Surfer's Incredible Rescue: 5 Great Things This Week

A pair of life-saving moves, one bittersweet, highlight the list:

• Mom's Last Act Was to Save Unborn Baby: Cara Combs was terrified when she was diagnosed with stage IV melanoma on Nov. 2, but not only for herself. The Missouri mother of three was also 23 weeks pregnant. Combs then made a monumental decision—she put off her own treatment to boost her baby's chance of survival. It worked, but only for newborn Shaylin.
• Dramatic Rescue After Surfer Goes Under: Florida pro surfer Evan Geiselman, 22, was riding a 20-foot wave at Hawaii's Pipeline—one of the world's deadliest surfing spots—when he disappeared as the lip curled over him. Things looked bleak, but then on video we hear: "That's Andre saving him." It's an amazing thing to watch.

• Muslims Raise Money for Shooting Victims: An alliance of Muslim groups hoped to raise $50,000 to cover short-term expenses such as funeral costs for the San Bernardino shooting victims, but the group has now hit that target fourfold—and keeps expanding its goals.
• Girl Who Lost Family in Fire Has a Christmas Wish: A little girl whose father and three siblings died in an arson fire has a simple holiday wish: She wants enough holiday cards to fill up her Christmas tree. You can pitch in, too, for Safyre Terry, 8, who suffered severe burns.
• Homeless Man Wins $500K in Lottery: The odds were 840,000 to 1, but Michael Engfors beat them, winning $500,000 on a lottery scratch-off ticket in Aspen, Colo. The kicker: Engfors is homeless, and he spent one final weekend in his usual fashion before spreading the news.

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