From Quadruple Amputee to Track Star

Chase Merriweather just qualified for the Pennsylvania state track championships. That alone would be a milestone for any high school athlete, but Chase competes after losing all four limbs at age 3 after contracting what is believed to have been an aggressive strain of the flu that led to septic shock.

Doctors told his parents the only way to save his life was to amputate his arms and legs. Chase had to relearn how to walk, then threw himself into sports, including swimming, soccer, and basketball, before finding his calling on the track at Wissahickon High School in Montgomery County. His coach said his ability “surprises me more and more.”

This year has been his most successful season yet. He placed in a dual meet for the first time, competed at districts, and advanced to states. His next goal: a gold medal at the Paralympics in 2028 or 2032.

“You just gotta run your race,” Chase said. “I gotta run mine.”

Recording Every WWII Veteran’s Story

Rishi Sharma started interviewing World War II veterans at 18, driving around his Southern California neighborhood with a camera. Ten years later, the 28-year-old has crisscrossed all 50 states and recorded more than 3,000 interviews. He says he has spent every day of the past decade on the mission.

Rishi’s parents immigrated to the United States from India. He has no military background. His project, Remember WWII, is funded entirely by donations, and each recording is given to the veteran’s family. “My parents were given the opportunity to immigrate and raise a family because of veterans like these,” he has said. “It’s a debt of love I’ll spend my entire life trying to repay.”

When Rishi began, roughly 700,000 WWII veterans were still alive. Today, only about 30,000 remain. His most recent interview was with 100-year-old Marine veteran Nils Mockler, a combat intelligence scout whose first battle was Iwo Jima. When asked what it meant to see the American flag raised there, Nils said, “The hair on my arms still stands up when I think about how beautiful it was.”

“For so long they have been the moral compass of our society,” Rishi said. “Just the advice that they impart silently steers the ship of this country.”

Donkeys Keep Spanish Park Fire-Free

Doñana National Park in southern Spain, one of Europe’s most important protected wetlands, has not recorded a single wildfire in nine years, thanks in part to 18 rescued donkeys with big appetites.

Since around 2014, the nonprofit El Burrito Feliz releases the herd into hard-to-reach areas that fire crews and heavy equipment can’t easily reach. Working up to seven hours a day from March through November, the donkeys graze on dry grass, shrubs, and scrub that become dangerous fuel during Spain’s hot summers. Unlike cattle or sheep, donkeys can eat much tougher vegetation, making them especially effective at clearing fire-prone landscapes. The nonprofit calls them “herbivorous firefighters.”

The herd’s unofficial leader, Galileo, was rescued in poor health as a young donkey and spent his first months recovering in a dog shelter, where he reportedly picked up a few canine habits. His caretakers say he sniffs like a dog and has even tried to bark.

Spain’s Military Emergency Unit has visited the project and symbolically adopted one of the donkeys in recognition of its service.

The following stories are featured exclusively on The Feel Good Flyover Podcast. Clicking the link will take you directly there:

➤ The Postal Service is releasing ten new Barbie stamps. (See Stamps)

➤ A new framework sorts your experiences by one question: whether they were fun in the moment or only fun to look back on. (Podcast Available)

➤ While clearing out junk furniture, a Myrtle Beach restaurant owner stumbled upon $12,000 that wasn’t his. What did he do next? (Hear Story)

Flying together with our sponsor

➤ Every Saturday, customers line up with lawn chairs outside Little Bit Bakery, a 21-year-old’s front-porch cart in Frisco, Texas, where she sells hundreds of baked goods, from sourdough loaves to sought-after oatmeal cream pies. “They’re well worth the wait,” one regular said. (Watch Video)

➤ Home security footage in Connecticut captured the moment a charging black bear ran toward a 6-year-old boy, and Bella the family husky leapt in, chasing the bear off and earning herself a steak dinner. (Watch Video)

➤ Dressed as Disney’s Stitch, a father in Poland is hiking more than 60 miles from Kraków into the Tatra Mountains, aiming to raise around $150,000 for ongoing rehabilitation for his 6-year-old son, who has cerebral palsy. (See Photos)

➤ Chatting with an 81-year-old stranger on a train grew into weekly visits and a genuine friendship for one 27-year-old. When she learned a fear of flying had kept her new friend from her native Puerto Rico for over 50 years, the pair flew there together. (Watch Video)

➤ Music greeted a Maine woman as she arrived at her 103rd birthday party, and within moments she had joined in on the spoons. She says she never gives up on learning something new, and the ukulele is next on her list. (Watch Video)

Flying together with our sponsor

➤ Give your fruits and vegetables a deeper clean with PuriProduce. Using a simple water-and-salt cleaning cycle, this compact, hands-free device helps clean produce in just minutes—no scrubbing required. Perfect for busy kitchens, it makes meal prep quicker, easier, and more convenient. (LEARN MORE)

A sweet moment shows a young boy pushing his sister in her wheelchair as they join other kids getting splashed by a fire truck.

video via goodnews_movement – Instagram

What gender of ants float better in water?

Flying together with our sponsor

A Small Upgrade You’ll Use Every Day

Some products promise to change your life. Others simply make your daily routine a little better. We think this falls into the second category. If you’re going to brush your teeth every day anyway, it makes sense to see if there’s a faster, easier way to do it.

Learn more about the Sonic Glow Brush and see if it’s right for you today.

“You just be kind and you help other people and you help yourself and you eat the right foods.”

— Mary Hunter, sharing her advice for living a long life during her 103rd birthday celebration in Bangor, Maine.