Baby boy arrives on his dad AND grandfather's birthday!
By Kate Pounds
A family were thrilled when their baby boy arrived on his dad AND his grandfather's birthday.
Chester Bussey was born on Sunday April 14 - his dad Aaron's 36th birthday and his grandfather Mark's 58th.
The tot arrived eight days before his due date to beat the odds for three generations of men in a family to share a birthday.
It is thought the odds are 133,000 to one.
Aaron, and partner Devon Mayhew, 32, didn't know they were expecting a boy and had joked about him being born on April 14.
Aaron, a bricklayer from Colchester, Essex, said: "We're really chuffed about it, and still pretty shocked.
"It was a very exciting birthday and such a lovely surprise.
"It's a very special day already with me and my dad sharing our birthday but it's extra special now.
"I can't wait for the three of us to celebrate together each year.
"It's really exceptional for something like this to happen to us. It's so rare.
"If you put a pound on it you'd never have to work again - I wish I'd done that."
Devon, a maths teacher, had prepared a birthday card from their newborn to Aaron just in case the baby came early - which he did.
"It was very special to get a card from him", said Aaron.
Aaron's mum Tracey, 59, popped to the shops just after the birth and had a cake made for all three birthday boys.
Aaron and Mark celebrate their birthday together every year.
They had a very special year in 2006 when Aaron turned 18 and Mark 40 on the same day.
Mark, whose birthday is April 14 1966, said it was astonishing when Aaron arrived a month early, on April 14 1988.
He said: "It was a lovely surprise, and I was over the moon when Chester was born on our birthday."
Tracey said: "This is such a incredible surprise. It's the perfect and ready made birthday present for them all."
Aaron and Devon had been trying for a baby for a year when they made a wish in the Trevi fountain, in Rome, while on holiday last year - and returned home pregnant.
Aaron said: "He was already a very special baby and this just makes it even more lovely."
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Elephant returns visitor's shoe after it fell into its enclosure
By Leo Black
This is the moment a clever elephant returned a shoe using its trunk after it fell into its zoo enclosure.
Video shows the animal stooping to pick up the footwear before gently dropping it back into the visitor's hand.
The elephant called Shanmai, which means "Mountains," resides at Shendiaoshan Wild Animal Nature Reserve in Weihai, China.
According to a staff member, the elephant first thought the shoe was food but when it realised it wasn't upon picking it up, it returned it to its owner.
Shanmai's keeper rewarded the animal's kind gesture with a watermelon.
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Tot has adorable argument with Alexa
By Leo Black
This is the funny moment a toddler got into an argument with Amazon Alexa after the virtual assistant struggled to understand her.
Video shows Aria Coleman, three, frustratedly pleading the gadget to play the popular children's song "The wheels on the bus."
Aria can be heard saying: "Come on Alexa, wheels on the bus. Come on Alexa, wheels on the bus, please."
But instead of playing the tot's song, Alexa offers Aria the location of the bus.
Aria and her mum Amanda Coleman were visiting great-grandmother Mary Ivers, 77, in Sterling Heights, Michigan, USA, when the cute exchange happened.
Mary explained: "She tried to interact with Alexa for a bit but it was the same every time.
"She noticed that Alexa was giving me reminders to take my medication.
"It was the first time she had seen one and she was fascinated by it."
Mary added: "She was very confused the first time I spoke to it. She kept asking where is she? Who is that?"
Eventually, Mary had to step in to help and give Aria a hand with her request.
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Man reveals heart-warming friendship with fox he cured of illness
By Faye Mayern
A wildlife fan has struck up an extraordinary friendship with a young fox after he noticed she was ill.
Bob Dunlop, 69, spotted the fox had developed mange on her tail on wildlife cameras he had set up near his home in Littleport, Cambs.
Mr Dunlop worked out where the animal was living and began to treat the fox by feeding her bread with a homeopathic remedy.
Their heart-warming friendship blossomed as the young vixen began to greet Mr Dunlop on his daily walks through the forest.
Mr Dunlop said he knows he must let her re-wild and is slowly cutting down amount of time he visits and has stopped feeding her.
The retired health and safety manager, said: "She's such a special animal, it will be hard to let go."
"I'm going to cut down the amount of time I spend with her. I do not intend to make her tame as she is a wild fox."
In the videos, the young vixen, affectionately named Ms Fox, can be seen rolling on her back and affectionately biting at Mr Dunlop's trousers for his attention.
She also greets him as he approaches, yelping and whining in excitement.
Mr Dunlop, originally from Fife, Scotland, noticed the fox with mange on her tail - a skin disease that is caused by microscopic mites that burrow into skin - back in December.
After curing her of the mange, Mr Dunlop has shared videos of their unique bond - with the fox acting more like a dog than a wild animal.
He said: "It was a labour of love but I monitored and fed her on a daily basis.
"I could put the drops of the remedy on some bread and I would go and feed it to her alongside some dried food.
"I think she's coming up to a year old because I believe she is the last remaining cub of a previous fox family who lived there.
"My view is that if she'd been dumped and was already tame, she wouldn't naturalise herself in a rural area.
"The mother of those cubs have some mange on her tail too - I think that's where she got it from."
Mr Dunlop was unwilling to leave the mange untreated and sought advice from the National Fox Welfare Society.
They sent Mr Dunlop an arsenicum and sulphur 30c homeopathic remedy to treat it, free of charge.
Mr Dunlop, who lives with his wife Sue, 75, visits the fox almost every day to keep an eye on her progress.
He added: "Back in January, I lost my dog. All the time my dog was with me on my walks, Ms Fox would hide.
"Once my dog had passed, I noticed her mange was gone and she became less withdrawn and more attached to me.
"The day I first put the food down and she showed her belly, it was just wonderful.
"I know at some point I've got to stop and let her rewild. I think she was just a lonely animal that was ill, has recovered and is showing her appreciation.
"She hides when she hears other people approach and is hunting at night which I see on my camera so I'm not concerned she's at risk of being too tame."
Mr Dunlop said his plan is to let Ms Fox re-wild completely and hoped she might have her own cubs one day.
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Farmhouse left hanging over perilous cliff edge thanks to erosion
By Faye Mayern
New shocking photos show an 18th century farmhouse hanging perilously over a cliff edge which has been eroded away along the coast.
The old farmhouse at Cliff Farm in Trimingham, Norfolk can be seen dangling over the cliff in a precarious position after the land slipped away at the beginning of the month.
The three-bedroom home was bought at auction five years ago for £132,000 and one photo shows the extent of the coastal erosion over the years.
The farmhouse used to sit much further away from the cliff while recent landslips have left the back part of the home exposed.
North Norfolk District Council has confirmed it will be demolishing the property in the coming days before it falls onto the beach and the homeowner has evacuated.
Harry Blathwayt, North Norfolk District Council’s portfolio holder for coast, said previously: “It’s very sad that the old farmhouse has been undermined by landfall over the last few weeks.
“Sadly, it will have to be demolished.
“The owner of the property has spoken to council officers and he fully accepts that the building is in a precarious position to say the least.
“As such, the council’s Coastwise team will be helping demolish it - getting contractors in and taking it down before it can fall on the beach."
Erosion at Trimingham has been happening at an alarming rate due to heavy rainfall over the winter which has saturated the soft cliffs, leading to frequent landslides.
In January 2020, the cliff fell at Trimingham overnight, sending tonnes of sand and silt plummeting onto the beach from the Trimingham House Caravan Park above.
The seaside resort of Hemsby has also lost several homes due to coastal erosion with ex-soldier Lance Martin hitting the headlines for dragging his bungalow away from the cliff edge twice.
Mr Martin, 66, initially admitted defeat last November but has now announced plans to airlift his home by helicopter away from the seafront in a military-grade operation.
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Moment climber disturbs hidden owl - but manages to hang on
By Josie Adnitt
Amazing slow-motion footage captures the moment an owl flew out over a climber in a ‘once in a lifetime’ moment.
The video, captured by Will Birkett, 28, shows the bird leap from its perch as he scaled a quarry wall in Silverdale, Lancs.
He reaches into the hold where the owl is sheltering, unaware the bird is there, and the owl then takes flight – wings skimming the top of his head.
Will, who was climbing without the aid of ropes, was filming for his social media account @willbirkett_lakes when the moment happened.
And he said while it was common for climbers to disturb crows and ravens throughout their climbing career, the owl was a ‘once in a lifetime’ moment.
Will, from Langdale Valley, Lake District, said: “I was going up a crack in a local quarry and just as I was reaching out to grab the hold, the owl came out of nowhere.
“It’s unique that it’s an owl. Climbers will quite often disturb birds not knowing they’re there.
“More typically it's a crow or raven, an owl is unusual – it was once in a lifetime.
“You can’t really afford to jump in that situation, I was climbing without a rope or anything.
“I had no choice but to hold on and deal with it - it was quite alarming at the time for sure.”
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Man relearns to walk after three week coma is now running London marathon
By Ben Barry
A man who had to learn to walk again after being in a coma for three and a half weeks is training to run the London Marathon.
Connor Blundell, 25, was on a year abroad in Valencia, Spain, studying mechanical engineering.
Five weeks into his studies, Connor was out with friends when he fell four metres from a platform and landed onto his head.
Connor was unconscious and rushed to hospital where he spent three and a half weeks in a coma.
When Connor became conscious he was non-verbal and unable to walk and spent nine months in rehabilitation.
Connor was not able to leave Spain until May 2021 and continued his rehabilitation in the UK.
Less than four years on, Connor is walking and talking again and taking part in the London Marathon this weekend alongside his dad, Chris, 57.
Connor, an environmental consultant, from Sheffield, Yorkshire, said: "I had a one in three chance of dying and a one in three chance of being in a coma forever.
"I am pretty gassed to be here today.
"It has been a journey, the reason I am running for Crisis and WaterAid is because I don't question what if.
"Yes, it would have been lovely not to have to learn to get better again but I feel a lot of gratitude.
"I am lucky for my family’s support and beyond that to not be experiencing homelessness and to not be without clean water."
Connor and his friends were enjoying the bank holiday weekend in Valencia, Spain in October 2020.
They were in a public park, dancing on a viewing platform when Connor fell off the edge of the platform.
He said: "It was late, there was no lights.
"I was knocked out straight away when I hit my head from the fall.
"For the next three and a half weeks I was in a coma."
Connor said he "gradually" woke up from his coma and was non-verbal and unable to walk.
He said: "It wasn't like an off and on, mine was more a slow come round.
"There was a time when I could keep my eyes open, I was more or less awake, but I couldn't speak for a month or so.
"I don't remember anything from my first few weeks, my memory starts in November.
"My sister took a year sabbatical and my parents were forced to take a year off from their own jobs to stay with me in Spain.
"It was tough for me and it was tough of them. They had to sit there not knowing if I would die tomorrow."
After he woke up, Connor started physio where he would learn to walk, talk and have cognitive therapy for four hours a day.
He was in hospital for a further four months before he was discharged and became and outpatient.
Connor said: "I was walking with a Zimmer frame when I left hospital.
"We were staying around a 20 minute walk from the hospital, we walked home and I would pray for a red light so I could sit down and take a break."
After leaving hospital, Connor and his family stayed in Spain so he could recieve outpatient care.
After five months as an outpatient, Connor and his family left Spain in May 2021 and went back to the UK.
Connor said: "People expect me to hate Spain and everything about it.
"It is the opposite, I was obsessed with Spain before, and I still love it.
"It wasn't exactly the year that I expected, but there was definitely a lot of learning."
Over the past four years, Connor has been having ongoing therapeutic input to improve his mobility, cognition, and speech.
This weekend, Connor will join thousands of people and run the London Marathon, for WaterAid and Crisis, alongside his dad, Chris.
Connor said: "I am addicted to running, I ran the Manchester Marathon when I was 21 in just under three hours, which automatically qualified me to take part in the London race.
“The accident prevented me from taking part in the London Marathon the year after as previously expected.
"From day one, I said 'I want to run a marathon one day', in my head, I thought it would be ten years.
"To be here three and a half years later, running a marathon is amazing.
"I am really fortunate to do it for two charities that I care deeply about.
"To be running it with my dad will be an incredible experience.
"I have always wanted to run the London Marathon but it has a lot more meaning to me now."
Connor's fundraising link: https://www.givewheel.com/fundraising/1886/2024-tcs-london-marathon/
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"I'm a single mum-of-12 - I can't afford them, I have to feed them on coupons"
By Elise McGrath
A single mum-of-12 said she's been forced to rely on food stamps due to the cost of living crisis - and "can't afford" to feed her family without them.
Veronica Merritt, 39, says she has to feed her kids macaroni, hot dogs and packet ramen - because now her yearly food bill totals $24k.
She says she’s trolled on TikTok for “not being able to afford” her big family by people who say she shouldn’t have had kids in the first place.
But she does not regret them and said having babies feels and it's like her "superpower".
Veronica, a TikTok creator, from New York, US, said: “I never would’ve had kids if I’d waited until I was rich - I don't regret any of my kids.
“I’m trying to take care of my kids as best I can. This month I didn’t have any money, so had to spend $1,400 in food stamps.
“It’s impossible to feed 11 people on $1,400 - the prices of everything right now are tight.
“I used to feed a family of 12 for $500 a month but now you need $2,000 to $3,000 a month to feed this many people ramen.”
Veronica had her first baby Victoria, 24, in March 2000, when she was aged 14, at Crouse hospital in Syracuse, NY.
The first 10 kids were with Veronica's first husband, she then went on to marry an old friend and had two more kids.
Currently, her brood consists of Victoria, 24, a mum-of-one, Andrew, 19, Adam, 17, Mara, 16, Dash, 14, Darla, 13, Marvelous, 11, Martalya, nine, Amelia, seven, Delilah, five, Donovan, four and Modi, two.
She says the family receive help from the government in the form of $1,400 in food stamps each month.
"We get $1400 in food stamps which is actually not enough at all, food is so expensive," she said.
"I've got help with food stamps on and off over the years."
Veronica said she wanted more kids but has to get hysterectomy because of a fibroid, on May 2.
"Six boys and six girls is pretty perfect, especially because I colour code and have a boy and girl for every colour," she said.
"It's oddly perfect how well it worked out.
"If I did want to have more, I'd have to be rich and hire a surrogate.
“I was 14 when I had my first, I was really young, and I didn’t really understand how reproduction worked.
“I thought you had to be 16 to get pregnant.
"I thought, ‘it won’t happen to me’, but it did, pretty much as soon as I was sexually active.
“I don't think of kids as accidents. They’re my little surprises."
Veronica added: "I really like growing my family. I like having babies.
"I thought 'I'm just going to see what nature decides and see what happens, you know?' And so I just kept getting pregnant."
She said the cost of toys and electronics vary but Christmas alone costs her $7k.
Veronica bought her nine-bedroom house on the East Coast of New York for $20,000.
She says it needs a lot of repairs that require a lot of money that the family doesn’t have right now.
But she intends to raise the money by making money on TikTok and selling paintings.
She added: "Housing is about $13k but that's just taxes and utilities - we have no mortgage or rent.
"School supplies cost me about $4k and trips to visit family cost a few thousand dollars.
"I used to work at Chuck E Cheese a few years and worked in McDonalds when I was a teenager.
"My TikTok usually makes $1200 - $7,000 a month through the creator fund but I haven't been posting much so last month I only made $300.
"This month I only made $70 - so I really need to post more."
Veronica is a single mum and she raises them alone.
She says it’s incredibly hard - but wouldn’t change it for the world.
“I wish I would have chosen better partners so that I wasn't a single mum right now,” she added.
“But I love having babies.
“I think that having a baby is like the greatest, most precious and wonderful thing ever.
"We're living on ramen, when we used to be able to buy anything.
"I used to be able to go to the grocery store and get whatever we wanted and not have to worry about it."
But Veronica says her family’s lifestyle attracts a lot of comments from trolls - who say she can’t afford to raise them.
“People comment on my TikToks that if you’re not perfect you shouldn’t have kids at all,” she said. “I’m just trying to take care of the kids as best I can.
“I’m just very honest about things online.
“I don’t only show the best meals - I’ll show them eating hot dogs and macaroni and cheese.
“I don’t make sure everything is perfect and clean. Our house gets messy.”
Veronica says she loves each of her kids equally - and she refuses to pick favourites.
She said: “People think I can’t love all the kids, which is silly because that’s like saying you can’t love 10 of your friends.
“Sure, there might be days where I spend more time with one than the other.
“I started colour coding by accident because my daughter (Victoria) was obsessed with a lot of pink.”
Mara will wear yellow, while Darla loves purple and Dash prefers to wear orange.
"It's almost like their colours shaped their personalities."
Breakdown of Veronica's costs -
Food - $24k-a-year
Christmas presents - $7k-a-year
Birthdays - $10k-a-year
Housing costs - $13k-a-year
Total - $54k-a-year
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Two-year-old chef obsessed with cooking shows can make a full roast dinner
By Freddie Noble
Meet the two-year-old chef who can cook spaghetti bolognaise, chilli con carne - and a full roast dinner.
Oswyn Thomas can also make shortbread, cookies, brownies, jelly, a banana split, Welsh cakes and pancakes.
The toddler started cooking when she was 11 months old alongside her mum Madison, 28.
When she was born, Madison said she didn't bond with Oswyn as much as she wanted to so started cooking with her for some one on one time.
Over the years she has cooked spaghetti bolognaise, chili con carne and Welsh cakes and the list is still growing.
Oswyn will take charge in the kitchen, by measuring out the ingredients and knowing when the food is cooked.
As well as being a master in the kitchen, Oswyn is a super fan of Gordon Ramsey and Gino D'Acampo and will watch them on TV every day.
Madison, a stay at home mum, from Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, said: "When she was a born, we didn't bond as much as I wanted to.
"She loved her dad, so my only way of getting her to bond with me is getting her involved with something that I like and that is cooking.
"She absolutely loves cooking and it is nothing that I have pushed or promoted she has just done it herself.
"She makes a roast dinner with me like perfectly, we did a roast with a chicken and she [Oswyn] chose all the seasonings herself.
"She wanted lemon juice, chilli and a bunch of bay leaves an It tasted really nice."
Oswyn's first experience in the kitchen was making cookies alongside her mum so they could bond.
Madison said: "The cookie brownie was the first thing she mixed herself. She only just learnt how to walk."
"I will never forget the amount of chocolate she poured everywhere and It went all down the face of the cooker."
Over the years, the tot has helped make a number of classics from Welsh cakes, cupcakes, chocolate blondie, shortbread and trifle.
Madison said: "She has fully taken it on herself, she's so good at indicating and I don't really need to do anything.
"The only thing I do is film and edit for social media."
Madison and Oswyn will spend every day in the kitchen sometimes even twice a day baking cookies or cooking pasta.
Madison said: "She is my best friend. We do everything together now."
Oswyn is not only a food enthusiast but also a huge fan of fellow chef, Gordon Ramsey.
She is obsessed with Junior MasterChef and Gino D'acampo on This Morning.
From watching Junior MasterChef and Hells Kitchen to Gordon, Gino and Fred's Road Trip, Oswyn has been binge-watching them for days one end.
Madison said: "We would sit here for hours and watch on repeat Gordon Ramsey, even when she would eat her breakfast in the morning and she would watch the cooking on this morning."
"She would just stare at him and not doing anything but just stare but you could tell she was taking it all in."
"She calls Gordon the angry chef but when she grows up she wants to be known as the funny chef."
Madison reveals that she is a massive fan and every evening they would watch nearly every show ranging from Kitchen Nightmares to Hell's Kitchen.
Here is a list of the dishes she has made:
Shortbread
Cookies
Spaghetti Bolognaise
Chili Con Carne
Brownies
Strawberry Jelly
Banana Split
Beans on Toast
Welsh Cakes
Pancakes
Glamorgan Sausages
Quiche
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"I attempted the hardest race in the world - here's what it's like"
By George Mathias
A professional runner defeated by the "world's hardest race" has revealed what goes into training for the Barkley Marathons.
Ultra-marathon runner Jeff Garmine trained by running up hills in the pouring rain at 2am to prepare for the 2021 Barkley Marathons.
The 100-mile race is held in the forests of Frozen Head State Park in Morgan County, Tennessee, US, and sees athletes attempt five back-to-back 20-mile loops through the forest over 60 hours.
Up to 40 people take part each year - but few finish - with the record number of finishers for a single year standing at just five.
Super-fit Jeff, 32, had completed the 'Triple Crown of 200s' - three 200-mile races run consecutively over four months.
He also holds the record for the fastest time on the Great Western Loop - a 6,875-mile route – as only one of two people to complete it.
Jeff did 17 hours of running per week on hills with a 30% gradient to train for Barkley Marathons, and would run up and down the same hill for hours at a time.
He managed to successfully complete two loops of over 40 miles and collect all the books during his first attempt, but ran out of time and was eliminated.
Jeff, from Bozeman, Montana, US, said: "I trained for six months – the key is to make it as miserable as possible.
"You need to be training in the coldest weather in the middle of the night on the steepest hills.
"I would go out at 2am in pouring the pouring rain and begin running up the steepest hills.
"You have to be comfortable with uncertainty and being miserable – it's a mindset thing.
"We were just a bunch of idiots running around in the woods - it was most fun I've ever had while being most frustrated.
"Every step feels like you’re going the wrong way - it's a rollercoaster of emotions, the highs and lows are so drastic."
Jeff says those wanting to take part must write an essay entitled 'Why I should be allowed to run in the Barkley' and pay a $1.60 application fee to have a chance of being accepted.
If chosen to compete, each runner then receives a 'letter of condolence'.
Each year organiser Gary Cantrell, known as Lazarus Lak, an endurance race designer and director, lights a cigarette to mark the start of the race - which can begin at any time during an eight-hour window.
Jeff said: “The whole thing is still pretty secret – part of the allure is how hard it is even to put an application in.
“It's such a difficult endeavour and challenge even to just find out how to apply - you have to be 100 per cent invested.”
In March 2020 Jeff travelled to the camp where the athletes wait on call for the race to start.
Jeff said: "One hour before the race starts a conch shell is blown which means the race is due to begin.
“At 1am Gary Cantrell blew the shell so we all got up and had one hour to get ready and get to the start line. “
Competitors have 60 hours to complete the course - while searching for books hidden in the undergrowth of the forest which contain their race number.
They then have to rip out the corresponding page and bring it with them to the finish line.
Jeff said: “You have no cellphone or navigation - it’s just a map and a compass and very steep terrain.
“Slowly in the fog we all spread out, searching for the books hidden in the woods, there was 40 of us but that year only one person finished.
“You run for two kilometres and then turn right into the woods which is full of shrubs.”
Jeff says the event feels extremely surreal, as athletes scramble in the forest to try and find the books with their number on it.
“Every single step feels like you’re going the wrong way,” he said.
“There’s an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction when you find the book, it’s a rollercoaster of emotions.
“At one point there was a group of 10 of us searching for a book for an hour for one book, we finally found it, we had all been searching.
Jeff finished one loop of the course, but was timed out in the second one and said he felt an “overwhelming sense of disappointment.”
He said: “It's a very unique feeling – it's a very strange."
Jeff, who is not married and has no kids, says he has devoted himself to ultra running and setting records.
“I ran cross country in high school but then I got bullied – I slowly took running back up once I found out you could do it on trails.
“I developed relationship with nature, I love it.”
As for the Berkley Marathons, Jeff said he hopes to come back in the future for a second attempt.
"You are called a "virgin" if it's your first time, and virigins almost never complete the race - I'd love to come back again as a veteran," he said.
Jeff's training regime:
- 20,000ft of vertical gain on average per week along
- 13 - 17 hours of running at 30% gradient and higher
- Practicing eating while out running to simulate race conditions
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