“I’m raising my first three kids as triplets – they were born exactly a year apart”
A mom found out she was pregnant with twins just five months after giving birth—and now she’s raising the children as triplets.
Chancè Hindir-Lane, 30, thought she was suffering from postpartum nausea and irregular periods weeks after giving birth to her oldest son, now five.
But during a postnatal check-up with her obstetrician in June 2020, she was given a routine pregnancy test.
The test came back positive—and an ultrasound revealed she was six weeks pregnant with twins.
Now, four years later, Chancè is raising the siblings as triplets, along with her youngest child, who is two.
She throws them joint birthday parties every year and says they have a “very close bond.”
Chancè, a content creator from Charlotte, North Carolina, said: “I thought I needed to go on birth control—but my doctor said I was pregnant with twins.
“I couldn’t believe I was seeing double—first, you’re telling me I’m pregnant with one baby—now, two.
“We kind of feel like we’re raising them as triplets—my eldest was still breastfeeding when I gave birth to the girls.”
On January 8, 2020, at 2:30 p.m., Chancè gave birth to her oldest child after a long and challenging pregnancy.
He weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces, and the pair stayed in the hospital for five days afterward due to Chancè hemorrhaging after labor.
Six weeks after coming home, the new mom realized she hadn’t started her period—but put this down to her recovery after birth.
“I’ve always struggled with irregular periods, so I didn’t think anything of it,” Chancè said.
“I spoke to my nurse about it, and she told me not to worry.
“She explained how hard it would be to get pregnant just a few weeks after giving birth.”
Chancè says she wasn’t allowed to start birth control at that time—guidelines recommend moms wait at least six weeks before resuming the combined pill or contraceptive patch.
At almost five months postpartum, and with no sign of her period, she discovered she felt sick at the smell of coffee—which she now realizes was a “telltale” sign of pregnancy.
She added: “I’m a heavy coffee drinker, but when I’m pregnant, I can’t stand the smell of it.
“I was on a trip to Quebec in June, and I was standing in Tim Hortons, and I had to leave because I couldn’t stand it.”
Thinking her hormones just needed to settle down, Chancè booked an appointment with her obstetrician shortly after arriving back in the U.S., believing birth control might help.
On June 18, 2020, she was told by her doctor to take a routine urine pregnancy test—something she always had to do during appointments.
But after returning the dipstick test to her obstetrician, she was “shocked” to find out she was pregnant again.
“I was shocked and so scared at how quickly it happened,” Chancè said.
“I thought: ‘How am I going to manage two kids under the age of two?’
“Having my son, I already knew it was quite a lot.”
But Chancè got a further shock when a sonographer gave her a transvaginal ultrasound and found two embryos in her womb.
The mom was sitting “in disbelief” after being told she was pregnant with twins.
Her immediate reaction was to begin planning for the new arrivals—as well as telling her family members.
She said: “As soon as I told my mom, she told me she’d been having dreams about me having twins and prayed on it.
“My sister said the same thing—they felt like I was always going to have twins eventually.”
The twins, now four, were born on January 10, 2021, at 7:40 and 7:42 p.m.—just two days after their brother’s birthday.
They weighed 3 pounds, 13 ounces, and 4 pounds—and needed to stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) for “weeks” afterward.
For the first seven months, Chancè breastfed all three of her children—which helped them to create a “triplet-like” bond.
Their first birthday party was a joint one, with all the family invited.
Chancè says they were a “team of three,” which has since expanded to four with the arrival of their younger brother.
“The twins adjusted really funnily to being older sisters,” she added.
“They kept looking at their baby brother and going: ‘No.’
“But they’re such a little team of four—the bond is so special.”
Couple turn £1K cottage into playground for grandkids with life-size playhouses
A couple who bought a cottage for £1K have turned it into the ultimate playground for their grandkids – including three life-size playhouses.
Alban, 86, and Angela Bunting, 82, moved from Hertfordshire to Binegar in Somerset in 1964 – after buying the 17th century derelict property for £1,250.
The pair moved their lives from Hertfordshire to the small village and Alban skillfully renovated the falling down home – now called Spindle Cottage.
But when Alban was told him and his wife were going to be grandparents he decided to design and build three playhouses for their much-loved grandchildren.
The first creation was a cottage in Gothic style built for Ruth in 2002 – with a spiral black staircase inside.
The second one was an Elizabethan shed for Tom in 2003 – made with oak railway sleepers.
And the third one for Charlotte – a post office and shop – built in 2005 with Indian bricks and sandstone blocks.
It is now of the most unique gardens and holiday cottages in Britain.
The cottage, shepherd’s hut, gardens and playhouses have featured on BBC’s Gardeners’ World, Open Gardens and Channel 4’s Amazing Spaces.
Angela said: “As soon as we knew there was a baby coming and Alban waited for the birth and he made it for Ruth – she absolutely loved it when she came on holiday.
“Tom loved his playhouse – he told Ruth and Charlotte ‘you can’t go in here unless you have my permission’ – he was quite a character.
“Once he got a mobile phone he could take pictures of them and said ‘if you break in here I am going to take pictures of you and I am going to call the police'”.
Alban said: “The final one was Charlotte’s and that is a Victorian post office and a copy of one I had done in my village when I apprentice carpenter and joiner.”
Angela added: “She looked very cute this tiny little girl wobbling into the shop with her shop in front of her and sometimes she came out with a basket of plastic strawberries to play.”
Asking why they moved from Hertfordshire to Somerset Angela explained they spotted a cottage in a village in Somerset that was in need of repairs.
She said: “When we found this one we thought this is in the worst stage but it has the most potential.
“We knew the motorway was going to be built so getting a house in Somerset was going to be expensive.
“After we had bought it we were still living in Hertfordshire and we were coming down here weekends and holidays to do work on it and we’d spend the whole weekend doing the next important job.
“It had sitting tenants in one half and this half was in a bad state – all the beams were covered up.
“The neighbors said they were going to move out to a bungalow and that the rest of the house was going to be ours – we were delighted.”
When they moved in three years later after buying the house they came back with two boys – and their third son would later born in the cottage’s upstairs room.
When their boys left they decided to turn the cottage into a holiday let to make extra money – with people from all over the country and abroad visiting.
With their middle son having three kids, Alban let his creative side take over once more and build the three playhouses for their grandchildren.
Alban would spend his evenings and weekends working on the houses in his spare time.
Angela said: “Our grandchildren would come for a whole week to play in the houses. And they wanted us to come shopping in the post office.
“People on holiday once they got to know what we were doing they’d gather tins and things for the post office and people kept bringing things for us and that’s how we filled it all up – including a metal till.”
But now as their grandchildren have grown up to play in their designed houses they are used by kids in the village or tourists who stay in the cottage.
The year each element was built or created within the cottage by Alban has been carved in stone, wood and beams.
“In all his spare time Alban would do the creative sides of the house,” said Angela.
Alban added: “People often ask me what would you do if you have great-grandchildren?
”And I say it will either be a church or the very old-fashioned pub with a public saloon bar.”
Angela concluded: “I think any great-grandchildren would just love to play in these houses. If I am around I have to make sure it is all clean and tidy.”
One review said: “This cottage is what childhood dreams are made of. I was surprised that there wasn’t a cupboard that actually led to Narnia!”
Carol Klein, BBC Open Garden, said: ”This is a garden not just for plants people, but for the whole family. I think this is the most inspiring garden I’ve ever been in.”
For more information visit Spindle Cottage here: https://www.spindlecottage.co.uk/
“I’m a trophy wife – I bagged my rich husband by demanding a $1k weekly allowance”
A self-proclaimed “trophy wife” in a 29-year age gap relationship says she bagged her husband by demanding a $1,000 weekly allowance.
Alyssa Armoogam, 30, met her husband, Mark, 59, on a dating app after setting her sights on an ‘older rich man’.
The pair hit it off and Mark, an entrepreneur and investor, impressed mum-of-two Alyssa by giving her $300 to pay for her babysitter.
She agreed to keep dating him if he met her terms – paying for her beauty treatments and giving her a $1,000 weekly allowance to feel “secure”.
Now married for two years, Alyssa still loves being bought romantic gifts – such as getaways and designer handbags.
She hopes to encourage other women to “know their worth”.
Alyssa, an influencer, from Miami, Florida, US, said: “I don’t care if someone is rich if they are an arsehole.
“There is the idea I’m only with him because of his money.
“It was one of my requirements but I wouldn’t have married him because of that.
“We really encourage the best out of each other.
“We see the potential in each other.”
Alyssa has always preferred to date older men – and her first crush was Robert Downey Jr.
She said: “When I started dating people older my mum wasn’t surprised.”
Alyssa was “miserable” and “over” her last relationship when she moved to Florida in 2018.
She decided to hit the dating apps but was set on what she wanted – someone rich, attentive and who had faith as an important aspect of their life.
Alyssa’s first question to potential dates was ‘how do you feel about Jesus?’ and Mark’s answer caught her by surprise.
She said: “His answer was so funny. He said ‘how do I feel about Jesus? I toured the country talking about him’.
“I thought ‘wow, I wasn’t expecting that’.
“We hit it off from there.”
Her second demand was ‘I’m willing to meet you but you have to cover the babysitter’.
Alyssa said: “If a dude is going to argue with me about $45 for a baby sitter – he’s not worth my time.”
When they met for their first date Alyssa was immediately attracted to Mark.
She said: “His eyes literally sparkled.
“He has a very kind soul and his eyes twinkle.
“I really felt like I knew him.
“At the end he handed me $300 to cover the babysitter.”
Mark immediately texted Alyssa asking to see her again.
She said: “He was very persistent.
“I said ‘OK, here are my terms – I want someone paying for my nails, hair and waxing’.
“I want a $1,000 weekly allowance to feel secure and I want to be exclusive.
“He immediately sent me $2,000 and said I wasn’t going on another date with anyone else.
“I loved it because I felt he had made it 100 per cent clear how he felt about me.”
The $2,000 Mark sent Alyssa meant she was able to put a deposit down on a flat for herself and her daughter, Ziya, 11 – who Mark has now adopted.
Their relationship blossomed and after two years together Mark popped the question in 2020.
The couple tied the knot in a small legal ceremony in April 2022 and a month later they welcomed their son, Keanu, two, together.
Alyssa calls herself a trophy wife but she feels her marriage is very much a “partnership”.
She said: “Anything I want to pursue I can do it.
“Any dream I have is shared and any desire is met.
“I’m his biggest cheerleader.”
But Alyssa does love being spoilt by Mark. She no longer receives an allowance as they equally share their money.
She said: “He’s such a Pisces. He’s very romantic.
“I told him I like getting little small gifts.
“He takes that and understands it.
“He takes me shopping and buys me a Louis Vuitton.
“That’s his normal behaviour. That’s him romancing me.”
Alyssa says the age gap doesn’t bother her or Mark but some people jump to conclusions.
She said: “When people look at me they make assumptions on who I am and my intentions – because of my age and appearance.
“When people talk to me they see how much love I pour into my family.
“There’s no question of why we’re together.
“It’s not like he’s an ugly fat fart.
“He’s a handsome guy.
“Age – what does it matter if our souls align?”
Alyssa is working on a clothing line for breast feeding women and is considering creating a course called ‘dating like a trophy wife’.
She said: “When I went into the dating scene I had this idea of what I wanted in a man.
“I knew what I’d be bringing into that persons life.
“That’s what made me feel firm on my requirements.
“Women are not realising their worth.”
Time capsule from 1983 concealed in wall of stable reunited with family
A couple who discovered a time capsule from forty-years-ago while renovating their holiday let have managed to track down the family of the man who buried it.
Charlotte and Phil Betts, from Oulton Broad, Suffolk, were ‘excited’ when builders doing work on the old stables next to their home found the glass jar hidden in a wall.
The Nescafe glass jar had duct tape wrapped around the lid and inside was a copy of the local paper, coins, business cards and faded photos – all from 1983.
Charlotte, 47, posted the find on her local Facebook group and soon made contact with Jackie Aarons whose father had hidden the jar in the wall of the stables.
Jackie, 53, said she remembered helping her dad Les with the time capsule 40 years earlier and it was a ‘happy’ moment for her mum Celia Anne – as Les had passed in 2021.
One the old photographs which is now faded but the handwriting on the back is still clear.
It reads: “August 1982, renovation of old stables. Owner Leslie David Aarons shown here. Purchased ‘Woodlands’ April 1979. Wife Celia Anne, children David, Jane and Jacqueline.”
Charlotte, a corporate social responsibility lead, and Phil, a technician support analyst, said they were very excited to find the capsule on November 6.
The couple, who moved into their home last year, said: “We’re currently renovating our holiday let that’s on our plot and the builders found the time capsule.
“They nearly chucked it in a skip at first – it is an old fashioned Nescafé jar.
“We decided to open it and found newspapers from 1983, a few coins, business cards and old photographs wrapped in a polythene bag.
“They had become so degraded you couldn’t see the photograph at all but we could read the writing on the back.”
Charlotte posted on Facebook and soon people who knew the Aarons family messaged both her and Jackie – who helped her dad put it together when she was 11.
Charlotte added: “We exchanged numbers and we’ve spoken on the phone. It was her dad who converted the stables to the holiday let.
“It’s exciting that we found it. We’re going to keep the newspaper and some of the coins to put in a frame for a display in the holiday let – so everyone knows the story.”
Jackie, now living near Loddon in Norfolk, said she remembers helping her mum and dad, brother David and sister Jane, with selecting the items for the jar.
She said: “I have a lot of memories from that lovely house.
“Dad instigated it and put it together but we were all around him, involved in what we put in it.
“I personally haven’t thought about it since the day we put it in. We moved away in 1987 and I didn’t think it would be taken out in my life time.
“Dad didn’t have a particular time frame for how long he wanted it to be in there.
“He did up that building for the holiday let and I think he wanted to put a piece of his moment in there.
“He died in 2021 so he’ll never see it but that’s how it goes.
“It was really exciting when I did find out it had been uncovered. It was really lovely for my mum as she now has a connection to my dad in the past.
“It was a happy moment for all of us.”
Jackie added that she’d seen pictures of the holiday let which form part of the old stables and said it had not changed much from her dad’s own renovations.
She plans to meet Charlotte and Phil in Suffolk to see the time capsule and holiday let in person in the new year.
Hollywood stars Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon spotted laughing and joking in NYC
Hollywood stars Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon were spotted laughing and joking while walking down Fifth Avenue in New York City.
The American Horror Story star was spotted walking down Fifth Avenue, New York City on November 17, 2024, at 1pm, with her best friend, actress Susan Sarandon.
The photo was captured by a street photographer who said Jessica was smiling at her while Susan was looked directly towards the camera.
The photographer, who does not want to be named, said: “I spent most of my day wandering around New York City and taking photos of people.
“They happened to be walking towards me and I was ready for it.
“As they were walking, Jessica was smiling and Susan was looking towards the camera but I don’t think she noticed me.”
Explorer who took Clarkson to North Pole cancels return visit due to climate change
The British explorer who guided Jeremy Clarkson and James May to the North Pole was forced to cancel a return visit – as parts of it have gone.
Mark Wood, who accompanied the BBC for a Top Gear special, was planning a 2,000km solo trek to the same region of the Arctic to collect samples of ice for climate change research.
The journey was set to take place in the frozen wilds of northern Canada and follow a route taken by Clarkson, May, and co-presenter, Richard Hammond in 2007.
But after reaching the expedition’s remote starting point, Wood discovered an area of sea ice twice the size of London had “simply melted away” due to global warming.
With no boat or safe way of avoiding the water Wood, who was towing two 92kg sledges, had no option but to cancel the expedition and return to the UK.
The trip, which had taken more than five years to plan, hoped to provide scientists with reliable, first-hand data about the long-term effects of greenhouse gases on the polar ice cap.
Researchers from the Centre for Earth Observation Science at the University of Manitoba, Canada, were planning to study the samples he brought home to determine the extent of sea ice deterioration in the Canadian High Arctic and how to protect it.
Writing in The European magazine Wood, who has competed 14 expeditions in the Arctic in a professional career of more than 20 years, including solo crossings to both the Geographic North and South Poles, said: “There is a bitter irony to what took place.
“I set off to measure the effects of global warming on the speed of sea ice deterioration only to find that a huge area of that ice was no longer there.
“I’ve been a professional explorer for two decades, and I’ve never seen anything like it in all that time.”
Wood’s ‘Expedition SOLO 100’ mission was set to cover a 2,000km route from Polar Bear Pass on Bathurst Island to a resupply drop in Isachsen on the Sverdrup Islands.
The region, which is on the fringe of the Northwest Passage, is home to just 500 people and 25,000 roaming polar bears.
He would then head 450 miles further north to a second resupply at Eureka on Ellesmere Island, before heading south along the northwest passage to Resolute Bay on Cornwallis Island.
Towing two sledges packed with science equipment and survival kit, he hoped to collect ice samples for polar research, and test advanced battery technology and a new wind turbine for the University of Warwick.
The circular route had never been attempted before, meaning that the ice samples he hoped to collect on the way would be pure and free of any human confirmation.
Wood was also carrying video and audio equipment for a daily radio show and podcast – the first of its kind from the arctic – to educate pupils at schools in schools worldwide.
His programs, which focus on climate change and are run in conjunction with the University of Warwick, have reached 1.2 million students worldwide.
But five years of planning “went to sh*t” at Polar Bear Pass.
Satellite imagery taken a few weeks earlier showed a solid expanse of black sea ice over which Wood would ski on the first leg of the journey.
In the space of less than a month, around 1,200 square miles of sea ice – which he had planned to take samples of – had melted away.
Wood, who had travelled 150 miles to the start point by snowmobile, said: “What I saw with my naked eye when I arrived there changed everything.
“The black expanse of solid sea ice over which I planned to ski was now open water. An area of broken ice size stretching up to sixty miles North and an estimated 10 to 20 miles East to West, which in places is usually a few feet thick, had melted to open water in just a few weeks.”
Wood’s only chance of reaching his first resupply without a boat was to cross a vast area of ice rubble to the west.
He had previously been part of the guiding team that led Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and a BBC film crew through that rubble for a Top Gear episode to the Magnetic North Pole in 2007, and said the chances of making it through solo and unsupported were slim.
“Navigating through the rubble was a non-starter. Ice rubble requires extremely dangerous, torturous trekking where a man towing sledges could be passed by a wandering tortoise, if it could survive in the -40C cold,” Wood, who has led more than 30 major expeditions in the Arctic Circle, Antarctica, and the Himalayas, while also supporting film crews for documentaries, said.
“Proceeding through the ice rubble was possible but would likely take twice as long and. I would run out of supplies or require emergency evacuation before I even came close to making it.
“As a professional, I have a responsibility to the rescue teams that would potentially come to collect me if I fall through the ice or get stuck in a field of rubble. In this modern era of exploration, we have a duty to care towards our rescue teams when planning major expeditions of this ilk. There is little room for bravado and scant space for ego.”
Wood, who is also a seasoned mountain guide in the Himalayas, had no option but to cancel the expedition, which took place in March this year, and return home.
He added: If I had continued and tried to find a way through the open water, the chances of reaching my first resupply were very slim.
“So I had a choice: progress into a potentially life-threatening scenario that would require a rescue or turn back.
He has since split the research mission into three new parts, with the first – a six-week crossing of Greenland – set to take place next year.
The second, in November 2025, will involve a four-man team skiing across Antarctica to the South Geographic Pole.
And the third, in early 2026, will see him return to a different area near Resolute Bay.
He will collect ice samples, deliver the podcast and radio show, and undertake other scientific experiments on all three.
Wood, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and The Explorers Club who has previously cycled across New Zealand, Oman and the US, and trekked across Iceland, said: “The reason for coming out here was to determine the rate of ice deterioration.
“I had to turn back because the ice deteriorated.
“I was out there to measure the speed of deterioration of Arctic ice, and it was this very deterioration that prevented me from completing that task.”
Wood, who is from Coventry, added: “There was a message here, a single reason that in global terms is significant to the whole human race. It really is that dramatic. The ice is disappearing, and we all have a stake.”
Travel-mad dad shows off holiday photos from six of the seven wonders of the world
A travel-mad dad proudly shows off his holiday photos – from six of the seven wonders of the world.
Intrepid Imran Fazil, 41, has spent a whopping £9,000 and trekked over 20,000 miles as part of his bid to visit each landmark.
So far, he’s ticked off the Colosseum in Rome, Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, The Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Chichén Itzá in Mexico and Petra in Jordan.
The feat is based on the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, a list of notable structures that were present during 8th century BC and the 5th century AD.
Imran hopes to visit the Taj Mahal in India to complete the challenge, with wife Sehrish, 36, and children Aisha, 12, Maria 11, and Adam, nine.
He said: “I’m looking forward to completing it because they are all iconic places around the world.
“The Taj Mahal is a symbol of love so I felt like because I’ve never taken my wife and kids to the other places, this was the perfect one.
“I am Pakistani so going to the Taj Mahal with my children would be the finishing touch.”
Imran first visited the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, in 2008, which is one of the new wonders of the world.
Bit by the travel bug, he wanted to complete the rest of the challenge and visit the other countries.
As part of his travels, Imran paid a trip to the Great Pyramids in Egypt where the only surviving of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World stands.
Imran, a secondary school ICT and PE teacher, said: “From a young age, I wanted to always travel.
“When I went to Rome in 2008 it had loads of beautiful; places like the Vatican and the Colosseum. Just so much history.
“I found out it was one of the new wonders of the world so it has always been on my list to do the others.”
Imran, of Bradford, West Yorks., says the Machu Picchu in Peru is his favourite place that he’s visited, because it was “memorising.”
He said: “When I went to Peru, it was quite backdated in terms of the cars, technology, and the culture as a whole.
“It was very different to England and other countries.
“Each one of them has its own unique experiences but the Machu Picchu was just memorising.
“I would encourage people to go see these wonderful places.
“With each one, you get to feel the culture and see lots of other travellers from around the world.
“It was very interesting that it is not just me on this journey but everyone around the world.”
Imran has previously visited various other countries including America, Australia, Thailand and Japan.
But after completing the challenge, he hopes to go on holiday to Africa.
Imran said: “I knew I should travel to the seven wonders, so I thought I should go there and continue traveling.
“I’ve not been to the proper parts of Africa, I’ve not explored that area.
“That will be a total different culture compared to what I’ve seen before.
“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.
“Traveling to all of these countries has opened my mind up, to be grateful for what I have.”
“I was conned out of £10k by a scammer pretending to be my celebrity crush”
A disabled man says he was conned out of £10k by a scammer posing as his “celebrity crush” – a porn star.
Ben McEvansoneya, 36, started receiving messages on Instagram from someone pretending to be adult actress Nicolette Shea.
He was feeling lonely and suffering from low self-esteem after a recent break up – so “just wanted someone to talk to,” he says.
But things progressed and Ben and the fake Nicolette started talking about starting a serious relationship and building a life together.
The scammer even said they wanted to move to the UK to be with Ben.
A couple months in, ‘Nicolette’ started asking for money – claiming that she needed it for funeral arrangements after her dad’s death.
Ben, who had his right arm and both feet amputated after suffering meningitis and septicemia as a baby, sent the scammer around £200 each month – all from his disability benefits.
He occasionally sent larger one-off sums too and estimates that in the year the “relationship” lasted he was scammed out of £10,000.
Ben eventually started to notice the “red flags” and cut off communications with the scammer.
But despite contacting the police, he says, he hasn’t been able to get his money back.
The real Nicolette is a 37-year-old porn star from California.
Ben said: “I feel humiliated by it now but at the time I thought it was real. I was in a low place and had low self-esteem. I guess I was just naive.
“I was lonely and I wanted someone to talk to. It really was very traumatic because I had to deal with the emotional impacts and the financial impacts.
“I’m disabled and so rely on benefits and the money I was sending meant I was struggling to live properly. I actually had a nervous breakdown.”
Ben says he and ‘Nicolette’ were messaging for around a year.
But whenever he asked for a phone or a video call, she would say no.
And then when he started seeing articles online about scammers he grew suspicious.
Ben said: “I noticed that they would have an excuse every time I asked for a phone call or video call.
“And I actually started coming across articles online about scams. So I just cottoned onto the fact that that was the situation.”
Due to the stress of what happened, Ben moved out of his home in Bradford, West Yorkshire and back to Taunton, Somerset, where he grew up – so he could “start his life again”.
He says he contacted the police about the scam and they launched an investigation – but the scammer couldn’t be found.
“I confronted the scammer but they obviously denied it and then the conversation went dead,” Ben said.
“When I spoke to police, they told me that these scams are happening a lot – particularly romance and celebrity ones.
“These scammers prey on the vulnerable and unfortunately, I was one of those people at the time.
“It’s sad that people take advantage of other people’s good nature.”
Although he is “embarrassed” about what happened, Ben wants to share his story to stop other people falling for similar scams.
He said: “It’s embarrassing but I hope I can help other people become more aware of things like this.
“There are tell-tale signs like refusing to have a video call or asking for money. These are all red flags.
“I just didn’t notice them at the time.”
Mum feeds family of eight for just $12k per year by ‘cooking big’
A mum-of-eight reveals how just spends just $12k-a-year on her food shop – and still cooks dinner for her adult children.
Heather Bell, 53, and her husband, Luke, 51, had tried for a baby for eight years when they adopted their eldest son, David, 24.
The couple decided to help others and gave fostering a go – going on to then adopt Robert, 23, Joshua, 22, Hailey, 22, Brendon, 21, Izzy, 18 and Noah, 17.
They were also lucky enough to naturally conceive, Gideon, 20.
As the family suddenly grew Heather found herself having to learn how to cope with her bigger brood.
As many of her children came with food trauma she had to learn how to cook for them – such as incorporating fast food that they were used to into her meals, as well as offering some vegetables.
The mum still cooks for her family – despite having just four of her kids permanently living at home – and spends $1,000 on her monthly food shop.
Heather, who runs a poultry farm and masonry business, from the Upper Peninsula, Michigan, US, said: “People say ‘why do you feed your kids still?’
“I know they are adults but they are still my kids.
“They all come here for dinner.
“They are very very close.
“I don’t mind cooking for my family – I don’t know how to cook small.
“They all just love coming here – they are definitely taking advantage of it.”
Heather and Luke were devastated when they couldn’t conceive due to Heather’s struggles with endometriosis.
She said: “I was told I wouldn’t be able to have children.”
They adopted David in 1999 and decided to help others – after seeing their friends foster.
Heather said: “We thought ‘we have our child, maybe we can help others’.”
In their first year as foster parents they adopted Joshua.
After getting the paperwork through they found out they were pregnant with Gideon.
Gradually they found themselves adopting some of the children they fostered.
Heather and Luke always kept the “door open” to their children’s biological families and says it has made their family “closer”.
Heather said: “In six years we adopted six kids.
“It was bam bam bam.
“I came from a big family but I never really thought about having a big family myself.”
As their brood grew Heather had to adapt her cooking.
She said: “Our kids – they all had some kind of food issue or trauma.
“I had to change the way I made things.
“Izzy was sensitive to textures.
“I had lots of children throw up at the table as they were not used to it.
“When kids came in my home I didn’t want to set them up for failure.
“I’d make sure they were used to like French fries and hot dogs and incorporate with some vegetables.
“I make a tater tot casserole in a 17 inch dish.
“I had a cabinet where they can have access to snacks.”
Heather was finding she was spending $500 to $700 on her weekly food shops but has now learnt to cut back and goes just once a month.
She now raises her own beef, eggs and preserves her food using techniques such as canning.
Heather said: “I’m learning to be more self-sufficient.
“When I was younger I was tired and exhausted.
“I would go to the grocery store a lot.
“I was doing it overkill.
“Now I have been trying to utilise what we have before I go to the grocery store.
“I go once a month – and spend $1,000 a month if that.”
Despite cutting back on her spending throughout the year Heather doesn’t hold back for Thanksgiving and Christmas – and has no budget.
She gets her children seven small presents and one main one – and she spends an average on £500 on each.
Heather said: “We spend thousands on the holidays.
“I started my list early and in a notepad.
“I listen to my kids and make notes.
“I’ve been shopping for Christmas since July.”
Heather has just got four of her children at home but all of her kids still live close and often pop over for dinner or a baked treat.
The mum has now published her own cookbook – Mama Bell’s Big Family Cooking – to help other big families.
She said: “I’ve never found a cookbook for big families.
“Families like me are sick of quadrupling recipes.”
The cookbook also shares a little about Heather’s family – going in order of who came into their family when and how she adapted her cooking.
Mama Bell’s Big Family Cooking is available to buy from Amazon and Simon & Schuster.
“My friend’s cancer diagnosis saved my life”
A man said his friend’s prostate cancer diagnosis saved his life – after he got checked out and discovered he had it too.
Rupert Crowfoot, 57, discovered he had the disease on December 27, 2023, after speaking to a friend about his prostate cancer diagnosis.
He underwent a successful operation to remove his prostate in February 2024.
But his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels continued to rise – which worried his doctors.
He then had a PET scan and was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer in August 2024 and is about to undergo radiotherapy – to kill cancer.
Rupert, CEO of a physio company, from Maidenhead, Berkshire, said: “If I didn’t have that chat with my friend and go for a check-up – my outcome would have been much worse.
“I am very grateful that I had that conversation with my friend and he shared the information with me.
“I have since had the same conversation with a lot of my friends to share my experience.
“Men need to speak out about their health more – it is the biggest cancer killer for men.”
In October 2023, Rupert was having a conversation with his pal, James, who revealed he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and had his prostate removed.
Rupert said: “I had no symptoms whatsoever, my friend who had been living in Australia for 20 years had come to visit.
“He mentioned how he was previously diagnosed with prostate cancer and we got talking about it.
“It was on the back of that, I went to see my GP.”
Rupert had an appointment in October 2023 to have a blood and PSA test.
He also underwent an MRI scan and a biopsy and on December 27, 2023, Rupert was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Rupert said: “I was lucky as I felt like I knew it was coming, my consultant had been clear to say that he didn’t like the look of the results.
“The biopsy confirmed that for sure.
“But it is not something you want to hear.
“It is always a shock and a body blow, you always think it won’t happen to you.”
In February 2024, Rupert had an operation at Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, to remove his prostate.
After the operation, scan results showed that Rupert’s PSA levels had risen and he was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer in his spine in August 2024.
Dad of three, Rupert, said: “That was the toughest part if I am really honest.
“That call I took felt like a punch in the stomach because you think the prostate cancer diagnosis is the worst news you can get.
“You feel like you have dealt with it and then you find it has spread somewhere else – that was one of my lowest moments.”
Rupert is about to start radiotherapy, followed by six weeks of salvage radiotherapy – a cancer treatment for men who have had their prostate removed.
He said: “I am trying to remain positive and grateful for everything I can still do.
“I am not at the stage where I have lost my health but, I will get to that point and it will be very hard.
“I am trying to make the most of every day.
“It has certainly dialled things up, I am much more appreciative of life and I notice things a lot more.”
According to Prostate Cancer UK, one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime.
More than 52,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year on average.
Amy Rylance, Assistant Director of Health Improvement at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “We’re so sorry to hear about Rupert’s diagnosis of stage 4 prostate cancer, and we’re inspired by the energy with which he is living life with his diagnosis.
“It’s poignant to hear how his diagnosis meant he was able to start a conversation with his friend, who was then able to catch his own prostate cancer early and have lifesaving surgery.
“Rupert’s story illustrates just how important it is to talk about this disease, and who is at risk of it. 1 in 8 men will get prostate cancer.
“We know that men over 50 — or over 45 if you’re Black or have a family history of prostate cancer — are all at higher risk of getting the disease.”
