Freddie Teer is a normal boy. He loves Legos, skateboarding, and horsing around with his older brother Ollie. But in March 2017, his mother faced every parent's worst nightmare.Photo via iStock.Freddie was doing tricks down the stairs of his front porch when he fell off his bike — and his bike fell on him. "[He was] just crying, wouldn't let us touch his leg, couldn't put any weight on his leg. We knew," mom Ashley says.Ashley rushed Freddie to the emergency room, where an X-ray confirmed the bones in his left shin were broken in half. He needed to be sedated, his bones set and put in a cast. It was an agonizing day for the Teers. But it's what happened next that was truly inspiring.We've all seen heartwarming stories of communities coming together to raise money online to help people cover medical care for themselves and loved ones.There was the Kentucky mom with stage 4 cancer whose family collected over $1 million. The New Orleans police officer whose unit banked thousands for her chemotherapy. The Colorado man who lost his legs and whose friends crowdfunded his recovery.While Freddie's injury required major treatment, none of Ashley's friends raised any money for him.No one from their town took up a collection or held a bake sale.No GoFundMe page was started to help cover his bills.Instead, Ashley and Freddie walked out of the hospital owing nothing. Because they live in Canada."You just leave," Ashley says. "You don't pay anything."Incredible.Under Canada's health care system, people like the Teers can see their doctors and go to the hospital when they're hurt or sick, and they don't get charged.So heartwarming.It almost wasn't this way.Ashley was born and raised in St. Louis in the U.S. where health care is expensive and complicated. Twelve years ago, she fell in love with a Canadian man and moved with him to Abbotsford, British Columbia, where they and their five children will enjoy heavily subsidized, affordable health care coverage at a low premium for the remainder of their natural lives."We're able to go when we need help and we get help," Ashley says.Just amazing.As Freddie recovered, no one showed up at the Teer home with a large check or collection plate full of cash.Instead, Ashley and her family were "supported through meals and just that kind of care" — meals they were able to enjoy without having to decide between enduring the shame of hitting up their friends for money or facing the prospect of sliding into bankruptcy.The most uplifting part? Middle-income Canadians like the Teers pay taxes at roughly the same rates as Americans and still get their bones fixed for free at hospitals.Not everything about Freddie's recovery process was smooth.The first night, Freddie tossed and turned in severe pain, unable to sleep. Ashley, however, was able to call her family doctor — who she never has to pay since he is compensated by a public system that continues to have overwhelming public support to this day — to get her son a codeine prescription. Miraculous!Canada's public health care plan doesn't cover drugs. But, inspiringly, because of price controls, medicine is way cheaper there.The Teers did lean on their friends and family for help while Freddie got better."We were kind of just asking people to pray," she explains — primarily to lift her son's spirits, and not, thankfully, to ask God to provide sufficient funds to cover basic medical care that every human living in a fair and prosperous society should have access to.Even though he wasn't able to move around, friends and relatives eagerly invited Freddie to hang out during his recovery instead avoiding him out of guilt for not pledging enough to his GoFundMe campaign.Just. Wow.With support from his community — support that didn't include a single dollar — Freddie's cast came off six weeks later, right on schedule.Healthy once more, Freddie went right back to enjoying extreme sports like BMX biking, skateboarding, and snowboarding, and Ashley is free to let him enjoy them without worrying about one fall wiping out their entire life savings and leaving her family destitute."Where we live, we're not stressful when things happen to our kids," Ashley says. "It's not a stressful time financially, so the whole family is not anxious."It's peace of mind that she — and the residents of virtually every other rational, wealthy, industrialized country in the world — share."I feel safe, and I feel like my voice is heard," she says. "I can't imagine living in a place that I didn't feel that way."Inspiring.This article originally appeared on 03.27.17

Dads are ridiculous. But perhaps, in the world today, there is no dad quite so ridiculous as Rob Lopez: Photo via Rob Lopez/YouTube.On a morning not too long ago, Lopez apparently had the following thought: "I'm going to dress up as Darth Vader and wake up my 2-year-old." Photo via Rob Lopez/YouTube.Clearly, the correct follow-up thought is, "No. That's silly. Why would I ever wake up a 2-year-old. Like, on purpose."But not for Rob Lopez. Oh, no.After suiting up......and receiving the mission critical sign-off from his wife.He grabbed his lightsaber and gave it a go. The results ... pretty much speak for themselves (fast-forward to 1:05 for the main event).There are a couple of things about Lopez's son's reaction that we should talk about.(First, this child is objectively the hardest core human on the face of planet Earth right now.)He grabs the lightsaber he keeps next to his bed (just in case) and it's game on, Dark Lord of the Sith. Game. On.Think about how you would feel, as an adult person, in complete control of your faculties, with a firm grasp on the difference between fiction and reality, being aggressively prodded awake by a six-foot-tall man in a full-body Darth Vader mech-suit complete with voice modulator and terrifyingly heavy breathing.Think about how loud you would scream and the volume of pee you would pee into your pants.Meanwhile, this toddler — who is probably no more than three feet tall, groggy and vulnerable, with no cognitive ability to discern this is not the real Darth Vader — didn't even think twice about taking him on.Perhaps the most impressive part? At a mere 2 years of age, he's already learned, perhaps, the single greatest lesson of "Star Wars."You don't defeat the dark side with mad lightsaber skills (although they are fun to show off).You defeat it with compassion. ...which, in this kid's case, involves casually grabbing a book and asking Darth Vader to read him a story.Empathy for Siths — with an assist from curiosity and literacy: That's a lesson we could all use.This article originally appeared on 05.06.16

Meet Samira Omar. The 17-year-old was the victim of a horrific bullying incident.A group of girls threw boiling water on her, leaving her badly burned and covered in scars and discoloration.She thought the physical scars would be with her forever — until she met Basma Hameed. Basma Hameed runs a tattoo shop, of sorts — but her tattoo artistry doesn't look like you'd expect. Basma is a paramedical tattoo specialist. Instead of tattooing vibrant, colorful designs, she uses special pigments that match the skin in order to conceal scars.It looks like this:With Basma's help, patients like Samira can see a dramatic decrease in their scar visibility and discoloration after a few treatments. She even offers free procedures for patients who are unable to afford treatment. That's because Basma knows firsthand just how life-changing her work can be for those coping with painful scars left behind.Check out the video below to find out more about Basma's practice, including how she became her very first patient.This article originally appeared on 01.12.15

"Incredible!" The post “Incredible!”: The unknown singer Bob Dylan thought sang his songs better than he did first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

Idol to the idols. The post The guitarist Jimi Hendrix called “one of the funkiest” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

Great in baked goods and smoothies, blueberries are a summertime staple. However, keep an eye on the color. It's an indicator of freshness and taste.

If you're hungry for steak, there are plenty of cuts to choose from. If you're looking for the leanest cut available, though, only one stands out.

Grilling soy sauce–marinated portobellos makes for a hearty, savory treat that's only further elevated by a homemade jalapeño chimichurri dipping sauce.

A restructured Pantera played its first U.K. show in more than two decades at the Download Festival in Donington Park on Saturday (6/15). Classic-lineup members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass) were joined by Zakk Wylde (guitar) and Charlie Benante (drums). The latter pair replaced the deceased brothers Vincent “Vinnie Paul” Abbott (drums) and “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott (guitar).  The current line-up has already toured North and South America plus select European dates. The setlist included “Walk,” “5 Minutes Alone,” “Mouth For War” and “Cowboys From Hell.” “Dimebag” was shot was shot and killed by a fan during an ’04 Damageplan show at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, OH. “Vinnie Paul” succumbed to heart related issues in ’18. The original iteration of Pantera disbanded in ’03 The post Pantera Play The U.K. For The First Time In Over Two Decades appeared first on RockinTown.

Israel is slaughtering anybody that they perceive to be in the way of them finishing off the genocide of the Palestinian people and securing their land-grab of Gaza. ???? pic.twitter.com/9r01ps7fWd — Stew Peters (@realstewpeters) June 15, 2024