Guide dog becomes star at red carpet events
A guide dog called Bill has become the unlikely star of red carpet events in London’s West End.
The Golden Retriever stole the show at events including the Pride of Britain awards, the Craft Guild of Chefs National Chef of the Year awards and on stage at the musical The Devil Wears Prada.
At the Pride of Britain awards, Bill was given the full VIP treatment as he was walked down the red carpet with his owner Mohammed Ibrahim and former Love Island contestant and Guide Dogs campaign star, Faye Winter, and was greeted by moustached comedian Troy Hawke.
The two-year-old also managed to sneak on stage for the rehearsals for The Devil Wears Prada musical at London’s Dominion Theatre.
Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty star Vanessa Williams, who plays the iconic role of Miranda Priestly, was among those surprised by Bill’s appearance.
And at the illustrious Craft Guild of Chefs National Chef of the Year awards – whose previous trophy holders include Gordon Ramsay – he was photographed with the winners as they collected their prizes.
Bill’s surprise appearances were part of an “Unexpected Bills” campaign for Guide Dogs to raise awareness of the rising costs of pet ownership.
The charity is asking people to support its Guide Dogs Puppy Appeal campaign to raise money for its life-changing work and provide dogs to those who need them, amid rising costs for the dogs in their care.
A spokesperson for the charity said: “Bill has done an amazing job popping up in places where you’d least expect him – just like how household bills can.
“We understand people are being squeezed from all angles, and we wanted to demonstrate in a creative way about what that means for dog and Guide Dog owners. We know pet owners want to provide the best care for their dogs, and as a charity we’re no different.
“Guide Dogs relies on donations to continue our life-changing work and covers the costs of all of our working guide dogs, including vet and food bills.
“We believe a person’s financial situation should never be a barrier to having a guide dog and need the public’s support now more than ever before.”
The campaign comes after research of 2,000 dog owners found 69% are worried about rising costs associated with pet ownership.
And 55% have been hit with an unexpected bill for their dog.
Pet owners estimate on average they spend £1,144 in vet bills alone in a typical year – with 57% admitting that having a dog is more expensive than they anticipated.
With the most expensive bill those polled have paid on average amounting to nearly £2,000.
But amid the backdrop of increasing bills and rising costs, 68% were understanding of the need vets and other businesses have to cover ever-increasing outgoings.
And 83% of those polled, via OnePoll, sympathised with charity organisations which are having to spend more money to keep up with the costs of caring for dogs.
A Guide Dogs spokesperson added: “Our recently qualified guide dog, Bill, has been amazing at spreading awareness about the financial pressures impacting us as a charity, but also for dog owners across the country.
“Bill has been a very good boy, and I’m sure he will continue to be. And who knows, he may pop up in other places when you least expect him, too.”
“I dress up as a giant ovary and run marathons after losing my sister to cancer”
A loving brother dresses as a giant ovary to run marathons – in memory of his sister who died of ovarian cancer.
Craig McMurrough, 54, aka Mr Ovary, had the 7ft 4ins costume custommade.
The enormous ovary, which has a bright pink fallopian tube coming out of the top, has facts about ovarian cancer printed on it.
Dad-of-one Craig dons the outfit to run marathons and other long distance races.
Craig, from near Cambridge, does this as part of his campaign to raise awareness of ovarian cancer.
A friend runs with him in an identical costume and they go by Mr and Ms Ovary.
Craig’s sister Cheryl Earnshaw, a speech therapist, died aged 43 of the illness leaving behind a close family including her husband and two children aged 7 and 9.
Craig, who works in business change management, said: “It’s a lot of fun!
“People don’t forget seeing two giant ovaries.
“Sometimes we get mistaken for other body parts – but at least it gets the conversation going.
“Cheryl’s death absolutely devastated our family.
“She was the most beautiful soul in the world – kids and parents she worked with loved her.
“It was awful – there was nothing they could do because it was so advanced – we just watched her slip away.
“It was so harrowing for all of us.
“I just want people to be aware of the early signs: it’s so important to catch it early.
“I just remember the specialist saying it had spread to so many places and chemo wasn’t an option – if I can change that for even one person it would be amazing.
Craig said at least two people have told him they’ve identified their own ovarian cancer early enough to get treatment because of awareness brought through his costume.
Cheryl first suffered with fatigue in April 2016, but a GP thought she had fibroids, Craig said.
Just weeks later she was so exhausted she was staying with her parents for respite, he said.
She was admitted to the Leicester Royal Infirmary when she started to suffer bloating, in early June and diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
The illness had spread and was untreatable, Craig said, and she died ten days after the diagnosis.
Cheryl, who worked for the NHS, had a unit in Leicestershire named after her, after she died on June 23 2016.
Craig’s family were very close, he said: he and Cheryl were just 1.5 years apart, and went to the same school and then on to Manchester university.
Craig also uses his running to raise money for the charity Ovacome and has racked up over £70,000 so far.
He had the idea to run as a giant ovary and got the costume specially made to fit his body.
He’s run five London Marathons in the costume, and among others has run the great north run, great south run, and half marathons in Birmingham, Blackpool, Sheffield, and Cambridge.
He’s won awards including the Points of Light award from Rishi Sunak and the World Record for the fastest ovary to do the London Marathon.
He also teamed up with a running friend, Sarah Temple, 46, who has an identical costume and goes by the name of Ms Ovary.
The ovaries are just thirteen pounds in weight and are worn with a harness to keep them in place.
Craig and Sarah have to have their arms stretched out to the side holding a bucket in each hand, which makes running very tough, Craig said.
The pair have targeted a different region of the country each year since 2020: running local races and doing fundraising presentations.
Craig’s been a long-distance runner for 20 years and ran a marathon in Dublin in 4 hours 20 minutes, ten years ago.
But he now runs to fundraise and raise awareness than to achieve a personal best, and said a marathon in the ovary costume can take up to seven hours.
“I find it so much more rewarding”, he said, “It’s never about the time and the more conversations you can have the better.
“Running in the ovary is very difficult – it’s lovely and warm in winter and extremely hot in summer.
“It acts like a wind tunnel: once I nearly got blown into the sea.”
Mom discovers she’s pregnant with fourth child while in labor
Kristen Biayobzcki experienced the surprise of a lifetime when she discovered she was pregnant — only after she went into labor.
The 40-year-old substitute teacher from Memphis, Tennessee, had been told by doctors her irregular periods were because she was in ‘early menopause’.
And other symptoms like swollen feet and fatigue were blamed on fibroids, claims the mom – who was also on birth control.
But on the morning of August 29, Kristen began feeling unwell with back pain that escalated throughout the day.
Despite encouragement from her husband Issac, 43, a frame shop manager, to go to the emergency room, Kristen resisted, fearing the medical costs after her insurance had been cancelled due to a $6 overdue balance.
She continued her day as a childcare worker, determined to make it through her shift.
But by afternoon, she felt dizzy and was unable to continue working, and Isaac picked her up, and they headed to the ER.
At the hospital, Kristen’s blood pressure was alarmingly high. Doctors initially thought she was experiencing heart failure.
“They gave me morphine for the pain and asked me for a urine sample,” she recalls.
When she stood up after giving the sample, she felt a sudden gush of fluid and assumed she had lost control of her bladder.
She soon learned it was actually her water breaking.
Tests revealed the shocking news: Kristen was not only pregnant but in labor.
The ER team scrambled to find the baby, eventually detecting his heartbeat near her ribcage and discovering she was nearly 2cm dilated.
Her fibroids had concealed the baby throughout her pregnancy, positioning him high in her abdomen, making detection nearly impossible.
“They finally told me I was full-term and in labor,” Kristen says. “It was a wrench in their diagnosis, but we soon realized Stone was on his way.”
Stone, who weighed 8lb and 3oz, was in an unusual position inside Kristen’s uterus.
The hospital rushed Kristen to a larger regional medical center equipped to handle her high-risk situation.
An emergency c-section was performed, requiring an incision extending from her belly to her breastbone.
“When they took him out, he wasn’t breathing,” she recalls.
“The NICU team had to intubate him right away.”
Stone spent over 20 days in the NICU, but against the odds, he’s now thriving at home.
And while many can’t believe she didn’t know she was pregnant, Kristen says she really didn’t have a clue.
“I did gain weight,” she notes. “I thought weight gain was from bloating and menopause. The biggest weight gain was noticeable in the last few weeks. I thought that was from all the swelling in my feet and high blood pressure from what I thought was bloating from fibroids.”
Kristen also says engaged in activities she “never did” during her other pregnancies.
I was taking ADHD meds the whole pregnancy — Focalin 20mg — drank wine on occasion, maybe two glasses when I did, and drank energy drinks almost daily. In my third trimester in May, I was also doing heavy lifting and moving furniture,” she says.
“I was very upfront with doctors about all these things,” she adds. “I was very upset I caused his asphyxiation at birth but was told that those things did not contribute to it. The ADHD meds, wine, and caffeine thankfully caused no effects on his health.
“I didn’t think I was pregnant because the doctors had told me I had numerous large fibroids and was probably in early menopause,” Kristen explains.
Blood work even seemed to support this diagnosis with everything else put down to fibroids.
“I just kept chalking it up to the fibroids and pushed through,” she shares.
The arrival of Stone, her “big surprise,” has brought joy to Kristen’s family, including two daughters, six and eight, and an 11-year-old son.
Her son, who previously only had sisters, was thrilled to welcome a baby brother.
“We didn’t have anything for a baby since my youngest daughter is six,” Kristen says.
Kristen sees her son’s name, Stone, as a fitting choice. “It felt like a pretty strong name for a boy.”
“I’m an extreme day tripper – I flew to Switzerland to spend an hour up a mountain”
An extreme day tripper visited a different country for a DAY for five weekends in a row – including flying to Switzerland to spend one hour up a mountain.
Luke Simmonds, 35, got the bug to travel after the pandemic and came across a Facebook group sharing extreme day trips.
He decided to give the short trips a go and has spent the last year travelling.
Luke recently packed in five day tips on his weekends in September in October – visiting Italy, Poland and Lithuania.
He even flew to Switzerland and France to spend an hour up the mountain and to see Mont Blanc.
Luke aims to get the cheapest flights he can – spending as little as £8.99 on one way- flight tickets.
Luke, an IT consultant, from Guildford, Surrey, said: “It’s certainly cheaper than a day out to London.
“It gets addictive after a while.
“You can pretty much go anywhere for a day and have enough to occupy yourself.
“It’s a really good way to sample places – if you like a place you can go back.”
Luke spent the pandemic volunteering with the ambulance service and said it changed his view on life.
He said: “Not being able to travel made me want to more.
“I wanted to get out and see the world.”
In summer 2023 Luke travelled to three countries in Europe – Poland, Stockholm and Copenhagan – in a week.
He started booking day trips after joining a Facebook group of people doing the same.
He flew to Eindhoven, in the Netherlands, with his girlfriend Amy Hughes, 24, – spending just £30 each on return flights each – and said the day trips spiralled from there.
In the last year he has spent a day in Estonia, Monaco, Nice, Gdynia in Poland, Legoland Denmark, Nuremberg in Germany, Oslo in Norway, Churwalden in Switzerland, and Brussels.
He said: “Hotels are expensive. If you can just pay for flights you save so much money.”
In September Luke ended up going on a day trip for six weekends in a row.
He set off to Kaunas, Lithuania, with his brother, Olly Simmonds, 38, for just 17 hours. They flew from Luton with Wizz Air on a £12.99 flight and arrived at 00:55am.
They spent the next day visiting the war museum, Kaunas Castle and wandered around the town before heading back on £33.69 per person flights.
The following weekend headed off to Grindelwald, Switzerland, with strangers from the Facebook group.
They set off from Gatwick at 7am to Basel on a £38.99 flight before getting a bus, two trains and a cable car.
Luke said: “We had an hour and a bit up the mountain. The views were stunning.
“Once you’re up the mountain – how long do you really need?”
The friends had a late lunch in the village before catching two trains back to Zürich airport to catch their evening flight.
Luke spent the next weekend on a solo trip to Wrocław, Poland – spending £42.17 on his flights and £134.36 in total.
He said: “I had a free weekend. I had a really nice time.”
In October, Luke headed to the French Alps with his friends from the Facebook page.
They flew to Geneva on an 8.10am flight before hopping in a hire car to travel the hour to Chamonix.
The pals went up in the cable car to ascend the Aiguille Du Midi and see Mont Blanc.
Luke said: “It was enough time to see the mountain.
“The views from the top are breathtaking with loads of snow. It was a stunning sunny and crisp day with unlimited visibility. We had amazing views of Mont Blanc and the surrounding mountains.
“We all got altitude sickness.”
Luke flew to Pisa, Italy, the next weekend with Amy – and did the whole trip for less than £90.
Luke was meant to go on a trip to Malaga the following weekend but bailed when his plane hit a bird and had to do an emergency landing.
The couple saw the sights and ate pizza and ice cream.
He already has seven more day trips booked – including a trip to Agadir, Morocco on £8.99 tickets.
Now a seasoned day tripper, Luke says his top tips are not being set on a location and planning ahead to get cheaper flights.
He also says it is worth looking out for the airport sales and being flexible on your destination and timings.
Luke said: “There’s so many places out there you can go to.
“It’s a different way of travelling.”
Kaunas, Lithuania
Flights: £46.68
Lounge: £0.00
Hotel: £12.50
Food and Drink: Approx €25 (£21.10)
Train to Luton Airport £9.19
National Express Coach back £15.50
Funicular: €1 (£0.84)
Kaunas Taxi: €12.50 (£10.55)
Bolts: €8.15 (3 journeys) (£6.88)
Museum: €5 (£4.22)
Total: £127.46
Grindelwald, Switzerland
Flight costs: £93.99
Train: £46.73
Cable Car: £61
Food and Drink: Approx £35
UK travel costs approx £42.40
Total cost: £279.12
Poland
Flights: £42.17
National Express Coaches: £29.00
Bolts in Poland: £26.52
Food and Drink: £27.50
Museum: £9.17
Total: £134.36
Chamonix, France
Costs:
Flights: £38.98
Share of Hire Car: Approx £38
Cable Car: €78.00 (£65.85)
Food and Drink: €11 (£9.20)
UK train ticket: £13.65
Total: £165.68
Pisa, Italy
Costs per person:
Flights: £40.24
Rail Replacement Bus: £0.00
National Express Coach: £17.00
Pisa Mover: £10.90
Food and Drink: £19.29
Total: £87.43
“I turned the MRI noise into music to help me cope with my cancer diagnosis”
A man who was diagnosed with a brain tumour has turned the noise of an MRI machine into music – to relax while undergoing scans.
Alastair Cross, 40, first realised something was wrong when he started suffering from visual disturbances and intense headaches.
He originally put it down to stress but his doctor sent him for an MRI scan due to his sister previously being diagnosed with a brain tumour.
The result showed Alastair a mass on his brain and he underwent a craniotomy which removed 80 per cent of it.
A biopsy then revealed it was a grade 2 astrocytoma – a slow-growing brain tumour.
Alastair decided against chemotherapy and radiotherapy to remove the rest of the tumour and has had more than 20 MRI scans to date to monitor its growth.
Alastair found a unique way to cope with his frequent MRI scans by using the sounds and rhythms of the machine in his music.
Alastair, a visual effects artist, from Dublin, Ireland, now living in Vancouver, Canada, said: “The scans themselves are fine, but I admit there is always an element of nervousness about the conversation I have after the scans with my oncologist.
“I’ve been playing music since I was a kid and lying in the machine I often found myself drifting off to the rhythm of the different phases.
“I could imagine other instruments weaving in and out of the pattern the MRI machine was making, and I thought it would be cool to record them and see if I could create something musical from those sounds.
“I have created a unique and deeply personal body of work using the sounds from my regular MRI scans, transforming them into music that tells a story of resilience, hope, and empowerment.”
Alastair started noticing visual disturbances – “visual Déjà vu ” – and intense headaches in the summer of 2017.
His GP put it down to stress and Alastair agreed but his doctor sent him for an MRI due to his family history.
Alastair said: “I started to experience vision disturbances where I was unable to see people fully.
“It was very sporadic and not regular so I put it down to stress and migraines.
“The reason I got sent for an MRI was because my sister was diagnosed with a brain tumour prior to me.”
In September 2018, Alastair had his first MRI scan which showed there was a mass on his brain.
Then in November, he had an awake craniotomy where 80 per cent of the tumour was removed.
Alastair said: “The tumour was encased in an optic pathway at the right side of my head.
“They would scan an area of the brain and I would be doing field tests on an iPad.
“They were using that to gauge if the area they stunned was critical to my vision.”
After his craniotomy, a biopsy revealed Alastair had a grade 2 astrocytoma – a slow-growing brain tumour.
He was offered chemotherapy and radiotherapy but decided against that and instead is taking a more metabolic approach to his recovery.
And is having his tumour monitored the tumour with regular MRI scans.
Alastair said: “A few days after surgery I went to see the consultant who said the tumour was low grade which was a relief.
“They offered chemo and radiotherapy but I opted to monitor it.
“I had scans every three months and now I have them every six months.
“Some of my MRI scans have showed growth and some have been stable but I haven’t wanted to do chemo or radio.
“I have opted out of those treatment options because my quality of life is good.
“I am not ruling it out in the future but I am just not there yet.”
Since his diagnosis, Alastair has had more than 20 MRI scans and says his way of coping with them is turning the noise of the machine into music.
He said: “I found once I got over the initial claustrophobia of the scan and I was able to relax myself I could hear noises and beats.
“I used to hear melodies and I thought it would be a cool thing to sample and capture.
“When I started it became a cathartic process that helped me reframe everything from the fear of the future and diagnosis to maybe that there is a point of this.
“I do feel a lot more content in my life than I did before.”
Catherine Fraher, Director of Services and Digital Health at The Brain Tumour Charity, said: “We’re really grateful to everyone who shares their story to raise awareness of brain tumours.
“We know that every family deals with a brain tumour diagnosis and its aftermath in their own unique way.
“That’s why The Brain Tumour Charity offers support to anyone who needs it. It’s so important for them to know that they are not alone.”
"I gave birth in 40 seconds – I didn’t have to push"
A unmedicated mum gave birth in just 40 seconds when her baby "shot out" - because of a medical rarity.
Cianna Gonzalez, 24, experienced the Ferguson reflex, when the body 'expels' a child.
Also known as the fetal ejection reflex, it is often seen in home births - but rarely in a medical setting.
Stay-at-home mum Cianna, from Philadelphia, says she felt her son "descending" without control.
And he just slipped out after a three-hour labour - where he was caught by a midwife.
Cianna said: “I felt him descending. I was screaming ‘he’s coming’.
“My baby shot out completely voluntarily.
“I did not have to push him out, he came out on his own. He came out in less than 40 seconds.”
Cianna, who now has two children, went into labour after 38 weeks.
She started feeling what she thought were Braxton Hicks contractions.
But, after contacting the birth centre, she was told to come in and that she was in labour.
She went into a birth pool during labour and was in there when she suddenly felt her baby coming.
She tried to get out of the tub to give birth - but realised there was no time.
Cianna said: “I was anxiety ridden in the moment.
"I thought who is going to catch this baby? It was very natural and very fast.”
Her second son was born on August 8 2022, weighing 7lbs 5oz, at 10.35am.
She believes “being able to relax trigged the Ferguson reflex”.
Cianna said: “It was very intuitive on the babies end. It was incredible.
"I didn’t know I could do that or the baby could. He was on his own timing."
Cianna had not had the reflex with her first son, now two, when he was born on February 10 2021 weighing 7lbs 12oz.
Her positive birth experience which gave her “confidence” for her second birth.
She said: “I was excited to do it again.”
According to birthing information online, the reflex is involuntary - the woman's body is doing the work without any thought.
Some women have likened it to a sneeze, it is claimed - once it’s started to happen, there’s nothing you can do to stop it.
]]>
]]>
]]>
]]>
]]>
]]>
]]>
]]>
Dramatic moment a flying swan smashes into van's windscreen
Image by: Emily Keady
This is the terrifying moment a swan flew into a moving car - and shattered the windscreen.
Professional dog walker Emily Keady, 21, was driving through a suburban housing estate when the bird descended towards her on-coming vehicle.
It smashed into the windscreen directly in front of the driver's seat - causing a huge indent in the splintered glass.
The incident on December 23 was captured on a dash cam in her Citroën Berlingo van.
She can be heard screaming in terror while her passenger shouted "oh my God".
Despite shattering the windscreen, the swan was unharmed and waddled off around the village.
Emily - who was driving from her home to a job in Holyfields, Newcastle upon Tyne, when the incident happened - was also shaken but unhurt.
Image by: Emily Keady
Image by: Emily Keady
Image by: Emily Keady
Image by: Emily Keady
Her dad Andrew Keady, 56, said: "She was pretty shaken-up but she was more concerned if the swan was ok.
"You do usually see the swans in a nearby park but we've never seen anything like that.
"She gave me a call so I could help collect the van.
"It was just walking up and down the street by time I got there. It didn't seemed at all bothered.
"We got in contact with the RSPCB and RSPCA but they said there was nothing they could really do.
"If it was up walking about pretending like nothing had happened then I suppose it was alright.
"It didn't do too much in the way of damage. She was able to replace the screen the next day."
