as we can," his mother told CNN.

Instructed to make something of an ocular bucket list -- things and places he'd like to see for the first, only and likely last time -- Louie picked places like the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, the Empire State Building and, in a sign of the times, Google headquarters in California.

But the thing Louie wanted to see the most with his own eyes wasn't a landmark or a national park; Louie wanted to take in a game, because like many young boys his age, Louie is a sports fan. But unlike most of his Kiwi peers who would favor nationally popular sports such as rugby and cricket, Louie's sport of choice is a bit out of the ordinary.

"For some reason he really got hooked on American basketball," his mom said. "He cares about nothing else. He is really quite passionate about it."

Louie's number one wish was to go to Boston to see his beloved Celtics play a game.

Today's Good Newsz Only Quote of the Day...

Boston Bruins Make-A-Wish come true for 16 year old Maria Splaine..

Maria Splaine...in her own words.

Those of you who have ever been a recipient, or have known a recipient of a Make-A-Wish, know just how incredible an experience it is. For those of you who have not, I would like to share my amazing experience with the Boston Bruins.

First, introductions. My name is Maria Splaine. I’m 16 years old, a junior at Presentation of Mary Academy in Methuen, MA, and currently a patient at the Jimmy Fund Clinic at Dana Farber.

I was shocked to find out that I would receive a Make-A-Wish. I never imagined I would get one. While contemplating what it should be, I decided it should be something that money could not buy, a memory to last a lifetime. That’s when I thought of the Bruins. What is better than getting to know some of the greatest hockey players and the best NHL team? Thus, started the trip that I shall remember forever!

The fun would start right away as I would get to fly with the Bruins, on the team plane! While there were only two seats on the team plane for my dad and me, the Boston Bruins and Make-A-Wish made sure my mom got in on the fun and flew her out separately.

My trip started with a limo ride to Hanscom. With my Make-A-Wish team of Nancy and Kathy waving as my father and I pulled out of the drive, the journey began. I was so excited, but also nervous. Tons of questions swirled through my head. Would it be weird? Would I be able to talk with the players that I love to watch so much?

All those nerves were put to rest as soon as I arrived. While waiting for the plane, I was approached by Zdeno Chara, who introduced himself and said, “Maria, we are so happy you could join us.” WOW. The big man himself already knew my name and was welcoming me. Beyond, amazing!

The flight out to Buffalo was a whole new world. I got to see the whole team dynamic, and the structure of how they travel. I even got to chat with Coach Julien about his adventures in Sochi.

Once we landed, we went straight to the hotel, then out to dinner with two of my favorite players, Shawn Thorntonand Torey Krug, as well as Eric Tosi and Kerry Collins, my Bruins host for the trip. I will never forget that dinner; it felt like a family affair, a 3+ hour event with good friends. Who knew that Shawn Thornton was such a foodie? And never in a million years would I have guessed I would ever try beef tartare. Yes, it happened. Thanks, Shawn Thornton.

After dinner we returned to the hotel to turn in for the night, or at least I did. While walking in, we passed the equipment guys on their way to the rink to set up for the next day’s game. One thing that definitely will stick with me is just how hard those guys work. They were always going.

Wednesday started with morning skate. I watched the players workout, then got to tour behind the scenes at the stadium. Also at morning skate, I was able to talk with some of the staff including, Don DelNegro, Derek Repucci and Matt Falconer about their jobs on the team.

Later on that evening, my family and I went to the game. While the outcome was not what we all hoped it would be, it was still incredible. The silence on the bus ride to the plane was a testament to just how serious these players are. The flight home seemed all too short. It was hard to believe that it was all coming to an end. With final goodbyes from the players and staff, I was whisked away back home by the same limo that took me there.

It was a privilege to be able to get an inside view of how the Bruins work as a team. Overall, I cannot stress enough how gracious and generous the entire Bruins organization is, from players, to coaches, to the supporting staff, especially Kerry Collins, everyone went way out of their way to make me feel comfortable and welcome the entire time. Even the flight crew made sure I was well taken care of. I was truly impressed by how caring each and every player was.

This trip will be one of my most treasured memories for the rest of my life. It truly is an honor to be a Bruins fan. Thank you Make-A-Wish and the Boston Bruins for everything! LETS GO B’S.

After being found unconscious in his car doctors said to pull the plug on Anthony Pezzo ... But They Didn't Listen...Especially His Sister Elena.

Sometimes, you just have to take matters into your own hands. In the case of Elena Pezzo, the matter that needed to be dealt with was the rapidly deteriorating health of her brother, Anthony.

To hear Elena talk about it, Anthony was your average, ambitious American man. "My brother was a total meat and potatoes guy," she explains. "He was an entrepreneur in New York City. He owned a car wash. He worked hard and fast and had that kind of personality. He was high stress."

Whether that stress led to Anthony's eventual condition, nobody can be sure, but what we do know is that a seemingly healthy man with energy to burn suddenly dropped to the ground in a parking lot.

"On June 6th, 2011, Anthony had a seizure in a parking lot and it turned into a stroke," she says. "He was found 24 hours later on the ground. As soon as I heard, I flew up from Florida to take care of him. He was in bad shape. He wasn't able to see and he couldn't speak or walk. The doctors even suggested pulling the plug."

What a lot of people don't understand is that strokes do strike younger people, which is why controlling blood pressure and vascular disease risk factors such as LDL and C-reactive protein are important at any age. Anthony was only 46 when stricken by this severe stroke.

Even more disturbing, the doctors suggested that she watch the movie The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which chronicles one man's battle with 'locked-in' syndrome, which is a condition whereby someone is mentally aware of their surroundings, but their body is completely paralyzed. It is a horrific ordeal that can happen rarely following someone awakening from a stroke.

"I chose not to pull the plug and instead decided to give treatment with supplements a try," she says.

This tactic, of course, was not supported by her brother's physicians. They had concluded that Anthony had suffered such a severe lack of oxygen to the brain that there was no hope for recovery. Elena says she saw the scans herself and could see that his entire brain was affected, not just one side. In her own, general terms, "His brain was fried."

"It was horrible," she says. "He was a vegetable and as far as his medical team was concerned, there was nothing they could do. He was in a coma and he was not coming out."

Prior to Anthony's stroke, he had not taken any supplements, but his sister says that he was in average health. Sitting there, watching him day after day, Elena became determined to not just let her brother slip away. She knew that she had to find some way to make him better or she should just pull the plug.

Thinking Outside the Medical Box

  

Having been an avid Life Extension® reader for many years, Elena knew that many established positions in mainstream medicine are wrong. At this moment, with her brother's life hanging in the balance, she turned to the knowledge that she had gained over the years about nutrients and how they can radically affect the brain. Particularly, she focused on two supplements: CoQ10 and omega-3 fish oils.

"I remembered reading several articles and news items in Life Extension® magazine about how good omega-3s are for the brain," she says. "I read the same things about CoQ10. Life Extension was the only place I trusted because me and my mom live with this magazine. We love it. The biggest message is what stress does to the body and how you can take holistic approaches to problems. I knew about the power of nutrition and supplementation."

Today's Good Newsz Only Quote of the Day...

After surviving cancer teenager Elana Simon helps scientists study her own rare disease...

WASHINGTON (AP) — First the teenager survived a rare cancer. Then she wanted to study it, spurring a study that helped scientists find a weird gene flaw that might play a role in how the tumor strikes.

Age 18 is pretty young to be listed as an author of a study in the prestigious journal Science. But the industrious high school student's efforts are bringing new attention to this mysterious disease.

"It's crazy that I've been able to do this," said Elana Simon of New York City, describing her idea to study the extremely rare form of liver cancer that mostly hits adolescents and young adults.

Making that idea work required a lot of help from real scientists: Her father, who runs a cellular biophysics lab at the Rockefeller University; her surgeon at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; and gene specialists at the New York Genome Center. A second survivor of this cancer, who the journal said didn't want to be identified, also co-authored the study.

Together, the team reported Thursday that they uncovered an oddity: A break in genetic material that left the "head" of one gene fused to the "body" of another. That results in an abnormal protein that forms inside the tumors but not in normal liver tissue, suggesting it might fuel cancer growth, the researchers wrote. They've found the evidence in all 15 of the tumors tested so far.

It's a small study, and more research is needed to see what this gene flaw really does, cautioned Dr. Sanford Simon, the teen's father and the study's senior author.

But the teen-spurred project has grown into work to get more patients involved in scientific research. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health are advising the Simons on how to set up a patient registry, and NIH's Office of Rare Diseases Research has posted on its web site a YouTube video in which Elana Simon and a fellow survivor explain why to get involved.

"Fibrolamellar Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Not easy to pronounce. Not easily understood," it says.

Simon was diagnosed at age 12. Surgery is the only effective treatment, and her tumor was caught in time that it worked. But there are few options if the cancer spreads, and Simon knows other patients who weren't so lucky.

A high school internship during her sophomore year let Simon use her computer science skills to help researchers sort data on genetic mutations in a laboratory studying another type of cancer.

Simon wondered, why not try the same approach with the liver cancer she'd survived?

Decades-long search reunites Dave Hickman with "Roseann Wayne" the infant he rescued back in 1955...

RICHMOND, Ind. -- Dave Hickman remembers it like it was yesterday, the day 58 years ago that changed his life forever.

The 73-year-old Tennessee man was then a 14-year-old Richmond kid, hunting with his grandfather Clay Smith in woods just west of Boston, Ind.

He and his grandfather had just finished hunting and began skinning the squirrels in a field off Indiana 122.

It was shortly after 6 p.m. on Sept. 22, 1955.

A noise interrupted their post-hunt reverie; like a soft cry or coo. They heard it again.

Hickman decided to find out what it was. It was a fateful decision that saved a human life.

He walked the fence row for about 25 yards to where the noise seemed to be emanating. Then he started to climb over the fence.

"When I was on top of the fence I saw her," Hickman said.

David Hickman(Photo: Special to the (Richmond, Ind.) Palladium-Item)

It was a tiny baby, alone, chilled, drenched from the overnight rain; wrapped in a towel, her umbilical cord coagulated to the fabric of the towel.

Later, police said they believed she had been there for 12 to 24 hours. Doctors said she was no more than five or six days old.

There was no doubt, she had been left there to die.

"Every day I see that vision of her laying in the brush and sticks and she was looking up at me. She wasn't crying. It was more like she was cooing," Hickman said.

"I remember thinking, 'What kind of person would do something like this?'"

The two men called the Wayne County Sheriff's Department and the baby was whisked away to a hospital.

Chicago Blackhawk's star and more importantly good guy Jonathan Toews Makes A Wish come true for 4 year old Nicholas Skretkowski...

See Video on NHL.com

CHICAGO -- When Nicholas Skretkowski showed up to Soldier Field on Friday night, the 4-year-old had his own stall inside the Chicago Blackhawks locker room.

Then came the biggest thrill of all in his Make-A-Wish evening as a teammate of Toews. Assisted by a pass from his hockey idol, Nicholas scored a goal with a redirection into the net.It was located next to his favorite player,Jonathan Toews, and there was a Blackhawks uniform just his size waiting for him. His number was 19, like Toews, but his last name was written across the back of his jersey.

Skretkowski, who has a medical condition called Wilms’ tumor and strabismus, is from Milton, Ontario. He made the visit with his parents for the appearance at the Blackhawks' outdoor practice prior to playing the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday in the 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series (8 p.m. ET; NBC).

It was a memory Nicholas won't forget, and it also was special for Toews.

"It was great ... not just to be out on the ice with him, but to have him in here with the guys," Toews said. "He seemed a little shy at first, but then kind of got more comfortable. Someone asked him about his favorite team and his favorite players. He seemed like he knew a lot for a little guy."

Wisconsin widow Colleen Wogernese fulfills promise at Brigham and Women's Hospital...

The Wisconsin widow and mother of two who vowed to dispense kindness to strangers to honor the memory of her late husband did just that yesterday at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Colleen Wogernese, 31, provided 318 random acts of kindness — one for each day her late husband fought cancer — for patients and staff at the Brigham.

Wogernese made the 1,200-mile trip from her home to buy coffee and hand out lottery tickets and care packages as a way of paying it forward at the hospital where her husband received treatment.