Other News Stories that might be missed from 2019 to date

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Cervical cancer screening campaigner Natasha Sale dies aged 31

A mum who campaigned to lower the cervical screening age from 25 to 18 has died of cancer aged 31.
Natasha Sale, who was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2016, launched an online petition in August.
The mum of four, from Newton Abbot, Devon, achieved more than 78,000 signatures before her death.
Her supporters are now trying to get more than 100,000 before 3 February so that the issue will get debated in Parliament.
"It's too late for me but it's not too late for the next generation of young ladies," Ms Sale wrote in August.
"By reducing the age of smear tests and cervical screenings today we can save lives, we can tackle cell changes early and prevent cervical cancer.
"If I can do anything with my life I want to make this change happen."
Her friends and supporters launched Natasha's Army to continue the campaign with the aim of helping women "lose the fear and get the smear".
Best friend Amanda Scott, 30, said the group wanted to carry on Ms Sale's mission to get 100,000 signatures following her death.
She added that Natasha's Army was also raising money to support her friend's young family.
Ms Sale, who died on 28 December, six days after her birthday, left behind her partner Dean and children Josh, 12, Ella, 11, Lily, nine, and four-year-old Oakley.
Writing in response to her petition in September, the government said it had "accepted the UK National Screening Committee recommendation that the first invitation for cervical screening should be offered at age 25".
It said cervical cancer in women under that age was very rare.

BBC News

Very sad. You can sign the petition here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/225767

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It is hard to believe that it is 30 years on Tuesday this week since the M1 Kegworth Plane crash.

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Casket of ashes washes up on Mudeford beach

A casket of ashes has been washed up on a Dorset beach.
The Mayor of Christchurch, Lesley Dedman, made the discovery while walking her dogs in Mudeford.
Despite making local inquiries, Ms Dedman has had no luck tracing the next of kin of Audrey Maguire, whose name is on the wooden box.
"Clearly she wants to be at sea, "she said. "If I don't find out who she belongs to I'll do it myself."
Ms Dedman found the casket on 23 December.
"I wasn't sure what to do with it but what I didn't want was anybody else to find it and have the shock that I had," she said.
"I took it home and thought about it for a little while and my feeling was it must have been buried at sea and washed back in, so I then investigated people who do burials at sea, and now I'm trying to find out who the family are."
The Britannia Shipping Company For Burial At Sea, which was not involved in the burial, informed her that bio-degradable urns should be used.
Ms Dedman, also a councillor in the West Highcliffe ward, said if the family is not traced she will return the remains to the sea, taking a boat out with her local vicar.
She said in the meantime the casket had been put "carefully under a tree" in her garden with flowers on it "because clearly this is a person and deserves a great deal of respect".
She added: "I would very much like [the family] to know that she is at rest, and this is what worried me in the first instance... clearly she wanted to be at sea and she is now on land."

BBC Dorset

Thankfully a thoughtful, concerning person found it.

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Woman given erectile dysfunction cream for dry eye

A woman has suffered chemical injuries after she was mistakenly prescribed erectile dysfunction cream for a dry eye condition.
The woman, from Glasgow, had to be treated at A&E after she was given Vitaros cream instead of the eye lubricant VitA-POS.
Her experience is detailed in December's BMJ Case Reports journal.
The report calls for doctors to use block capitals in handwritten prescriptions to avoid errors.
The woman was given a handwritten prescription for VitA-POS, a liquid paraffin lubrication, for treatment of severe dry eyes and corneal erosions.
The mix-up happened between her GP and pharmacist, where she was issued with Vitaros, an erectile dysfunction cream.
After using it she suffered eye pain, blurred vision, redness and swollen eyelid.
The mild chemical injury to her eye was treated in hospital with topical antibiotics, steroids and lubricants, which cleared it up in a few days.

BBC News

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Former BBC war correspondent Martin Bell tells how surgeons rebuilt his shattered skull after he tripped over suitcases at Gatwick

Former BBC war correspondent Martin Bell had his face rebuilt by surgeons after tripping over his suitcases at Gatwick airport.
Mr Bell, 80, a former independent MP known as the man in the white suit, “face planted” into the concrete floor at the airport’s train ticket office concourse.
He said he resembled “Dracula’s grandfather” after fracturing his right maxilla bone, right and left eye sockets, nose and an area at the base of his skull.
Today he joked that he looked younger and “like I’ve had Botox” as a result of two-and-a-half hours of NHS reconstructive surgery at St George’s hospital, in Tooting.
He said: “I have come through 18 wars almost unscathed and I trip up at a railway station. I have no-one else to blame for this. I feel a complete idiot.”

MSN-Evening Standard

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Girl, 6, 'sorry' letter over New Year's Eve 999 call

A six-year-old girl who accidentally dialled 999 on her mum's phone on New Year's Eve has written a letter of apology to police.
Izzy Vardy's mum later got a call from the Nottinghamshire Police control room after unwittingly hitting the emergency call button on the locked mobile.
Izzy, from Annesley, wrote she was "so so sorry... and I understand that you only ring 999 in an emergency".
She noted that her mum had been "very cross".
After Ms Vardy was informed of the call, she told Izzy that her calls could have stopped someone getting help.
Izzy sent the letter along with a box of biscuits to the force's headquarters.
"I'm so so sorry to you all and my mummy and daddy," she wrote.
"We have chatted about 999 and I understand that you only ring 999 in an emergency."
The force has thanked Izzy and her parents "for understanding what we do".

BBC News

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Mayor of Cambridge dies during scuba-diving holiday

The mayor of Cambridge has died suddenly while on a scuba-diving holiday with his wife in South Africa.
Nigel Gawthrope, 61, collapsed on Friday after surfacing from a dive and feeling unwell. The exact cause of his death is unknown.
The city councillor was a popular local figure and had been eight months into his term of office.
Council leader Lewis Herbert said he served "with distinction and panache".
A keen scuba diver and underwater photographer, Mr Gawthrope was on holiday at a diving resort near Durban with his wife, Jenny.

BBC News full report

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Homeless family 'can't use £500,000 trust fund

A woman awarded £500,000 after being left with severe physical and mental disabilities is homeless after her mother was barred from buying them a home with the money.
Courtney Boden was attacked by her father as a baby and given compensation in 2007 to support her.
But the government's official solicitor has said her mother, Beverley Neal, who cares for her, cannot benefit from it.
The Ministry of Justice said it had "every sympathy" for Ms Boden.
Ms Neal, from Burnley, told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme she was "devastated".
"I have been caring for Courtney from the start," she said.
"We just want a house with three bedrooms so I can carry on looking after Courtney for the rest of our lives and there's room for a respite carer to stay sometimes.
"It's just wrong. Courtney shouldn't have to live like this."
Ms Boden, now aged 20, is paralysed down her right-hand side, severely brain damaged and needs someone to look after her every day.
She was awarded the compensation by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to safeguard her welfare.
But a judge ruled Ms Neal had failed to protect her - because at first she had not believed her ex-partner had been responsible for her daughter's injuries and had tried to hide the fact she had still been in touch with him.
Now, the government's official solicitor - who is in charge of deciding what Ms Boden can spend her trust fund on - has said the money cannot be used to buy a home for the mother and daughter to live in together.
Ms Neal admits she was initially reluctant to believe her ex-partner had been responsible for her daughter's injuries - which included broken bones in her arms and legs, broken ribs and a fracture of the skull at four months old.
But she said she had "cleared my name since then and they should be recognising it".
She added that action needed to be taken to change the restrictions surrounding the compensation.
"Courtney's already suffered, and now we're being punished again.
"Surely they can see what a life she's already had, and what Courtney wants."

BBC News

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'I carry my heart in a rucksack'

Becca Henderson had to have her heart removed because of cancer.
The 24-year-old, from Bicester, is now one of two people in the UK with an artificial heart.
She carries it in a rucksack and is now returning to study at Oxford University - with her parents, who are on standby in case the 7kg machine stops.

Video report

What a remarkable young woman.

I was so pleased to see an encouraging update on this girl's progress:

Becca Henderson: Transplant hope for rucksack heart woman

A woman who carries an artificial heart in a rucksack after her own organ was removed because of cancer has been added to the transplant list.
Becca Henderson, 24, has been given the green light to receive a donor heart after scans showed she has been clear of cancer for a year.
Now she is on the list, the Oxford University post-graduate student could get a new heart in weeks.
"At no point did it ever occur to me to give up," she told the BBC.
"No matter how hard it is for me, even if it is hard for me, it will then be easier for the next person.
"I had my sister's wedding and I had to get to that, I have other friends' weddings, I've got my mum, my dad, and I'm not going to be outlived by the dog."

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Carter Cookson: Baby who needed new heart dies

A three-week-old baby who was in desperate need of a heart transplant has died, his parents have said.
Carter Cookson, who was born prematurely on Boxing Day with heart problems, had suffered three cardiac arrests and was on a life-support machine.
His parents Sarah and Chris Cookson had been running a social media appeal to find a donor.
But on Saturday they posted on Facebook that he had "gained his angel wings".
The post from Mrs Cookson, 44, said that their "brave baby boy" Carter "could not fight anymore" and had died at 17:44 GMT.
The parents also posted on the Find a Heart for Carter Facebook page, saying: "Thank you to everyone who has helped to try and find Carter's gift, we will be eternally grateful."
In 2013, Mr and Mrs Cookson lost their first son, Charlie, aged two.
He died of an undiagnosed condition - unrelated to Carter's - which caused problems with his muscles and bones and compromised his immune system.

BBC Tyne and Wear

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A 'must read' interesting account of one man's survival of a terrorist attack.

'The bed that saved me from the Taliban'

Just over a year ago, Greek pilot Vasileios Vasileiou checked into a luxury hilltop hotel in Kabul. The Intercontinental was popular with foreign visitors - which is why, on 20 January, Taliban gunmen stormed it, killing at least 40 people. Vasileios explains how he survived.



Full story on BBC News

I found it was worth saving, so here it is in PDF which can be downloaded.

Survived Intercontinental Hotel Attack - Kabul.pdf

(1.1 MiB) Downloaded 97 times

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Travelodge Liverpool: Digger driver wrecks hotel reception

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Two stories I thought should go side by side.