As a child, Carl Allamby had one dream - to become a doctor. At that time, that seemed impossible.
His childhood was tough. For days and even weeks, his family of eight went without lights, gas or water at their home in East Cleveland, OH.
After finishing high school, he opened his own small business - Allamby’s Auto Service. Carl worked in that business for 25 years but he never forgot his childhood dream. In 2010, he began pre-med classes and in 2015, he enrolled into Medical School at Northeast Ohio Medical University.
At the age of 47, he graduated from the university. And earlier this year, already 51-years old, he started his first job as an attending physician at Cleveland Clinic’s Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights, OH.
"I feel we all have the opportunity to make our lives better. If you want it, go after it. Don’t give up," Carl advises.
Bill Sumiel lives in Salem, New Jersey. On his way home from dialysis, he shared with his uber driver, Tim Letts, about his need for a kidney transplant.
"If you'll take my name and number, I'll give a kidney to you," Tim, an army veteran, commented. He believes this encounter was God's work.
Tim proved to be a match, and last year, the two of them underwent successful surgery. Tim and Bill became close friends and despite the long distance between them, they still keep in touch.
Chang Wan-ji, 83, and his wife Hsu Sho-er, 84, run a laundry service in central Taiwan. It is not uncommon for people to forget their clothes there and never pick them up.
Their grandson, Reef Chang, who is interested in fashion, came up with a cute idea for the elderly couple. Reef managed to persuade his grandparents to put on the old, forgotten clothes and pose with them for the camera. Chang and Hsu had never had a social media account, but now their Instagram @wantshowasyoung has more than 600,000 followers.
“They are very happy because many encourage them and praise them. They feel as if they now have many more grandchildren in the world,” Reef said. “Through these posts now, my grandparents also want to tell elderly people not to limit themselves and live every moment to the fullest.”
Odin Frost, 18, and his best friend Jordon Granberry, 18, were both born with brain damage and doctors’ prognosis for their future was bleak.
“My son and his best friend were both told their survival rate would be around 2%, that they’d never walk, and that they’d live in a vegetative state – if they made it past seven years,” said Odin’s dad, Tim.
At the age of three the boys joined school for children with special needs where they met and became best friends. The boys’ parents took a picture of their very first day of school. 15 years later, on their high school graduation day, the boys recreated that picture.
By coming this far, Odin and Jordon exceeded doctors’ expectations. “Both walked the stage and graduated. I was on cloud 19. I was so fricking proud of him,” Odin’s dad added.
Havva Kul was awarded with an honorary degree at the University of Sakarya, Turkey, for reading aloud lecture notes for her blind daughter, Berru Merve Kul, during her four-year course of study at the school.
Havva’s dedication and its recognition by the university quickly went viral and was shared tens of thousands of times on social media.
Born with a genetic condition, 2-year-old Cillian Jackson was unable to move around independently. His parents could not afford the $20,000 motorized wheelchair he needed, and their insurance refused to cover it.
Cillian’s life changed when the robotics students at his father’s former Minnesota high school took it upon themselves to build him a custom set of wheels at an affordable price.
The multi-award winning Rogue Robotics team at Farmington High School modified a Power Wheels toy car into a motorized wheelchair suitable for Cillian. The improvised wheelchair is equipped with a joystick, safety bumpers, and a harness.
“I think we won here more than we do in our competitions,” one of the team members said.
“Instead of completing a task, we’re helping change someone’s life,” another one added.
Antoine Moses, 23, from Quebec, Canada, has a new record to be proud of. He recently broke the Guinness World Record for planting trees in 24 hours. He planted 23,060 saplings at an average pace of 16 trees per minute - one every 3.75 seconds.
He was not alone though. A team of six people helped him plant the trees in a deforested area about 100 kilometers south of High Level, Alberta, Canada.
“As soon as I broke that original record, I was happy and hugging the whole crew around me. I was excited and happy, but not even 10 seconds after I just kept going,” he commented.
In the last seven years, Antoine has planted more than 1.3 million trees. He is excited to see someone break his record and even offers help.
“I love the thrill of helping people. If someone wants to beat it, I help them, I give them my tips. I am not afraid,” he added.
Residents of West Seneca, New York, used to see a man, known as Kevin, on the corner of Potters Road and Slade Avenue. Kevin would typically hold a sign saying he’s drug and alcohol-free and he was looking for a job.
“If I didn’t see him for two or three days at a time it was unusual. I usually saw him a couple times a week,” said Jesse Dixon, whose children often gave Kevin treats.
“He’s just a nice guy. It seems like he’d fallen on hard times so we were just trying to help him through it.”
Over the weekend, Kevin wasn’t there anymore, but there was a sign left behind in appreciation for all the help he got from the community.
R.E. Baker Elementary in Bentonville, AR, decided to do a "Spirit Week" to show school unity and spirit. Each day, students gоt to dress up in a predetermined theme.
Monday was "Super Comfy Day," Tuesday "Super Kind Day," Wednesday was "Super Bright Day," Thursday was "Super Silly Day," and the week ended with Friday - "Superhero Day."
8-year-old Caroline Carlson surprised everyone by dressing like her second-grade teacher - Miss. Jaime Deigh.
"All week Caroline was saying, "I want to be like Miss Deigh. She is a superhero," Cortney Carlson, Caroline's mom, commented.
The young girl even made her mom curl her hair to look just like the teacher.
"It makes me understand why I do what I do each and every day," Jaime commented. "It was pretty special that she looks at me like her superhero."
More than 10 years ago, Steve Greig, an accountant in Denver, CO, lost his beloved dog, Wolfgang. The two were inseparable for about 12 years and losing Wolfgang changed Steve.
After grieving for months, Steve wanted to make a difference in someone else’s life. That’s why he decided to adopt the “least adoptable” senior dog. Giving a dog the chance to spend the last years of his/her life happily seemed rewarding to Steve.
He visited a local shelter and adopted a 12-year-old chihuahua with a heart murmur and four bad knees. Being an animal lover, Steve soon adopted 8 other senior dogs. In addition, Steve has a pig, 2 rabbits, 2 ducks, 4 chickens, 2 cats, and a 50-pound turkey.
He didn't stop adopting even during the pandemic. Steve even wrote “The One and Only Wolfgang” - a book about his experience.
As a foster child, Kareem’s number one wish was to have a mother. Unfortunately, over time he lost faith that this would ever come true.
Elaine Newkirk was just one of the many families who took Kareem into their home.
When Kareem moved in with her, he was 6 years old and his behavior was really bad. He screamed at people and beat them. He was one little angry boy. But that didn’t push Elaine away. She was patient with him and showed him what true love looked like.
Three years later, Kareem's behavior was completely different. Thanks to Elaine’s love and devotion, he became a sweet and caring child.
‘’No hitting. No cursing. No holes in the wall,'' Elaine commented. ‘’He somehow stole the hearts of me and my children.’’
On 20 March 2018, Elaine officially adopted him and the little boy couldn’t hold back his tears. Kareem hopes more people around the world will follow Elaine's example and adopt a foster child.
Fred Brown is a 95-year-old Air Force veteran. For the past 40 years, he has walked a mile every day to visit the Dunkin' store in Lynn, MA.
That’s why employees from the store surprised him on his 95th birthday to thank him for his loyalty. They gave him 95 gift cards, a cake, and a dozen donuts with his picture on them.
"They'll never top this - this was fantastic," Fred commented.
While shopping at Walmart, Rory McCarty, saw an elderly gentleman working there as a cashier. The man reminded Rory of a viral story of an 82-year-old woman, also a Walmart employee, who retired after a stranger set up an online fundraiser to help her. So, Rory did the same.
Rory felt inspired to set up a GoFundMe as the elderly man, Navy veteran Warren Marion, was a widower and had to keep on working to pay off his house.
More than 6,500 people donated to Warren, quickly raising about $167,000.
"I wanted to help this Navy Veteran to live the remainder of his years traveling to see his kids in Florida," Rory wrote on the GoFundMe page. "Get him off his feet for 8 hrs at a time. And do the things he would love to do that he may not be able to for financial reasons."
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