1. Little Boy With Leukemia Returns to Hospital to Deliver 400 Christmas Gifts to Kids Still There for Holidays
A four-year-old boy with leukemia has dropped off more than 400 bags of Christmas presents at the children’s hospitals where he received care.
Elliott Hole and his mother Harley decided to give back by distributing advent calendars and and other fun items to keep sick kids entertained through the holidays
The mom in Kent, England, set up an Amazon Wishlist so that members of her community could purchase gifts, and they ended up with 346 items for tucking into party bags, including chocolate, games, bubbles, stickers, stationary, and more.
The family then dropped them off in crates to three local hospitals: the Royal Marsden in Sutton, Kings College in London, and Princess Royal University Hospital in Farnborough.
“From what I have experienced, you are stuck in a room and unable to leave because of viruses and it gets very boring,” Harley, who is a hairdresser by trade, told SWNS news.
“The reception from the patients was brilliant. The nurses were all amazed by how much there was. We wheeled in this huge crate of presents. I stopped counting when we got to 400 but I would say in total we did about 440, as well as over 100 calendars.”
Harley first noticed something was wrong with Elliott in January 2022, when he had starting limping. They took him to the hospital where some blood tests were done, and three days later they were told he had Acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Elliott then started a three-year treatment plan, that entails daily chemotherapy, which will end in March.
“When he was first diagnosed, we basically lived between Kings, Marsden, and Darent Valley Hospital for the first four months. Now, I need to be on hold for Elliott at all times, because if his temperature spikes we need to get him to Kings within the hour.
“He is a very kind little boy. He is quite outgoing. Considering everything that he has been through you would never think that anything was ever up. He is quite strong willed—and just powers through.”
2. Archaeologists Uncover Gateway to Ancient Greek Temple Alongside the Nile in Egypt
Ongoing excavations at a sprawling temple 125 miles north of Luxor have unearthed a towering discovery: a temple pylon measuring 150 feet wide made of sandstone blocks.
It was found at the Athribis site dating to the Ptolemy dynasty when Egypt was ruled by the descendants of one of Alexander of Macedon’s generals, where excavations are currently in their 21st year.
The discovery by a joint Egyptian-German team is considered a “significant milestone” that will pave the way for further excavation at the temple site, where even after uncovering walls carved with high relief, halls, dozens of rooms, pillars and pillar bases, and over 1,200 hieroglyphic inscriptions, the majority remains buried.
Mohamed Abdel Badie, head of the Central Administration for Upper Egypt Antiquities and head of the Egyptian side of the mission, stated that on the interior walls of the gate, hieroglyphic inscriptions were found depicting a Ptolemaic king welcoming Repyt, the lion-headed goddess and patron of the Athribis temple.
“Through studying the cartouches discovered at the entrance and on one of the interior sides, it was determined that this gate dates back to the reign of King Ptolemy VIII, who may have been the founder of the temple,” Abdel Badie said.
Dr, Marcus Miller, an archaeologist on the German team, said that a hidden room on a second floor accessible by a door on the exterior of the pylon, was discovered during the unearthing. Floor steps led up to the chamber which is guessed to have been destroyed during the 7th century CE.
3. 20-yo Hiker Survives to See Family Again After Incredible 50 Days Lost in the Rockies
From the mountains of British Columbia comes the story of a hiker who’s been found alive after being lost in the woods for five weeks. In a remote provincial park, with nighttime temperatures plunging to minus-four, (-20C°), Sam Benastick struck out on October 7th for a 10-day camping and fishing trip.
Relatives said he was well-prepared and packed a wool hat and gloves, a hatchet, and “plenty of peanut butter,” but when he failed to return to his family’s home on the 17th, fear circulated among the small communities in northeast BC.
In an update published on November 29th, CBC confirmed he had been discharged from the hospital. The story was followed by veteran reporter Andrew Kurjata, and is flush with details.
Borrowing his mother’s Honda dirt bike, Benastick landed at a trailhead and planned to hike in about 80 kilometers to catch Arctic grayling. Crocker told the CBC that Benastick was feeling a bit “listless” after returning from an extended trip to Europe, and felt he needed an adventure.
That adventure, coupled with the 10 days of planned excursion, lasted 50 days, but in a picture shared with CBC, Crocker showed her son giving a thumbs up from his hospital bed with the caption “he complained he didn’t even catch one fish.”
Redfern-Keily Provincial Park is a remote area 660 miles north of Vancouver, and boasts exquisite Rocky Mountain scenery, but threatens visitors with unpredictable weather, wolves, bears, no potable water, and no telecommunications coverage.
According to the BC Search and Rescue Association, more than 120 volunteers were involved in efforts to find Benastick with motor vehicles and aircraft across the vast park, in part informed by Timber Bigfoot, land and environment manager and member of the Prophet River First Nation, whose territory extends to the park.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were also involved in the search effort, but haven’t shared many details about the case as there was no criminal element.
