An Odds-Defying Reunion: 5 Great Things This Week

Including a heroic senior who still remembered his Army training
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 18, 2015 5:22 AM CDT
An Odds-Defying Reunion: 5 Great Things This Week
Sisters Holly Hoyle O'Brien, left, and Meagan Hughes pose for a photo at Doctors Hospital of Sarasota in Sarasota, Fla.   (Dan Wagner/Sarasota Herald-Tribune via AP)

An incredible family reunion and the world's bravest chess teacher were among the good-news stories of the week:

  • Sisters Separated 40 Years Ago Meet, Incredibly: How's this for a reunion tale: Two orphaned sisters from South Korea who were separated more than 40 years ago and adopted by different US families met by accident working for the same Florida hospital, during the same shift, on the same floor. Even they can hardly believe it.
  • Vet, 75, Risks Life to Fend off Attacker, Save Kids: A 75-year-old Army vet was teaching children how to play chess in an Illinois library when an assailant burst in with knives and threats of murder. James Vernon's thought: "This can't happen here and I'm not going to let it happen. These kids are my responsibility right now." His old Army training then paid off in heroic fashion.

  • Driver Delivers $6 Pizza, Gets Tip of a Lifetime: An Ohio church congregation ordered a pizza from Domino's during a service, then tipped the driver more than $1,000 that had been collected for the offering. It was all about teaching a lesson in generosity.
  • Dog Saved From Burning Home in Nick of Time: A firefighter near Nashville, Tenn., spotted a burning home while off duty, checked things out to make sure nobody was home—then went back inside to rescue a dog that ran in as he approached. Video captures the anxious moments, with the roof about to collapse, before he re-emerges carrying the dog.
  • Bride Takes a Memorable Detour: Sarah Ray had just been married when she learned that family members were involved in a car accident on the way to the reception. A paramedic, she arrived on the scene to help still clad in her wedding dress—resulting in a photo that quickly went viral.
Click for more uplifting news stories. (More uplifting news stories.)

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