Mid-Flight Deja Vu: 5 Brilliant Stories This Week

A paramedic in the right place at the right time and a kindhearted move by a police officer were among the week's uplifting stories:

• Firefighter Saves Plane Passenger, Again: When Austin Bleiweiss, a firefighter and paramedic, was on his way home to Florida from Puerto Rico, he was awoken by a flight attendant calling for help for an ailing passenger. "This can't be happening two times in my life," he thought. Yup, it was.
• Cop Helps Boy Get Home After Dad Dies: A 13-year-old Illinois boy was left stranded alone in California when his 37-year-old dad died unexpectedly on vacation. Because the boy missed his flight home amid the chaos, officers with the LAPD contacted Southwest Airlines, but the airline "was having difficulty re-scheduling the return flight." Then a generous officer stepped up.

• Evicted Woman, 100, Finds a New Home: A 100-year-old woman evicted from her apartment has a new home in Southern California after a newspaper reported on her plight. Evelyn Heller represented herself in a trial but lost and was ordered to pay more than $1,500 in court costs, attorney's fees, and prorated rent. That's a when a congressman and a prominent motivational speaker got involved.
• A Most Unique Lemonade Stand: Tristan Jacobson was selling lemonade in front of his house—a business venture undertaken by many a third-grader, but probably not for the same reason this third-grader did it. The Missouri 9-year-old was raising money to help pay for his adoption.
• Sheepdog Treks 240 Miles Home: A sheepdog sent away by its Welsh owners to work on a farm in Cumbria didn't like his new assignment and ended up back at his original home—after apparently making the 240-mile trek back on his own. And this time, he's staying put.

Click to read about more uplifting stories. (More uplifting news stories.)