How Las Vegas Shooting Survivors Are Finding Strength And Community in Each Other

The five-year anniversary of the Route 91 Harvest music festival mass shooting is this weekend, and survivors and victims' families are gathering to remember those who were killed. The survivors and victims' families have found strength in each other, forming a new "family" of sorts that helps them get through each day. This weekend, they will come together to honor the lives lost and to support each other as they continue to heal.

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This Heart On A Chip Could Change How We Treat Disease

Scientists in Canada have built a three dimensional heart on a chip that behaves much like the real thing. It beats on its own, moves calcium to trigger each contraction, and reacts to medication in ways that mirror a human heart. For a field that struggles to test drugs without putting patients at risk, this tiny device offers a promising new option. The team calls it a significant advance in cardiac tissue engineering and pharmacological testing. What sets it apart is a dual sensing system that tracks activity across the heart tissue while also zooming in on individual cells. Current platforms lack that kind of resolution, which matters because many cardiovascular diseases originate in cardiomyocytes, the individual cells that make up heart muscle. To build the chips, researchers collected cardiac muscle cells and connective tissue cells from rats. They placed the cells in a gel containing fibrous proteins and nutrients to help them grow, then seeded them onto small flexible silicon based chips. From there, they embedded two sets of sensors. One measures the larger scale forces of each beat. The engineer team sandwiched the tissue between elastic pillars that bend with every contraction. The amount of bending shows how strong the heartbeat is across the tissue. The second set of sensors works at a much smaller scale. They placed tiny hydrogel droplets inside the tissue. Each droplet is about 50 micrometers in size. As the tissue beats, the droplets deform, capturing the mechanical stress that individual cells experience. These measurements help researchers understand how cells behave as they form tissue, remodel, heal, or struggle through disease. The approach also helps simulate disease in a lab setting, which is essential for studying conditions that otherwise unfold deep inside the body. Once the device was built, the next step was testing. The team treated the tissues with norepinephrine, also known as noradrenaline. The compound triggers the fight or flight response and is used in hospitals to increase heart activity and maintain blood pressure, including during cardiac arrest. As expected, the heart on a chip reacted with stronger and faster beats. They also added blebbistatin, a drug that inhibits muscle activity. This slowed the contractions. The predictable reactions showed that the chip can model how the heart responds to medication. It also hints at its potential for drug screening, something that could speed up preclinical trials. Ali Mousavi, a biomedical engineer at the University of Montreal, described the value of the system this way: "The ability to observe the tissue's response to different compounds in real time represents a major advantage for preclinical development and translational research." The team now wants to use cells from patients who live with specific cardiac disorders. They plan to build tissues that reflect conditions such as dilated cardiomyopathy, a genetic heart muscle disease that can lead to heart failure, and arrhythmias, which are disorders that affect heart rhythm. These tests would let scientists study disease without exposing patients to experimental treatments. In the future, doctors could use the same approach to tailor therapies. Instead of guessing which medication will work, they could run tests on tissue made from a patient’s own cells. Houman Savoji, senior author and mechanical and biomedical engineer at the University of Montreal, said the work brings us closer to "true precision health" by giving researchers a way to identify the right medication before treatment begins. The study appears in the journal Nano Micro Small.

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Canada Got A Surprise Visitor As A European Robin Shows Up In Montreal

The new year brought an unexpected guest to Canada, and bird watchers across the continent are buzzing. On January 7, Montreal resident Sabrina Jacob stepped outside to take out the trash when she heard a birdsong she didn’t recognize. Moments later, she spotted a small bird with an orange face and chest perched in a tree. She pulled out her phone, captured a quick video, and later uploaded it to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird tool. It turned out to be a European robin, a species never before recorded in Canada. Only a handful of sightings have ever been documented in North America. Jacob told CTV News’ Christine Long that she knew instantly something was different. “I watch birds, so I was like, ‘I don’t know this sound.’ I just looked up, and I don’t know this bird either. He came straight up in front of me for two seconds, and I took the video.” Her friend later confirmed the identification. That revelation set off a frenzy. Since the sighting, birders from across North America have flocked to Montreal hoping to see the robin for themselves. One man told Global News’ Dan Spector that he had flown in from Victoria, British Columbia, and planned to sleep in his car until the bird reappeared. European robins, common in western Eurasia and parts of North Africa, aren’t closely related to American robins. The connection is visual. Both have distinctive orange chests, which inspired the shared name. How this robin reached Montreal remains a mystery. Maggie MacPherson, an evolutionary ecologist at Trent University, told the Guardian’s Danielle Beurteaux that the bird’s arrival is remarkable. European robins do not typically migrate long distances. Some do not migrate at all. “That makes this sighting just amazing,” she said. Whether the robin was pushed across the Atlantic by a storm or drifted in aboard a ship is still unknown. Joel Coutu, cited by CTV News as a bird behaviorist, said it is unlikely the bird was carried on a plane in someone’s luggage. He believes the robin may have arrived in the fall and simply gone unnoticed. The appearance was so surprising that some people online wondered if the images were produced by artificial intelligence, City News Everywhere reported. Montreal has faced its coldest winter temperatures since 2018, but experts say the robin should manage. Sheldon Harvey, vice president of Bird Protection Quebec, told the Guardian that survival depends primarily on access to food. “As long as they can find food, their metabolism will keep them through the cold,” he said. The sighting comes alongside another unexpected bird story. On January 23, passengers on a boat off the California coast spotted a waved albatross, a species usually found along the coastal regions of western Central and South America. It was another reminder that rare visitors sometimes appear far from home, surprising scientists and bird enthusiasts alike.

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These Construction Workers Pause Every Day To Brighten This Little Girl's Day — Here's Why

Around 3 p.m. each afternoon in Cleveland, a handful of construction workers climb to an upper floor of a building still taking shape. Before heading home, they pause, turn toward a nearby hospital window, and wave. Sometimes they form heart shapes with their hands. Inside that window, 4 year old Brinley Wyczalek is waiting for them. She waves back every time. What started as a few flashlight signals has grown into a daily ritual filled with encouragement and kindness. The Cleveland Clinic said the connection began in January, after Brinley had already spent weeks in the hospital. One night, while she was playing, her father, Travis, shined a flashlight toward the construction site next door. “To our surprise, someone flashed a light right back at us,” her mother, Berlyn Wyczalek, said. Soon after, the workers taped a sign to the building facing Brinley’s room. “Get Well Soon.” The family responded with their own message. “Thank you. Waiting for a heart.” Another note soon appeared from the job site. “Praying for you and your family. Keep fighting.” The crew is helping build Cleveland Clinic’s new Neurological Institute. They decided to do more. They organized donations for Brinley, sending over coloring books, games, a stuffed bear nearly as big as she is, and a hard hat covered in signatures. Union carpenter Devan Nail said the connection meant something to all of them. “We build hospitals to help people heal. But seeing Brinley made it personal. We wanted her to know she has a whole crew behind her.” Brinley was born healthy, but at age 2, doctors discovered her heart had been severely weakened after a combination of viruses. She has now spent more than 100 days at Cleveland Clinic Children’s while waiting for a transplant. Until then, she relies on a Berlin Heart, a ventricular assist device that supports her circulation. Her pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Shahnawaz Amdani, said care involves more than medical support. “Healing isn’t only physical,” he said. “Human connection matters deeply.” Those daily waves and heart signs have become part of Brinley’s day, a small but steady reminder that she is not facing this alone. Berlyn said it all began with something simple. “All of this started with a flashlight,” she said. “And it’s shown us that even in the hardest moments, there’s so much good.”

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Here are the Most Incredible (and Hidden) Migrations of Earth's Fascinating Creatures

Migration is one of nature’s most recognizable spectacles. Long before modern life made wonder optional, our ancestors relied on understanding these movements to survive. Some migrations happen in plain sight. Others unfold under moonlight, deep underwater, or in places so remote that scientists are only now piecing them together. Some span thousands of kilometres, and others just a few hundred meters. But every journey has the same purpose. Survival. Here are eight of the least known, most astonishing migrations in the animal kingdom. Christmas Island’s red crabs transform the landscape each austral summer. Hundreds of millions swarm from forest to ocean to breed, a moving carpet that shuts down roads and fills streams. Males arrive first and dig burrows on the shore. Females follow, mate, then return later to release their eggs during a narrow window set by rainfall, tides and the moon. The hatchlings emerge weeks later and march inland. These crabs keep the forests healthy by clearing leaf litter, fertilising soil and turning over earth as they dig. The common green darner dragonfly doesn’t look like a long distance migrant, but many populations travel from Canada to Mexico. The catch is that it takes three generations to finish the trip. Smithsonian scientists uncovered this in 2018 by analyzing hydrogen isotopes in dragonfly wings, essentially reading each insect’s geographic signature. One generation flies north in spring, another returns south, and a third overwinters in warmer regions. Temperature seems to trigger their movements. With climate change altering seasonal cues, their finely timed cycle could be disrupted. The saiga, an antelope of the Central Asian steppe, looks like something out of a storybook with its large, flexible nose. In summer, that nose filters dust. In winter, it warms icy air before it reaches the lungs. Saiga can migrate more than 600 miles across harsh terrain. Hunting, poaching and disease devastated populations after the fall of the Soviet Union. But in Kazakhstan, strong protections helped the species rebound. By 2025, saiga numbers rose to more than 4 million animals. Dusky grouse do the opposite of what most birds do. They migrate toward snow and cold. These birds spend summers in sagebrush flats, then climb to high elevation forests in winter, where they perch in pine trees and feed almost exclusively on fir and pine needles. Moving into harsher conditions gives them a food source that other animals ignore, reducing competition when calories are hardest to find. Every night, the largest migration on Earth unfolds beneath the ocean’s surface. As daylight fades, trillions of zooplankton rise from the deep to feed near the surface. At dawn, they sink again to avoid predators. Some travel more than 900 meters in a single night. Larger animals like lanternfish and squid join this commute, turning the ocean’s twilight zone into a living highway. This daily movement also helps store carbon in the deep sea, shaping marine ecosystems and even global climate. Bogong moths of Australia take on a different challenge. They migrate more than 1,000 kilometres from agricultural lands to the Australian Alps. There, they pack into cool caves beneath boulder fields and enter a summer hibernation called aestivation. Many alpine species depend on them for food, including the endangered mountain pygmy possum. A severe drought collapsed their population by more than 99 percent in 2017. Numbers are recovering slowly, but the episode showed how vulnerable even abundant species can be. Mole salamanders, such as tiger and spotted salamanders, spend most of the year underground. Their migration begins on the first warm, rainy nights of late winter. Adults travel through the dark toward temporary woodland pools, guided by moisture, temperature, geomagnetic cues and the scent of their home wetlands. They breed, lay eggs on submerged vegetation and return to the forest. Juveniles emerge later, beginning the cycle again. Many communities celebrate these migrations with “Big Night” events to protect salamanders as they cross roads. Only two parrot species migrate, and both live in Australia. Orange bellied parrots breed only in southern Tasmania before flying north to coastal mainland marshes. In 2016, their population fell to 17 birds. A strong captive breeding program has pushed their numbers to about 80, but the species still depends on human intervention. Swift parrots, bright green with flashes of red and blue, breed in Tasmanian blue gum forests and migrate to the mainland in winter. Habitat loss and predation from introduced sugar gliders have pushed them close to extinction. Fewer than 500 remain, and scientists warn they could vanish within a decade. Across mountains, oceans and forests, these migrations reveal the lengths animals go to survive. Some journeys are ancient. Others are only now coming into focus. All of them show that even the smallest creatures can undertake astonishing feats, often hidden just out of sight.

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Conservationists are Celebrating This Gorgeous Snail Species' Revival After Decades of Efforts

In the early 1990s, scientists thought the greater Bermuda land snail might have disappeared forever. Searches across the North Atlantic archipelago turned up only recently dead shells, enough to offer faint hope but not enough to confirm the species was still alive. For years, the hunt for a living specimen went nowhere. Then in 2014, a tiny group turned up in a surprising place, tucked inside a narrow concrete alley in Hamilton, Bermuda’s capital. Fewer than 200 snails were found. They were collected and sent to Chester Zoo in England, where conservationists began a captive breeding effort that would reshape the species’ future. A decade later, more than 100,000 captive bred snails have been released into the wild. The zoo now says the species is “confirmed as safe and secure” thanks to the work of teams in Bermuda, Chester Zoo and Biolinx Environmental Research in Canada. “It’s every conservationist’s dream to help save a whole species, and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” Tamás Papp of Chester Zoo told the Guardian. “This scientific confirmation that we’ve saved them is testament to the role zoos can play in preventing extinction, and in the power of collaboration, and is something everyone involved will carry in their heart.” The greater Bermuda land snail is a button-sized native species whose fossils suggest it once crawled across much of Bermuda’s larger islands. Its decline came from multiple stressors such as climate change and habitat loss. But one of the most damaging threats arrived about 70 years ago when rosy wolfsnails were introduced to control another species, the milk snail. The plan backfired. “They took one look at the milk snail and thought, ‘I'm not going to eat that one. I'm going to eat the tinier Bermuda snail instead,’” Chester Zoo keeper Katie Kelton told CBC’s As It Happens. The Hamilton alley population kickstarted the rescue. After arriving in England, the snails were placed in climate-controlled pods meant to mimic the conditions needed for breeding. Thousands of hatchlings followed. Since 2019, conservationists have begun reintroducing them to protected woodland areas across Bermuda. A forthcoming study in Oryx confirms that six strong colonies are now established on the islands. “They’re doing absolutely brilliantly,” Kelton told As It Happens. “We’ve had confirmed breeding on the island, and the numbers are starting to build now. So, really, we can say that this project has been a success.” Their return matters for more than symbolic reasons. Kristiina Ovaska of Biolinx Environmental Research said the snails help restore degraded ecosystems by consuming vegetation and serving as prey for larger animals. They help cycle nutrients through their habitat, a small but essential link in Bermuda’s ecology. The announcement came on Reverse the Red Day, an initiative focused on removing species from the IUCN Red List. The snails remain classified as critically endangered, but for now, their situation looks better than it has in decades. Experts say the effort is a strong model for how captive breeding can reinforce species on the edge of extinction. Timothy Pearce of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History told CBC that the research behind this work provides a valuable blueprint for future conservation programs. Still, he warned that long-term success will depend on keeping predators like the rosy wolfsnail away from restored populations.

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Here's How Dance And Movement Therapy Helps People Reconnect With Their Bodies

Dance and movement therapy asks people to pay attention to something they often overlook. Their own bodies. Therapists say the approach blends creativity with psychology in a way that helps people understand themselves, calm their systems and express emotions they may have never put into words. It is movement as communication, and for many, it becomes a pathway to healing. Dance/movement therapy, or DMT, is defined as the psychotherapeutic use of movement to promote emotional, social, cognitive and physical integration. DMT can help people physically by increasing strength, improving flexibility, decreasing muscle tension and boosting coordination. It can also offer mental health benefits, including stress reduction and symptom relief for conditions like anxiety and depression. “DMT is a creative art psychotherapy that utilizes movement and dance to support the physical, intellectual, and emotional health of an individual,” says board certified dance/movement therapist Katie Bohn. According to fellow therapist Erica Hornthal, dance therapy uses movement and nonverbal communication alongside talk therapy to address concerns that words alone do not fully reach. “It’s about finding the places inside that you might not know or have chosen to deny, and giving a voice to the experiences and emotions,” Hornthal says. The work does not follow one format. Caroline Kinsley, a dance/movement therapist, says the process can look different for each person depending on how safe they feel and how comfortable they are with their body. “The process may range from mostly verbal or speaking to mostly nonverbal or movement,” she says. In a session, therapists may guide someone to notice how their body feels, help them explore how movement connects to emotion, or introduce improvisational movements that reveal patterns the person may not have been aware of. They may also help people process the feelings that surface along the way. Techniques like mirroring, where the therapist copies the client’s movements, can strengthen connection and build empathy. Kinsley says therapists offer a space that supports choice, validation and the ability to tolerate internal sensations. They also help clients develop a sense of control within their bodies, which can be especially important for people who feel disconnected or overwhelmed. DMT can support those dealing with a wide range of physical and mental health challenges. It can boost self esteem and support people who struggle with body image. Some of the conditions it may help include anxiety, arthritis, chronic pain, communication difficulties and disordered eating. The benefits come partly from the focus on body based strategies, which differ from traditional modalities like cognitive behavioral therapy. Kinsley says therapists can use DMT to help down regulate the nervous system, promoting a sense of calm. The approach also builds self awareness. In treating eating disorders, developing awareness of physical signals can help people reconnect with sensations of hunger and fullness. It can also foster coping skills. With support, clients can learn to recognize how stress or triggers show up in their bodies and use that information outside therapy. Kinsley says movement work can help people identify strengths and early signs of distress, which can guide them back toward healthier responses. Bohn says reconnecting with the body can be especially significant for people recovering from eating disorders. She says DMT can help them change their relationship with their body, increase self expression and experience embodied relationships that support long term recovery. Research supports the approach. A 2019 review found that dance therapy was an effective intervention for adults with depression. Another 2019 review reported that dance movement therapy helped reduce anxiety and depression and improved interpersonal skills, cognitive skills and quality of life. A small 2020 pilot study published in the Journal of Eating Disorders found that DMT could be a useful complementary treatment for eating disorders. In that study, the seven participants in the DMT group showed significant improvements in satisfaction with their body areas and in their appearance evaluation after 14 weeks compared to the control group. Still, therapists say several factors should be considered before someone starts DMT. People who have experienced trauma may need a very slow introduction, since accessing body based experiences can feel unsafe at first. Kinsley says trauma survivors may avoid sensations as a way of maintaining safety, and therapists need to respect that. Physical limitations also matter. Kinsley notes that people who are medically fragile or experiencing low energy, especially those affected by malnutrition, may express movement differently. Therapists must adjust to each person’s physical capacity. DMT can also bring up difficult emotions. Bohn says individuals with eating disorders often dislike or disconnect from their bodies. “DMT provides an opportunity to experience living in their body differently, an opportunity to externalize and express feelings, gain a deeper connection to self, and eventually develop a sense of appreciation on compassion towards one’s self and body,” she says. Experts emphasize that DMT is not a standalone treatment for serious conditions like anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder. These require care from licensed professionals trained in eating disorder treatment. DMT is often used as an adjunct, supporting work already happening in psychotherapy, nutrition counselling and medical care. Dance and movement therapy does not ask people to perform. It asks them to notice. To breathe. To move in ways that reflect what is happening inside rather than what they think they should look like. For many, that is the beginning of a very different relationship with their own body.

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Honeymoon Shunnymoon, Newlyweds Leave Their Wedding To Rescue An Injured Bird

Erica and Bob Nash had barely finished saying their vows when their evening took an unexpected turn. The couple married on Jan. 31 at Skipton Registration Office in England, then headed home to Colne, Lancashire, to settle in with their dogs and enjoy a quiet start to married life. Their plans lasted only a few minutes. A message appeared on a WhatsApp group used by volunteers at Craven Wildlife Rescue. The plea came from co founder Jane Carpenter. She wrote, “It’s a long shot but is anybody able to get to the other side of Leeds near Wetherby? There is a kite in distress.” Erica volunteers with the rescue regularly, so even on her wedding night the request caught her attention. She did not hesitate. She called Carpenter with Bob beside her. They immediately agreed to go. Carpenter tried to talk them out of it. She reminded Erica what day it was. Erica told the BBC exactly how she responded. “Jane sent me a message back saying, ‘But you’re on your honeymoon’, but I just replied, ‘Honeymoon, shunnymoon, I’m on my way!’ ” The couple got in the car and drove to Harrogate to meet the people who had found the injured bird. The finders had wrapped the animal in a jumper to keep it calm. It turned out to be a red kite, a striking bird of prey that has made a slow comeback in parts of the United Kingdom. This one was not in good shape. It was emaciated and had an injury on one wing. Erica said she felt the bird’s condition the moment she picked it up. “As soon as I got hold of it, I felt that it had literally no meat on its chest, its sternum was poking out so it was obviously emaciated and it was really, really sad to feel that,” she told the BBC. The priority became getting the bird to the rescue safely. Erica agreed to meet another volunteer in Skipton. She held the kite on her lap through the drive. “I held the bird on my lap. I put the blanket just slightly over its head, so the flashing lights wouldn’t frighten it and it sat there quiet as a mouse,” she said. Another volunteer transported the bird, now named Duffy, to the rescue site in Horton in Ribblesdale. The team updated supporters on Instagram that night. Duffy had been “hydrated by subcutaneous fluid injection, and gavage fed warmed liquid food into its stomach.” The post continued, “It has started antibiotics and pain relief and is being kept warm. It is very early days and we may not be able to reverse the effects of the starvation, before we even look at the wing damage. The kite is such a spectacular bird, and far less violent than the cormorant we also have in! Everything crossed we can help this bird back to where it belongs. A huge thanks to the finders for doing everything they did for this one and for taking such good care of it. We will do our very best.” The rescue also described Erica and Bob as “absolute wildlife rescue heros.” For the couple, the praise felt secondary to the simple fact that they helped an animal that needed care. Erica told the BBC that ending their wedding day this way felt “really natural.” She said volunteering with the rescue makes her feel “lifted,” and she plans to continue helping whenever needed. “My life actually does feel like it revolves around the rescue, but in a good way,” she said. Craven Wildlife Rescue has been dealing with a wave of injured birds. Carpenter told the BBC the organisation has taken in nearly double the number of animals this year compared to last year. “The rise in the number of birds has been astounding this year,” she said. “Birds continue to be persecuted, poisoned, left homeless, hit by cars, orphaned, and whatever we can do to help them in their hour of need, we will do it.” The spike has stretched the small volunteer team. Many of the rescues involve long drives across rural areas and difficult field recoveries. The group relies on volunteers like Erica who are willing to drop everything and help. Most people do not do that on their wedding night, but the Nashes did not think twice. Bob stayed focused on the task while Erica held the bird. They followed the meet up plan, handed Duffy over, and drove home quietly. Later, they told the BBC they are “praying for a happy ending.” Duffy’s condition remains fragile, but the rescue says the bird has shown some early signs of response to treatment. The moment also fit into a pattern for Erica, who has a long history of stepping forward when animals need help. Friends say it is the most predictable thing about her. Even so, the speed with which she and Bob switched from wedding celebrations to rescue work surprised people online. Many praised the couple for prioritising care even in a moment that would normally be reserved for themselves. The story took off across social media, partly because the timing was so unexpected and partly because the image of a bride gently shielding a starving bird from flashing lights feels like something out of a film. It also struck a chord with people familiar with the pressures wildlife organisations face. The rise in injured birds, especially large ones like kites, has placed serious demands on small charities. For the rescue, the timing did not matter. They needed help, and help arrived. For the newlyweds, the night became a story they will carry into the rest of their marriage. They did not get a traditional celebration. They got something that fit them better. Erica put it simply. She was snuggled up with her husband and the dogs, the message came in, and she knew exactly what to do. The wedding could wait. The bird could not. And so their marriage began with a drive through the dark, a quiet bird on Erica’s lap, and the hope that Duffy will one day fly again.

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This 6-Year-Old Shattered Records by Selling Over 100,000 Boxes of Girl Scout Cookies

Before the first box of Thin Mints ever changed hands, Pim Neill had already set the tone for her season. The six year old with bright blue glasses looked at her dad and made her intentions clear. “I want to sell the most Girl Scout cookies,” she told him. Luke Anorak Neill did not doubt she meant it. The two of them got to work in their Pittsburgh neighborhood. They knocked on doors. They handed out fliers. They called family friends. They checked in with people at church and with the owners of the shops they visit all the time. Anorak Neill said it simply. “If people are going to buy cookies, we want them to know that Pimmy’s selling them.” The approach worked. Pim hit 5,000 boxes a few weeks into the season, and her dad asked where she wanted to go next. She did not hesitate. She said 10,000. That was the moment he pulled out his phone and filmed a short TikTok video. Pim faced the camera with the matter of fact confidence of someone who already knows she can close a deal. “Hi, my name is Pim. Do you want to buy some Girl Scout cookies?” she said. Millions of people did. The video exploded online. More than 5 million views later, orders poured in from everywhere. Pim’s sales count surged past the single season record and kept climbing. Her new target is the lifetime record of 180,000 boxes, a number that once felt impossible. As of Sunday, when she crossed 100,000 boxes, she took it in stride. Why does she like selling cookies? “It makes people happy,” she said. Her dad is not surprised. Pim “has always been a record breaker,” he said. She was a Top 10 reader at age 4. She thrived selling popcorn for her school last year. She loved collecting gifts for a local toy drive. The Girl Scouts seemed like a perfect fit for her, but it did not start smoothly. When Anorak Neill approached a troop to ask about joining, he said they rejected Pim because of her disabilities. “They said, ‘We don’t want that in our troop,’” he said. “They said, ‘Go find a playgroup for disabled kids.’” Pim did not understand what happened, but her dad did. The rejection stung. Still, he kept looking. He found a brand new Daisy Scout troop that welcomed her wholeheartedly. Once she joined, the rhythm of cookie season changed for everyone. The troop originally hoped to fund a couple of simple camping trips. With Pim’s sales added to the total, those early plans expanded fast. A trip to Niagara Falls, a prize reserved for the strongest sellers, turned into a sure thing. At a recent troop meeting, some of the adults pointed out that Pim and the other girls could stop selling now and still hit their goals. No one took the offer. “But everybody wants to still do cookie booths and fundraise,” said Anorak Neill. “This is fun for everybody. It’s a win for Girl Scouts.” The attention has also lifted the family during a difficult stretch. Anorak Neill’s partner, Don Neill, has been facing serious health challenges and is waiting for a double lung transplant. Pim’s unexpected audience has brought a steady flow of kindness their way. TikTok commenters do not hold back their affection. “SHE IS 6 and 86 AT THE SAME TIME. OH MY GOD I LOVE HER SO MUCH,” one person wrote. Another added, “Pim gonna sell the most cookies in the history of the Girl Scouts.” A third made a promise. “pim girl don’t worry I just brought 6 boxes.” Anorak Neill said watching strangers around the world celebrate his daughter has been “life changing.” While the scale of it has surprised him, Pim’s draw has not. He sees the way she looks at goals, the way she shoulders challenges, the way she keeps pushing. He summed it up in two words. “Pim’s unstoppable,” he said. Even now, at just six years old, she talks about her sales like someone reviewing another day at work. When she crossed the 100,000 box mark on Sunday, she remained calm. She had already moved on to what comes next. There is still about a month left in the season. There are thousands of boxes yet to sell if she wants to catch the lifetime record. It is the type of target that would intimidate most kids. Pim seems energized by it. Pim’s story could have been simple. A young scout sells a lot of cookies. Instead, it represents something larger. A kid who was once turned away found a place where she is not only welcome but celebrated. A troop discovered that one determined girl can transform what they believed was possible. A family facing medical challenges found an unexpected source of joy. People ask Pim what keeps her going. The answer has not changed. It makes people happy. That is all she needs. And with every box that goes out the door, it is clear she means business.

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He Just Won the Daytona 500, Months After His Son's Life-Saving Surgery

Tyler Reddick had already lived through the longest few months of his life by the time he rolled into Daytona. His eight month old son, Rookie George, had just hit a milestone that felt bigger than any checkered flag. He started crawling. For a family that spent the fall worrying if their baby would even make it to surgery, watching him push himself across the floor felt like winning. Then Sunday, Feb. 15 arrived, and Reddick did something no one expected. He captured the 68th running of the Daytona 500 after taking control on the final lap. It was the only time he led the entire race. The surprise finish brought out the cheers, but the real celebration had started days earlier at home. Everything changed back in October. Rookie needed life saving surgery to remove one of his kidneys after doctors discovered a tumor in his chest. The mass was pressing on vital structures and disrupting blood flow. In a social media post at the time, Reddick’s wife, Alexa DeLeon, described how the tumor was affecting their son’s heart, “choking’ the renal vein and renal artery” and “telling the heart, ‘Hey I’m not getting enough blood … pump harder.’ ” Rookie had been born on May 25, and for a while, everything seemed fine. But Alexa was the first to sense that something was off. She and Reddick already had one child, their five year old son Beau, so they knew what ordinary infant fussiness looked like. This felt different. “As he started to grow and things were going on with him, he just started going the wrong way,” Reddick, 30, said during an interview on Good Morning America on Monday, Feb. 16. “My wife trusted her mom gut and just over time said, ‘The direction he’s going is not great.’ ” Their concerns did not translate to a diagnosis right away. Pediatricians floated ideas like colic or allergies. Nothing explained the symptoms. Nothing fit well enough to stop the feeling that something more serious was happening. Eventually, Alexa brought Rookie to Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina, in September. That visit changed everything. Reddick said doctors were able to “quickly identify” what was “causing the heart failure and piece it all together.” The surgery solved what had threatened Rookie’s heart, and it also revealed something about how the family operates under pressure. Reddick described how steady his wife stayed while everything around them tilted. “I’m really proud of my wife,” he said. “She had to go to a lot during the entire process but she really was the centerpiece that held everyone together throughout the whole thing. It was tough.” Reddick did not shoulder it alone. He said support came from across the sport, including from 23XI Racing, where he drives. Team owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin checked in repeatedly. “Michael and everybody at 23XI basically told me, ‘Look, if you need to step away and not run another race, do whatever you need to do,’ ” Reddick remembered. It went beyond management. Other drivers stepped up as well. Fellow racer Joey Logano made sure Beau had a place to be, and kids to play with, while his parents focused on Rookie in the hospital. “The amount of support we had from the NASCAR community throughout all of that was just incredible,” Reddick said. By the time Rookie started crawling, the family had already been through the hardest part. His father told GMA that he is now “happy and healthy,” and that the pressure on his heart eased once the tumor was removed. It showed. Rookie handled the noise of the track, including the Thunderbirds flyover, with no trouble at all. Reddick said the baby seemed to enjoy it. On Sunday, Rookie stood with his mom and brother as the checkered flag waved. Reddick stepped out of the car and took in a moment he had imagined for years, but never like this. Winning Daytona is one thing. Winning it while looking at a child who just crawled for the first time a few days earlier is completely different. “I just remember getting out of the car, and typically I’ve just been able to focus on Beau and my wife, and it’s like Rookie is getting to experience this for the first time, too,” Reddick said to the Associated Press. “Rookie is a trooper, whether it’s been the Thunderbirds blasting over the track, just super loud, stuff I love.” Reddick also joked that the newfound mobility at home is keeping him and Alexa busy. “He’s been like a speedster,” he said. “We have to keep up with that. Keep away from the stairs and the bus!” What the family went through gives the win a different weight. A last lap charge at Daytona will always be a career highlight, but this week, it sits second in line behind something far more personal. A few seconds of crawling across the floor proved something to his parents that medicine could not fully put into words. Rookie pushed off with his hands and moved under his own power. After months of uncertainty, that was the signal his parents had been waiting for. The race victory came later.

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Ontario Veterinary College Is Helping Pets Shed Pounds and Regain Energy

Sometimes pets need help with their weight too. At the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph, a dedicated weight care program is helping dogs and cats shed extra kilos in a healthy, supervised way. One of its most motivated participants is Leo, a seven year old golden retriever whose health challenges sent him down an unexpected fitness path. “He started having kidney issues,” said Leo’s owner, Christina Motyka. “We had to be very specific with his diet. That kind of started his journey when it came to weight care. Then he got hit with multicentric lymphoma.” Radiation and chemotherapy slowed him down. The reduced activity meant the kilos climbed quickly. “He was at 100 pounds,” Motyka said. “People around us were saying, ‘Oh he’s gained a lot of weight.’” So Leo started a program that looks surprisingly similar to what many humans go through. The Ontario Veterinary College built him a custom food plan and even a workout routine. “The more weight they bear on their joints, the more stress that causes their joints,” said Adronie Verbrugghe, a professor at the Ontario Veterinary College and the Royal Canin Veterinary Diets Endowed Chair in Canine and Feline Clinical Nutrition. “And in a case like a dog with osteoarthritis, we don’t want them to be in pain for the rest of their life.” Extra weight can set off a chain reaction in pets, raising the risk of diabetes, urinary problems and skin conditions. The purpose of the program is to cut fat while keeping muscle as intact as possible. “If we combine our nutrition with exercise, we can aim to lose body fat mass, while trying to maintain muscle mass as much as possible,” Verbrugghe said. For Leo, the workout days are the highlight. Hydrotherapy became his happy place. “Every time we drop him off for his workout, he pulls us to the pool and just cannot wait to jump in and does not want to ever get out,” Motyka said. The routine is working. Leo’s arthritis and mobility have improved, and the scale is finally moving in the right direction. When CTV News visited on Friday, Leo weighed in at 82 pounds. Staff and his family consider that a major milestone. Motyka jokes that watching Leo’s commitment sometimes makes her rethink her own habits. “I’ll look at his acupuncture appointments in the pool and I’m like, ‘I wish I focused this much on myself,’” she said. His goal weight is around 75 pounds, and he is closing in. More importantly, his energy is back. His family says he is acting like a younger dog again, a side effect no diet plan can promise but one they are greatful to see.

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