【推荐1】On the hottest day ever recorded in the UK to date last week, one old couple set out to take a relative to hospital. On their return from hospital, the husband didn’t feel well. He managed to pull the car over to a stop on the hard shoulder before he passed out, leaving his wife fearing for his life as he had a heart condition.

The woman, 86 checked her phone to call for help, only to her disappointment to find the battery had died. Hopeless for assistance, she got out of the car and began waving wildly at passers-by for help. For a while it seemed like no one was going to come to their rescue and then, almost out of nowhere, Shaun Smith approached them.

The 31-year-old from Leighton Buzzard had spotted the woman trying to flag someone down and decided to see what was wrong. He pulled over behind their car. Knowing what had happened to the old man, Shaun moved him into his car so he could use the air conditioning to cool him down. He then called for an ambulance (救护车), but emergency services told him it would take up to four hours to get to them.

Knowing this could be dangerous for the man, he offered to drive the old couple home and the ambulance would meet them there. The paramedics (医护人员) finally arrived and checked the man over and he was feeling much better. They said that if Shaun hadn’t stopped to help, things could have been much worse.

A post about Shaun’s heroic deeds has gone viral online, getting over 84, 000 likes and more than 3, 700 comments. The response to this has been “overwhelming” said Shaun. He added, “To me, it was not really a big deal what I’ve done. And it feels like it has inspired a lot of people. It would be nice if people heard the story and then it makes them think twice before they’re driving past someone who’s in need.”

【推荐2】When a young man with autism (自闭) couldn’t realize his dream of riding on the Polar Express, the train staff helped make his wish come true.

18-year-old Ty Swartout is autistic and unable to speak, and he also loves The Polar Express. In addition to reading the book hundreds of times, he is sure to watch the movie every month. So when his parents discovered that there was a real-life version of the magic holiday train at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel in Williams, Arizona, they knew a trip there is a must thing to be orchestrated.

Ty handled the four-hour drive to the railway hotel with ease. As he and his parents ate dinner and prepared to board the train, however, Ty became more and more over-stimulated because of the excitement of the visit. After experiencing two minor meltdowns (a breakdown of self-control), Ty was too thrilled to board the train.

The train staff refused to leave without Ty, but his parents told them to go ahead without them. “The staff of the Grand Canyon Railway insisted on helping,” Ty’s mother Angie said. “They even held the train, for which I was beyond grateful. Finally, I had to say let us go back to the room.”

Hardly had they got back to their hotel room when they heard a knock at the door from a member of the hotel staff and a police officer who had stopped by to make sure that Ty was okay. Not only that, they said that they wanted to do something to make it up to Ty.

As hotel staff helped Ty’s father Lloyd rearrange their visit on the Grand Canyon Expressway with free special accommodations, Ty and Angie read The Polar Express, only to be visited by the real-life railway train conductor. He sat next to Ty’s bed and engaged him in conversation. Ty was so thrilled and happy.

“After the conductor left, my husband told me that they wanted everyone to experience something special and magical,” Angie continued. “We got the gift of human kindness!”

【推荐3】When tennis player Sam Bencheghib recognized the way the oceans in his home country, Indonesia, were polluted, in 2009 he and his older brother, Gary, co-founded Make a Change World, an organization supporting sustainability(可持续性) as well as helping to cut plastic(塑料) pollution. The company shares short videos encouraging eco-friendly actions.

Bencheghib has worked on several projects overseas. But he wanted to do something in the United States on his own. In January, Bencheghib came up with the idea to run from Los Angeles to New York, to make people pay attention to plastic pollution and its influence on oceans. Starting on June 8, Bencheghib has kept running 20 miles a day for 140 days. Along the way, he plans to host education speeches at schools, universities and town halls as well as organize street and city cleanups to influence people.

Bencheghib said he understands the difficulty of his task but recognizes that taking risks often has advantages. Unsurprisingly, when he told his team and coaches about his plan, he was met with surprise.

“We were all really excited but couldn’t believe it,” teammate Christopher Auteri said. “It’s crazy how long it is, but we know if there’s anyone who’s going to do it, it’s going to be Sam.”

Since Bencheghib broke the news to the team, there have been no plastic water bottles in the locker room, and teammates join Bencheghib on training runs. Coach Wouter Hendrix said Bencheghib’s work shows his persistence(坚持) and courage, which he believes will serve as invaluable qualities for completing his run.