Tuesday, July 23, 2013

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


Injured Colorado couple turns bad news to good by choosing to celebrate life and get married on the anniversary of movie theater shooting...



In a story you’ll be reading about in every “939, 338,032,294 Things That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity” list until the end of time (and you won’t mind), 21-year-old Eugene Han and 22-year-old Kirstin Davis, who survived the Aurora movie theater shooting that left 12 dead, got married on Saturday, exactly one-year after f*ck you, James Holmes. Why that date? “That way,” said Davis, “we can make good memories and start a new chapter of our lives rather than allowing this memory from a year ago to stick with us every single year.”

The childhood friends who met in church in the fourth grade started dating three years ago. On the night of the shooting, the couple and three friends decided to go to the midnight showing of the new Batman movie.

When they got to the theater, it was packed. The only place they could find five seats together was in the second row, close to the emergency exit that accused shooter James Holmes would soon enter through.

Within moments, Han saw the person throw something into the crowd. He would later find out that it was a gas canister…Han said he pushed Davis under the chairs and put himself between her and the shooter, who was spraying bullets into the crowd. Han got shot in the hip. His reflex was to lift his leg and then he got shot in the knee. He “saw pieces of flesh fly.”

Nine months after the shooting, Han realized it was time to take the couple’s relationship to the next level.

“We were still dating and I was planning on proposing even before [the shooting] but I never had the chance to,” he said. “When the theater shooting happened, that’s when I was like, I really need to do this because you don’t know what’s going to happen after tomorrow.”

He proposed on April 9 while the couple was visiting South Padre Island in Texas. She said yes and he asked how she felt about getting married on the one-year anniversary of the shooting. Davis told him she had to think about it.

“I was kind of uncomfortable about the idea because I didn’t think it was okay to take a bad day and turn it into a good day, so I had to really think about it,” she said.

She thought about it and came to a conclusion about a half hour later. “I think it would be a good date to have our wedding,” she recalled saying. “That way we can make good memories and start a new chapter of our lives rather than allowing this memory from a year ago to stick with us every single year.”

OneSimpleWish.org is making dreams come true for foster children...




Founder and executive director of a Trenton-based nonprofit, Danielle Gletow, was named a CNN Hero.
Much like a fairy godmother, she uses her organization One Simple Wish to grant wishes of children in foster care.
The organization acts as matchmaker allowing social service agencies and other non-profit organizations providing services to foster children to reach out to the public and ask that a specific need be met. Wishes are posted on their website, onesimplewish.org, for donors to browse and choose from.
Wishes average between $50 and $100.
Gletow told CNN she was inspired to start the organization after becoming a foster parent in 2006.
“I quickly recognized that children in foster care needed a greater sense of normalcy and comfort, so I developed a website where social service providers can post the simple wishes of the children they work with every day. Donors from all over the country can then find a wish that speaks to their heart and budget and make it a reality,” Gletow said.
One Simple Wish is currently partnered with more than 300 social service agencies in 35 states. Its mission is that each of the about 500,00 children in foaster care are provided for.
Since its creation in December 2008, the organization has granted approximately 4,000 wishes.
In addition to that, Gletow works with Wish to Work, which aids individuals aging out of foster care, and the Ohana Project, which aims to satisfy immediate needs of children entering placement.
The organization estimates that it has impacted approximately 20,000 since inception.
While Gletow is honored to be recognized for her dedication to the foster care community, she told CNN it is the donors who deserve praise.
“It is our donor base who are truly the heroes. These are the people who take time from their busy lives to browse our site, read the children’s wishes and make them come true again and again. The impact of these simple wishes granted is immeasurable to a child who otherwise has little support,” Gletow said.

Photographer Lori Fusaro is helping give senior dogs a second chance through adoption...



Photographer Lori Fusaro has always loved dogs, but it wasn’t until recently that she found it in her heart to adopt a senior dog. It was just too difficult, knowing her time with them would be cut short.
“I thought it would just be too sad and painful,” said Lori. “I didn’t think my heart could take it, so I wasn’t willing to open myself up.”
It was during a photography shoot at Los Angeles shelters in an effort to get more animals adopted that she saw the high number of older dogs that were spending their last days without families. It shocked her to learn how many were surrendered so close to the end of their lives.
“My hope is to inspire people to not overlook the old ones,” she explained.
Sadly, it is not uncommon for older dogs to be given up, but when owners suddenly face major life changes, like home foreclosure, military deployment, divorce or illness, they are left with painful choices and few alternatives. Many who move into nursing homes are forced to surrender pets because the homes do not accept them, and they have no loved ones to care for their animals.
“It’s often an economic thing,” Lori said. “I’ve seen people just in tears and just so torn that they have to give up their animal. … It’s really been eye-opening.”
Even though these are great pets – house-trained and relatively easy-going – they are the most at risk for euthanasia.
“The most difficult part about older pets in shelters is that many have gone from a comfy couch to being stressed in a dog kennel,” said Justin Scally, national director of emergency services for the American Humane Association. He says this happens to most senior dogs “by absolutely no fault of their own.”
Moved by the hardship these gentle dogs face, having their worlds completely swept from under their feet, Lori took an interest in 16-year-old Sunny. She had a cancerous tumor on her leg and eye infections, but Lori fell in love.

Monday, July 22, 2013

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



Let it snow...6 year old cancer stricken girl Maddie Higgins from Arlington, Texas gets her wish granted to play in the snow...




Maddie Higgins was blindfolded as she approached a neighbor’s front yard, not knowing what to expect.
A 6-year-old girl with a rare form of brain cancer, Maddie has long wished to play in the snow.
She was about to get her wish, a chilling experience in the middle of July.
“It’s impossible!” Maddie said as the blindfold was removed. “It’s summer.”
Thanks to Emergency Ice, a Dallas-based company that does all things ice, Maddie was able to play in the snow Friday afternoon, building a snowman with friends and family.
“This is awesome. It made my day,” said Gregory White, a pastor and employee at the company, which turned 20,000 pounds of ice into snow.
Similar sentiments came from Maddie’s mother, Melanie Higgins.
“I’m amazed,” she said. “I’m just overwhelmed with emotion.”
Maddie has glioblastoma (GBM), an aggressive brain cancer that is common in adults but extremely rare for children.
“There are no treatments for kids,” Melanie Higgins said.
Maddie has already undergone two surgeries and more than 60 radiation treatments for the cancer and is being examined Monday for another possible tumor.
“We wanted to give her every experience she can possibly have,” Melanie Higgins said. “We are just making her happy.”
Her wish to play in the snow came true thanks to Kinsley’s Kure, a Haltom City-based nonprofit organization that assists terminally and chronically ill children and their families.
“We are trying to do everything we can on her wish list,” said Tina Brown of Kinsley’s Kure, which was created about three months ago.
The organization has also arranged for Maddie to visit a museum in Dallas and eat dinner at Reunion Tower, other items on her wish list.
On Friday, Emergency Ice began blowing the snow about 3 p.m., and by 4:30 Maddie was playing in her own winter wonderland.
She and her friends fashioned a snowman in the shape of a pirate and named it “Arrsa,” because that’s what pirates say, Maddie explained.
Asked how long she was was going to play in the white stuff, Maddie, wearing mittens and snow boots, replied: “Until it melts.”




Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/07/19/5014977/arlington-girl-gets-her-winter.html#storylink=cpy




Adopted siblings Thomas Dodds and Marj Kilcup show live liver donors could ease U.S. organ shortage crisis,,,


Still groggy from the 12-hour liver transplant surgery that saved his life, Thomas Dodds demanded a pen and paper to send a message to the adopted sister who made it possible.
“Thank you, Marj,” the Pittsburgh man, 39, wrote in a wobbly but readable script last December. And then he added a shaky ink heart.
It was the first thing he could do, Dodds says, to repay his sibling Marj Kilcup for being both a rare live liver donor – and a perfect match.
Seven months later, sister and brother are recovering well from the swap that takes part of a liver from a live donor and transplants it into the body of a sick patient.
Doctors say the siblings -- who were a surprising match considering they aren't biologically related -- are an example of the success of the rare procedure that could help ease America's organ shortage crisis, which has left nearly 76,000 actively waiting for transplants each year, including nearly 16,000 who are hoping for livers.
“People who are healthy and willing should consider being tested to be living donors for a loved one or even a stranger,” said Aisha Michel, spokeswoman for Donate Life America, an advocacy agency. “Today, living donors can donate kidneys, livers, lungs and intestines.”
The trouble? “Many people don’t know that this is a possibility,” said Dr. Cristiano Quintini, the Cleveland Clinic transplant surgeon who supervised Kilcup’s care.
For Dodds' adopted sister Marj Kilcup, 40, there was never any question that she’d step up for the operation to help her brother whose liver was being destroyed by a rare genetic disorder.
“It’s like, life calls and you answer,” said Kilcup, a dental hygienist from Puyallup, Wash. “I was just meant to do this.”

Jonah Skrove is fighting back against cancer one costume at a time...








MINNEAPOLIS - Jonah Skrove is a bit of a character.
The Zimmerman High School junior says his favorite childhood memories are of acting in plays.
"I actually got a part with lines," said Jonah. "I was Starkey from Peter Pan. He's one of the pirates."
But last fall, Jonah was cast in a story no one would have scripted. On a family trip to Duluth in September, Jonah thought he'd sprained his ankle, but the pain was instead a sign of bone cancer.
He was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form so aggressive that doctors took his right leg just three months later.
Jonah is on week No. 28 of chemotherapy, but he is also on week No. 28 of costumes, coming each time to chemo in character.
"I've been Slappy the Clown. I've been Batman," Jonah said. "I've always liked dressing up, doing weird things, and I typically go all out."
All out, from Cousin It to Uncle Fester to Rambo, the disguises mask the reason for his visits, but underneath he is truly putting on a brave face.
"They're really quirky and they make everyone laugh," said Dani Peterson, a friend of Jonah's who is also getting chemotherapy.
"We've been blessed to have someone who takes it one day at a time and looks at life in a bigger way," said Jeff Skrove, Jonah's father.
Jonah says his fight is just a dress rehearsal for all his acts still to come. "Next year, for my senior year, I'm going to want to make sure I'm in all the plays that I can," Jonah said. "That'd be fun."

Sunday, July 21, 2013

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


Heart Heroes - Kids with heart defects find their inner super hero...



YORK – Several months ago, the York community got on board with a worthwhile cause, donating more than $2,100 to the Heart Heroes program that provides “super hero” capes for children undergoing treatment for congenital heart defects.
Donors were prompted by the efforts of Dale and Tandi Rasmussen of York, the parents of 6-year-old Dylan, who was the recipient of one of those capes as he faces his own medical challenges and ongoing heart surgeries.
Dylan’s fellow students in the York School system collected change; adults provided bigger donations in a local bank account. Bracelets were sold and local awareness was brought to the cause.
This week, that awareness was brought to the national scene, as the Rasmussens were featured in a segment about the Heart Hero organization on NBC Nightly News. And since its airing, requests have been pouring in from around the nation – requests for more capes to help more kids in Dylan’s situation.
After the local fundraising effort, the Rasmussens stayed in touch with the co-founders of the organization, Sondra Dubas and Kitty Burton. In early June, Dubas asked the Rasmussens if they would participate in the NBC story.
On June 13, the NBC crew filmed Dylan’s appointment with his surgeon, a Dr. Hammel, at Children’s Hospital in Omaha. They also interviewed Dylan’s parents, regarding how they used the cape to ease the situation when they had to tell their young son that he had to undergo open heart surgery.

Annette Fredskov, a Danish woman with Multiple Sclerosis completes 366 marathons in 365 days...


For most of us, running a marathon would be a remarkable achievement. But for 41-year-old Annette Fredskov of Næstved, it's just another day. 
On Sunday, Fredskov completed a full year in which she ran a marathon every single day. That's 42.195 kilometres every single day, regardless of weather or exhausted legs. And on the final day, she upped the ante and ran two. With the 84km Fredskov ran yesterday in ten hours and 44 minutes, she notched well over 15,000km as she completed 366 marathons in 365 days. She went through 20 pairs of running shoes during the year.
And if that wasn't impressive enough, she has done it all with multiple sclerosis. 
Fredskov, who describes herself on her website as "a normal woman, mother and wife", was diagnosed with MS three years ago. But rather than let that get her down, Fredskov decided to see if she could outrun the disease.
"Three years ago, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and today I have – without any medication – no problems or symptoms of MS. I believe that running marathons has played a large role in the fact that I am healthy today," Fredskov wrote on her website. "Two years ago, I thought the same thing most people think: 'Running a marathon isn’t healthy. A marathon is damaging to  the body and it takes a long time to recover.' I have now changed my mind. Marathons are the best things that have happened for my body and soul."
Fredskov's final day of running garnered not only a fair amount of media attention, but the company of dozens of supporters who jogged with Fredskov as she achieved her goal.  
"I DID IT," she wrote on Twitter after yesterday's double dose. "It has been a completely indescribable and fantastic day. My dream has become reality. It cannot be described with words."  
Fredskov set out on her first marathon on 15 July 2012. The majority of her 366 marathons were completed in Næstved and took Fredskov around five hours. 

Buchholz Bowl - Boston Red Sox Clay Buchholz Pitches in for Kids with Pediatric Cancer...






Red Sox hurler Clay Buchholz wants to strike out pediatric cancer. Which is why his first Buchholz Bowl, held Thursday night at Lucky Strike Lanes in Boston, was a success before the doors even opened.
The sold-out event, attended by about 400 partygoers, raised more than $150,000, with proceeds going to Christopher’s Haven, which provides living spaces for kids and their families during long-term cancer treatments, and Pitching in for Kids, a nonprofit earmarking grants to help needy children in New England.
“To be a part of this is special,” said Buchholz, whose wife, Lindsay, co-founded his foundation earlier this year, and organized the bowling tournament.
Guests including Sox czar Larry Lucchino, manager John Farrell and almost the entire Sox roster, nibbled on mini egg rolls, Caesar salad and mini Georgetown Cupcakes.
“It’s a unity thing. We’re one club,” said Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who just returned from a rainy All-Star break in his native Florida.
Other teammates — Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, Jonny Gomes, Felix Doubront and John Lackey, to name a few — happily posed for pictures with fans, and the bowling was almost beside the point, which was fine for Mike Napoli.
“I haven’t bowled in five years,” the bearded first baseman said.
Knocking down pins wasn’t Lindsay Buchholz’s, priority, either. The former “Deal or No Deal” model, who is seven months pregnant with the couple’s second daughter, instead kept the auction humming with generous bids on fashion and jewelry.

“I’m pregnant and I don’t want to cry, but it’s awesome,” she said.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

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


"Because Love Wins" - meet Shana Decker. She battled back from childhood cancer and now devotes her life to giving back...






Born and raised in a small town in Minnesota, Shanna Decker grew far beyond her years at the age of seven with the three words, "You have cancer." After spending much time in the hospital for chemotherapy, undergoing an amputation-like procedure called rotationplasty on her left leg, and the rehab that came with learning to be active again as a child, she returned home with her family. It was at this point that Shanna discovered something different within her spirit.

After seeing such sorrow walking through serious illness and its realities, Shanna and her family knew they could not return to a life far from cancer and its perspective. Almost immediately, they began devoting their time to visiting cancer patients and amputees of all ages at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. With each visit, a greater depth of passion was stirred within Shanna.
In just over a decade, Shanna has made upwards of nine hundred personal patient visits providing hope to families and children from around the world. Because of her great love for others, she has been recognized with nine national awards for her volunteerism, and is the founder of her own project called "Hearts of Hope". Most recently, she has given her heart to working closely with Brighter Tomorrows, a non-profit organization benefitting families touched by childhood cancer, where her mother serves as vice president.
Now twenty one years old and a recent college graduate, Shanna has grown into a prominent sought after professional speaker. "Her passion to see life through eyes the world longs for leaves listeners awe-struck with renewed hope for each day," an audience member recently said. What she lives each day becomes who she is. Her passion cannot be silenced as she steps onto stages or into hospital rooms, still to this day.

"Love one another deeply," is the motto adopted by this ever smiling dreamer. "Why," many wonder, "does she return to places where sorrow is so real?"

"Because it is proven over and over again when light shines in a dark place that hope is alive. We live in a world longing for someone to take the time to love deeply enough to be that hope. With the love I have seen in these dark places, I cannot diminish the hope that comes with a smile reminding me that love wins. I live, because love has brought hope to me. I live, and love, because love wins."

- Shanna Decker

Lisa Fitzpatrick was tired of seeing gang violence on the streets so she took it upon herself to do something about it quitting her job and creating the APEX Youth Center where she teaches reconciliation to retaliation...




New Orleans (CNN) -- Nearly 30 years ago, Lisa Fitzpatrick was the target of a gang initiation.
She had pulled off the highway in Oklahoma City, to buy something at a convenience store, when a car pulled up alongside hers. She noticed two 12-year-olds struggling with something in the back seat. Suddenly, they were pointing a gun at her.
"I saw their faces, and they were terrified," she said.
Then the shot rang out.
The bullet only grazed Fitzpatrick, leaving a scar near her nose, but the incident changed the way she thought about gang violence. She said she later learned from police that the children were told they had to kill someone that night or someone in their family would suffer violent consequences.
"I wasn't the victim that night, I was the collateral damage," said Fitzpatrick, now 50. "The victims were the two babies in the back seat holding the gun. It turned my view upside down about who the victims are. Sometimes, it's the person pulling the trigger."
More than two decades later, Fitzpatrick was living in New Orleans when she once again had a brush with street violence.
Driving home from her job as an executive at a health-care company, she found her street blocked by police tape. Someone her daughter knew had been killed -- the unintended victim of a drive-by shooting. For Fitzpatrick, that was the turning point.
"It was just too much," she said. "Too many young men were lying face down in their own blood. I didn't want it to be normal anymore. I didn't want the children to think that this was normal. I had to do something."
Fitzpatrick quit her job, downsized her life and created the APEX Youth Center. Since 2010, more than 460 children and young adults have come to the center to spend their free time and escape the violence on the streets.

Jared Bedard a teen with Down's syndrome to meet Justin Bieber after raising the most money to help fight AT/RT which took the life of Bieber's "friend" 6 year old Avalanna Routh.


Newburyport teen Jared Bedard was able to raise over $7,000 to help fight a rare but often fatal type of tumor and earn a chance to meet Justin Bieber before the Biebs performs Saturday night at TD Garden.

After Avalanna Routh, 6, of Merrimac, who developed a relation with Bieber, died last year of atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors, the pop star promised to meet the person who raised the most amount of money to help fight AT/RT.  

Bedard, 16, who has Down syndrome, raised the funds within a month after starting in late May with the help of his mother, Karen. “I thought it would be good for Jared,” she said.

bieber.jpgJared, a sophomore at Newburyport High School, played guitar, sang, and danced at the Orange Leaf restaurant in Newburyport, the Port Tavern, and Not Your Average Joe’s to help raise money. He collected $912 in four hours at the Orange Leaf. 

“His mother Karen had gotten in touch with me,” Port Tavern owner Abbie Pierce said.  “She organized a silent auction and drew the names here. We set up a tip jar and people donated in it. It was a fun night and it was simple. It gave a reason for everybody to come out and donate.”

Not Your Average Joe’s is known for hosting “Not Your Average Cause” events where the restaurant partners with the Newburyport community and gives 15 percent of its sales to an organization that is making an effort to help raise money. 

It was the busiest “Not Your Average Cause”  night we’ve ever hosted,” said owner Ken Woodrow.  “It was a great night, it brought a lot of energy into our restaurant.” 

On top of meeting one of his favorite artists, Jared also will experience what his mother calls “the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle.” Karen plans on using a stipend given to her by Bieber’s representatives on a limo for Saturday’s ride to Boston.

Maureen Gallagher, executive director of the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress,  referred to Bedard’s efforts as amazing. “This exemplifies what people with Down syndrome are capable of achieving,” she said. “I hope he has a phenomenal time at the concert. I hope Justin [Bieber] realizes how hard he worked to get the funds.”

Friday, July 19, 2013

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


Soldier returns from Afghanistan and surprises his family at the beach...in scuba gear



A SOLDIER returning from Afghanistan has planned an elaborate homecoming by using scuba-diving gear to sneak up on his wife and kids at the beach.
The U.S Air Force captain stunned his family by emerging from the ocean as they were taking a dip.
Hyrum Bronson left wife Bethany utterly speechless with his appearance, as a family friend captured the emotional moment on camera.
Bethany had not been expecting her husband to return for another three weeks.
Prior to his surprise appearance, the pal had asked Captain Bronson's family what they would say if he was with them.
Not realising he was just a few feet away under the water, daughter Charity replied: "I will love him for always".
And Bethany added: "I love you and miss you."
She also joked: "I want your body."
When Captain Bronson - who had been away from home for six months - emerged from the water, he stated: "Mrs Bronson, your husband's here, reporting for duty."
Both his kids rushed to see him, as Bethany broke down in tears.





She could be at the pool with her friends but instead 7 year old Molly Barberry is at her lemonade stand raising money to buy wheelchairs for people in Latin America

 — The heat shimmered off the pavement Tuesday afternoon, and the pool down the street from Molly Barbery’s home in Rock Hill was full of children splashing and staying cool.
But Molly wasn’t at the pool or even in the air-conditioned chill of her home in the Meadowlakes II neighborhood. She was sitting in a small folding chair at the end of her driveway, behind that classic structure of the young American entrepreneur: the lemonade stand.
Molly, 7, poured bright pink lemonade out of a pitcher into yellow cups, with paper umbrellas and napkins with a cupcake pattern close by.
Her day’s earnings were crumpled and jingling inside a popcorn bucket. The bucket was nearly full, but Molly wasn’t earning the money for herself.
“I’m raising money for people in Latin America who don’t have enough money to buy wheelchairs,” she said, squinting in the sun.
She said she learned about the wheelchair ministry through vacation Bible school at her church, Westminster Presbyterian. At her elementary school, Richmond Drive, Molly learned about making a difference by raising money to help others.
There’s another reason wheelchairs are close to Molly’s heart.
“When I broke my leg, I had to borrow a wheelchair,” she said.
After a playtime accident left Molly with a broken femur and a cast from her hip to her ankle, she spent time rolling around in a chair.
She didn’t really mind, though. “It was fun,” she said.
Molly said she hopes to raise $100 by the end of the week. By Tuesday afternoon, she was more than halfway to her goal and confident she was going to meet it.
“I bet so,” she said, “because a lot of customers have come.”




Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/07/16/5026745/life-gives-lemons-rock-hill-girl.html#storylink=cpy

Being blind and deaf and with limited sensitivity in her fingers hasn't stopped student Tsang Tsz-Kwan from reading braille...she taught herself using her lips and now excels in the classroom.




Hong Kong (CNN) -- Tsang Tsz-Kwan may look like an average student in Hong Kong with her standard-issue blue shift dress with a Chinese collar and sensible black shoes. But her ordinary appearance and shy manner mask a steely determination to triumph over tremendous odds.
She recently scored within the top 5% for nearly all her subjects in the city's college entrance examination -- despite being blind and severely hearing-impaired from a young age. She also lacks sensitivity in her fingertips, which denies her the ability to feel the raised dots of Braille characters.
Rather than admit defeat, the 20 year old found an alternative way to read Braille -- with her lips.
"In Primary 1 (the equivalent of Grade 1 in the United States), I noticed that she was always leaning forward," said Mee-Lin Chiu, a teacher at the Ebenezer School & Home for the Visually Impaired -- the only special needs school in Hong Kong dedicated to the blind.
"She told me it was because she could read more clearly with her lips than her hands."
Tsang herself admitted: "I know it's not a common approach and it sounds rather strange. Even I myself don't know how it came about," she added, calling it "miraculous."
In actual fact, the lips, tongue, and fingertips are particularly adept at spatial discrimination — they can perceive two points that are only 1-3 millimeters apart, according to the classic anatomy text, Field's Anatomy, Palpation and Surface Markings. In comparison, the legs or back of the hands can only detect two points with a separation of more than 50-100 millimeters.
While Tsang may not be the very first person to resort to lip-reading Braille, she appears to be a rare case. "This is the first I have heard of someone being successful using the lips," said Diane Wormsely, a professor at North Carolina Central University who specializes in education for the visually impaired. Chiu also said that Tsang was the only student at Ebenezer to have used their lips -- and is the sole case she is aware of in Hong Kong.