5 Most Uplifting Stories of the Week

An impromptu show of unity from passengers on a plane and a hero two times over make the list:

• Jet Passengers Refuse to Buckle Up, Save Deportee: Passengers aboard a Swedish plane united in a simple but effective protest that stopped what they viewed as an unfair deportation: They refused to buckle their seat belts, and that was enough to keep the plane from taking off. Authorities then took the would-be deportee off the plane, and while his case remains in legal limbo, at least he's still in Sweden.
• Man Saves Neighbor on Way to Get War Honor: Army reservist James Yates served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and received a Purple Heart when a roadside bomb damaged his spinal cord. He got some public recognition for his service last weekend from the crowd before an arena football game in Des Moines—but first he had to make a pit stop to save a neighbor's life.
• Kittens Survive 130-Mile Trip Packed in Box: No worries, animal lovers, this story has a happy ending. A warehouse employee at a San Diego company opened a box that had been shipped there—and found not just fiberglass equipment but two newborn kittens inside. They were so young they still had their umbilical cords attached. Now they're "fat and happy," however, and getting ready for adoption.
• NFL Player Proves He's Buddies With Teen: Houston Texans' star JJ Watt has a viral video on his hands for all the right reasons. It seems Watt has stayed in touch with special-needs teen Trey Brandt, after Trey waited after a game for an autograph more than two years ago. Trey's friends were a little skeptical, prompting Watt to make a video of himself catching a pass from the teen.

• Missing Boy Found Safe, in Claw Machine: A frantic search for a missing toddler in Lincoln, Neb., ended happily—and hilariously. The 3-year-old boy, who had slipped out of his home while his mother was in the bathroom, was found happily playing with stuffed animals inside the claw machine of the bowling alley across the street.

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