Teen Lifeguard Saves Boy From Massive Surf

A 16-year-old rookie lifeguard is earning national recognition after refusing to let go of a drowning boy in towering Santa Cruz, California, surf. Ryder Williams repeatedly vanished beneath crashing waves Saturday while gripping the 10-year-old, who had been swept about 15 yards off Seabright State Beach.

Heavy swells caught beachgoers off guard, and several rushed in to help. Watch the video of the rescue here.

The boy was pulled out with no serious injuries and released to his parents. Williams, in his first season with California State Parks, made two more rescues that same day and was back on his tower three days later.

President Trump invited Williams and his family to the White House to receive a high civilian honor. “Very brave, he deserves it!” he wrote.

Message in a Bottle Found 53 Years Later

A volunteer cleaning New Jersey wetlands found a sealed bottle holding a 53-year-old note: a 9-year-old’s tall tale about being kidnapped by “ruthless sponge fisherman” and forced to dive in shark-infested waters.

The prank began in 1973, when Laurie Blair and her sister Allie wrote the message on an Ocean City beach. Laurie, 9, dreamed up the story; Allie, 16, had the better handwriting.

Debris in the marsh shielded the note from fading for decades. John Kauterman posted his find online, and internet sleuths located Allie within days.

The ending is bittersweet: Laurie died in 2017. Her sister says Laurie was certain someone would find it, and that she’d have one thing to say: “I told you so.”

Two-Headed Gecko Defies the Odds

A Pennsylvania breeder got a shock this summer when a rare two-headed gecko hatched from an ordinary-looking egg. The tiny crested gecko, named Simon and Garfunkel, arrived June 29 at a husband-and-wife operation in the state’s northeast corner.

Animals born with two heads rarely survive long. But at four weeks old, both heads eat independently, neither appears dominant, and they’re positioned so they can’t bite each other.

The duo weighs about a sixteenth of an ounce, small enough to sit on a fingertip. The breeders say coordination is improving, and the pair has started moving as a team. See a video here. 

Reptile fans are hooked. “I’m rooting for these babies!” one follower wrote. See their latest updates here.

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

➤ Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have recorded their first true duet, more than sixty years after The Beatles formed. (Listen Now)

➤ Sermons lost for 1,600 years have surfaced, revealing how an ancient saint wrestled with witchcraft. (Hear Story)

➤ Divers off California are hauling up deadly abandoned fishing nets, and the ocean trash is getting an unexpected second life. (Hear Details)

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➤ Firefighters in England answered a call for a “small animal rescue” and found a “wee hedgehog” trapped in an underground drain. The crew broke through concrete to free the spiky little wanderer, who’s now recovering with a local wildlife charity. (See Photos) 

➤ Weekly library trips between one Atlanta father and his baby daughter have grown into the Library Dads, a community group where fathers bond with their kids over books. The free events now draw dozens of dads and often fill up fast. (Watch Video)

➤ England’s record heat wave has revealed a lost 17th-century garden at Chatsworth House, where ornate flower beds built around 1699 were grassed over decades later. Because the newer grass has shorter roots, it browned faster during the drought, exposing the original swirling design. (See Photos)  

➤ Thirty beluga whales left stranded when Marineland Canada shut down are finally getting new homes. The first six traveled by truck and cargo plane to Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium and SeaWorld San Antonio, where caretakers say all arrived safely and in great condition. (More)

➤ A 14-year-old Montana cowboy lassoed a man swept down the Yellowstone River, catching him on the first throw. Jory Thomas had spent the past year practicing with his lariat on the family ranch. (Watch Video) 

➤ When an SUV began careening along the interstate in Washington with its driver suffering a medical emergency and a child in the backseat, a quick-thinking motorist used his own car to gently pin the vehicle to a stop. Both were rescued without serious injury. (Watch Video)

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“He just wants to be a kid and work hard this summer and serve and protect his community.”

— Shane Williams, on his 16-year-old son Ryder, the rookie lifeguard whose rescue of a drowning boy in massive Santa Cruz surf went viral this week