The Happy Pod: The 88-year-old veteran given nearly $2m by strangers

0:00This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. If journalism is the first draft of history, what happens if that draft is flawed? In 1999, four Russian apartment buildings were bombed, hundreds killed. But even now, we still don't know for sure who did it. It's a mystery that sparked chilling theories. I'm Helena Merriman, and in a new BBC series, I'm talking to the reporters who first covered this story. What did they miss the first time? The History Bureau. Putin and the apartment bombs. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. This is The Happy Pod from the BBC World Service.

0:49I'm Alex Ritson and in this edition... I'm 88. And still working? Yes, I have to. Why do you have to keep working? I retired from General Motors in 1999. 2012, I went bankrupt, and they took my pension away from me. The 88-year-old shop worker given nearly$2 million by strangers around the world. One of the few people ever to walk around the world says he was inspired by his rescue dog. When things were difficult for me, I'd look at her, and she would walk every mile with her tail held high and happy to see what's up ahead. And so I tried to sort of resemble the same thing where no matter what's going on inside, I would try and just do my job every day, walk those 24 miles.

1:32Also, I'm so passionate about telling people what they can do and what they should do and they shouldn't let it stop them from doing anything. The young woman determined to remove the stigma surrounding a medical device. how a metal detectorist in the UK reunited a family in the US with an important part of its history, plus some big baby news. She's our youngest member of the herd. She's a first-time mum. Her due date is at about 659 days. Final preparations for the long-awaited birth of an endangered elephant.

2:12We start with a man after our own hearts, the Australian kindness influencer Samuel Weidenhofer. He's built up a following of more than 10 million people on social media, sharing positive stories and posting videos of himself giving surprises, gifts and money to strangers. His latest act has been celebrated all around the world after he travelled from Australia to the United States to try to find someone he'd been told needed help. Stephanie Prentice takes up the story. We've raised you$1.77 million.

2:49Two men hugging each other in Michigan, US. One has just handed the other a cheque that's made him a millionaire. Until a few weeks ago, they'd never met. But both of their lives changed when influencer Sam Wiedenhofer spotted a comment on one of his videos where someone mentioned seeing an older man still working in a US superstore chain and said they were worried about him. The man was Ed Bambas, working full-time on his feet in his 80s because he couldn't afford to retire. Sam jumped on a flight and went looking for him and said when he spotted a friendly older man at a checkout, he knew it was him.

3:34I'm 88. And still working? Yes, I have to. Why do you have to keep working? Retired from General Motors in 99. 2012, I went bankrupt and they took my pension away from me. Oh my gosh. Do you have a wife? She'd passed away seven years ago. Seven years ago. She was sick when I lost my pension. I was in the army back in 1666. So you're a veteran too? Yes. The thing that hurt me the most was my wife was real sick. When they took the pension, they also took the health care coverage. Sam posted a video with Ed and asked his followers to join him in raising a retirement fund. The video went viral. The first million was raised in under 48 hours.

4:18And now more than 65 ,000 people have donated. And the pot keeps growing. When it hit 1.7 million, Sam flew back to see his new friend. This is one of the largest individual fundraisers in GoFundMe history. If you want, you will be able to retire.

4:41Something that dreams of me are. It's not the first time a stranger has helped Ed through difficulties. After losing his wife, Joan, he says he took the time to speak to all of his customers to try and keep his spirits up. I talked to everybody that came through my cash airline because it helped me not become despondent at her loss. So I made a lot of friends and everybody would ask me why I worked. I gave them a piece of my life story. Now that life story starts a new chapter. Ed says he'll clear more than$200 ,000 of medical debts with the cash and use his new freedom to take up golf again. His only worry these days, finding a way to thank the people from all around the world who donated to help a stranger.

5:34It means a terrible burden that I have to find everybody and say thank you.

5:44Stephanie Prentice. American Tom Tursich is thought to be only the tenth person to ever walk around the world, and he believes his rescue dog Savannah, who he picked up along the way, was the first dog to do so. Their journey took in 38 countries and six continents and forged an incredible bond. Tom decided to undertake the trip aged just 16 following the death of a close friend and a chance viewing of the film Dead Poets Society, which focuses on seizing the day. And after seven years of planning, he set off from his home in New Jersey. He's been speaking to my colleague, Joe Fidgen. I really started reflecting on what do I want out of life?

6:25And I ultimately came to the answer that I wanted to travel. I wanted to be forced into adventure because at the time I was very timid and introverted and from a small town. And I wanted to grow out of that. And I wanted to understand the world. You know, this was, I didn't just want to walk across America. That would have been a great adventure. I wanted this to define my life. I wanted it to be a big chunk of my life. And I thought at the time it would take five years and ended up taking seven years. But it was, even at the time, was very intentional of this seems like the slowest, cheapest, most immersive, longest way to travel.

7:05And so that was appealing to me on every level. It was a steep learning curve and he hadn't realised how hard it was going to be to find somewhere to rig up his tent every night, nor how alone he would feel, how unsafe at night. By the time he reached Texas, he'd resolved to get a dog for security. The first day I'm in Austin, I think I'm going to go to this adoption center and just kind of play with this idea, explore this idea of getting a dog. Some volunteers bring out Lulu was her name at the time, Lulu and her sister. And they're these little puppies and they're mangy and not in great shape.

7:42I thought, oh, man, she's so cute, but this is crazy. You can't adopt a puppy. And so I sat on this bench kind of mulling over my options. there'd be this really high startup cost but then she would know no other life but a life on the road and and walking with me every day so I thought you know what I'd like to adopt Lulu and then she became you know the greatest companion I could ever imagine you describe her as a mangy scared little puppy you had been looking for a guard dog I mean puppies don't really walk very far do they and they certainly don't walk in a straight line and um you know they're quite hard to control so how did that go for you tom i would say not well it was challenging very quickly she adapted and she was she was a beast the amount of effort that i put into caring for her you know came back a thousand percent in the enjoyment the the ultimate companion and always was ready to walk when I wanted to walk and rest when I needed to rest.

8:48And when you're walking, everything has changed all the time. And it's really exhausting. And Savannah was the only constant.

9:02And through all that change, she was always there. And when things were difficult for me, I would look at her and she would walk every mile with her tail out high and happy to see what's up ahead. And so I tried to sort of resemble the same thing where no matter what's going on inside, I would try and just do my job every day, walk those 24 miles. And in that time on the road, had your idea of home changed? In a certain way, I think I can be at peace anywhere within myself. home is very much this thing almost that I have developed and and also now home in my just stage of life I'm older now is like a choice it's who are you spending your time with who who are you building your life with that person is Bonnie I met Bonnie on the last leg of the journey in Washington state and we met and just kind of hit it off and then she sort of followed me around it's strange because savannah was you know everything to me and i would have given up anything for savannah bonnie included at the time we had been through something that you just cannot ever replicate it gave me the most meaningful relationship i might ever have which is with savannah and i'm incredibly grateful for all that your fiance is not going to mind you're saying that Savannah was probably the most meaningful relationship of your life, is she?

10:31Maybe. I don't know. I think she knows that already, though. And you can hear more of Tom and Savannah's story on Outlook wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Now to a woman on a mission to break the stigma surrounding the medical device known as a stoma bag. Lucy Smith Butler developed painful ulcers in her bowels as a teenager and, aged just 19, decided to have a colostomy where part of the intestine is connected to an opening in the abdomen and a pouch is connected to this hole to collect the waste. Now aged 27, Lucy, from Manchester in north-west England, has put on a fashion show where all the models had stoma bags with stylish covers.

11:12She's been speaking to the BBC's Asthma Eunice. I made a list of pros and cons of life with a bag and life without a bag. And when you saw it written down on the paper of everything that it was going to give back to me, I went into the operation with the mindset of this is going to give me my life back. I was lucky enough to know my nana, she's got a stoma bag. So I'd seen she'd lived a life with a stoma and I knew she's done exactly what she wanted for the last 50 years. So it seemed less scary to me because I kind of had someone to relate to. That's such a wonderful mindset to just start off with, you know, as you're going into the surgery and then to kind of carry on.

11:56Was it that point where you decided you're going to merge the two loves of your life? Because you're very into fashion, aren't you? yeah I've literally I've wrote a fashion blog since I was 12 so that was sort of my passion I guess my little side hobby in terms of my clothing I was 19 so it was like well what am I going to wear like is that going to affect my style and I think in a weird way I always say it gave me a boost of confidence to just wear what I wanted I remember buying a bag cover like as soon as I left hospital because there's some that you can get off like eBay there's a few people that make quite like basic ones.

12:33I remember buying like a leopard print one and I was like oh this is so cute like and then I guess the years have gone on and then I've been like oh maybe I can make my own. You know your enthusiasm is so infectious with this it's obviously taking other people by storm as well because you recently organized a charity catwalk for people with stoma bags but how was it for you to see models proudly display their stoma bags to have so much buzz around it as well it was honestly like I feel like if I could bottle up that day and that feeling and like just being around those people and like just save it for a day if you're not feeling great like I would 100 % do that because it was honestly amazing like I didn't think that many people would want to get involved and it was just so nice to hear like there was girls that walked down the runway that I'd followed on Instagram for like the past six years and we sort of followed each other at the start of our journey with a stoma and then it was just so nice to finally meet them and connect that was one of the best things that it was such a range of people that walked down the catwalk.

13:37Lucy Jane for you you know being in this world now for a bit what the biggest misconceptions about living with a stoma? I think a lot of the taboos around it are sort of like it's for older people like it smells it's you know it's dirty like sort of all that sort of thing like it's an embarrassing thing to have because obviously it's to do with your bowels I mean it can be to do with you can have a urostomy as well but mine's for my bowels and I think the misconception of like you can't live a normal life which I think is why I'm so passionate about telling people what they can do and what they should do and they shouldn't let it stop them from doing anything.

14:17Lucy Jane you also mentioned earlier on you got your first leopard print cover for your stoma but then since then you've started making your own what have the reactions been yeah everyone's loved them we've done some done about five or six different designs because obviously here's such a niche thing that you know not everyone needs a stoma back cover but all very me we're working on this donation scheme that we're doing alongside it which I'm actually off to donate some so that idea is that some will be donated to hospitals so that it can go directly to the patients that are in hospital right now just as a little like a boost of positivity.

14:55Lucy Smith Butler.

15:02Coming up in this podcast how AI is making cotton farming in India more sustainable. We work for the betterment of the farmers' livelihood and the environment. We wanted to focus on two big environmental impact industries, which is fashion and farming.

15:29If journalism is the first draft of history, what happens if that draft is flawed? In 1999, four Russian apartment buildings were bombed, hundreds killed. But even now, we still don't know for sure who did it. It's a mystery that sparked chilling theories. I'm Helena Merriman, and in a new BBC series, I'm talking to the reporters who first covered this story. What did they miss the first time? The History Bureau, Putin and the apartment bombs. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

16:08The family of a US Air Force veteran who died in 2001 have been reunited with his military identity tag 70 years after it was lost. It was found in a back garden here in the UK. Harry Parkhill went along to find out more. When you find a target, you'll scan across it. Yeah. There you go. Have you found something? Metal detectorist Adam Drycloughed. He was called to a house in Lincolnshire in the East Midlands of England. The property's current owners knew the house was a few hundred years old and were fine with seeing what might be hidden underneath the dirt. I've been there to meet Adam. I've found all sorts.

16:48We've had out this garden, we've had toy cars, we've had coins. Oh, we've actually found something else. That's something else in that hole, so I will be digging that to see what is in that hole. So just walk me through, what were you doing on the day then that you found this? So on the day what we did, we had a word with the owner of the property, asked them if we could have a go on the garden, see if we could find any history. They said yes. We got down to a corner, which is the corner here, and then he shouted to me that I've got a dog tag. And I just thought he meant it off an ordinary dog, and then all of a sudden he brought it over, and it was a dog tag from World War II.

17:27And I couldn't believe it. Yeah, it's just an amazing experience. It's a buzz. It is a real buzz. I'll be honest, I was shaking a bit because it's like I say, it's just living history to me and to me it's always something I've always wanted to find and I did it. We found it. The dog tag or military ID tag belonged to Daniel Rapu who died in 2001. He was stationed nearby at RAF Sturgate during the 1950s and lived in the house when he was in the UK. After posting about the discovery online, Adam had the help of Anna Draper, a local historian, who helped track down the veterans' family. This is just the thing I love to do, absolutely love it, and I'm doing it all the time.

18:07But to actually find something tangible, another family, I just started searching around, seeing what I could find, and then I found his daughters. Oh, I just think it's amazing. My dad, he was in the Second World War, and he passed away, strangely enough, in 2001, the same year. and to have something from the past that just comes up and sort of says hello I'm you know I'm here it's almost like he's speaking just sort of saying I'm here I think it's a very personal thing Daniel Rappu's descendants were then traced to Colorado in the USA I spoke to his daughter Catherine Mossbarger well at first I thought am I being punked I just looked at the picture all my sister set was a picture of somebody holding a dog tag that had my dad's name on it.

18:58When I did some more research as to the communication that went on, it became very clear that it was in a garden in Kexby. And that's where I was born and grew up the first two years of my life. So we've been smiling. We've been smiling ever since. To me, it's a blessing. I just feel like he's reaching out to us, which is kind of a neat way to start the year. Catherine Mosbarger ending that report by Harry Parkhill. Around the world, the fashion industry faces a huge challenge to reduce its impact on the planet, from its huge carbon footprint and vast water usage to filling up of landfills with clothes that have had little or even no use.

19:40But in some areas, new technology is being used to improve sustainability. and on cotton farms across India, AI tools are helping to reduce water and pesticide use. Brooke Roberts Islam has been finding out more.

19:58Currently we are working with more than 4 ,500 farms in India. We work for the betterment of the farmer's livelihood and environment. It's a clear, calm November afternoon in Maharashtra State in western India. Kuldeep Khatri is visiting a farm on behalf of Matera, a company who has rolled out the AI-powered co-farm app to cotton farmers across three states in India. The purpose of the app is to help farmers to practice regenerative cotton farming. We exist because we wanted to focus on two big environmental impact industries, which is fashion and farming. As the company's director of nature, It's Kooldeep's job to understand the impact that its technology is having on the ground.

20:49Today, he is visiting Rajabal, who grows cotton on six acres of his land and has been using the CoFarm app for the last five months. Kooldeep translates.

21:02We just have to start chatting to our AI. and there are many options like weather forecast or the current market price or disease diagnostic. Just last month, the app sent out a push notification alert warning farmers of significant rainfall. He got message of weather forecast and he did harvesting of cotton before time and could save his cotton from the damage of rainwater. And it helps the farmers avoid being taken advantage of by advising on the fluctuating market prices of cotton. Whenever a farmer goes to sell the farm produce, the vendor does not always give the reliable answer. Now they can see the current market prices and they can decide whether to sell that farm produce at that point of time or not.

22:01The company is paid by brands to source cotton and passes on an incentive for farmers to use regenerative practices. For Rajabal, this has meant benefits for his livelihood as well as the environment. You will be saving the soil's health and also improving the crop yield, crop quality and improving the health of the people on this planet. Thank you for spending time for this interview. Matera aims to regenerate over a million acres of Indian land over the next five years. Furthermore, they record the practices and impact on each individual farm. They share this information with fashion brands to help them identify the most sustainable means of sourcing their cotton.

22:53And you can hear more about the positive and negative impacts of AI on the fashion industry in People Fixing the World, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Time to turn our attention to the biggest baby news in the United States. A pregnant, endangered Asian elephant is nearing her due date, and the Happy Pod's Riley Farrell has been to meet her. I'm here at the Smithsonian's National Zoo inside the elephant exhibit. The air smells like hay and you may hear the soft rumble of giant footsteps. Somewhere behind a row of metal line stalls, an expectant elephant mother waddles about. So there are six elephants that you're kind of in charge of.

23:44Soon to be seven. Soon to be seven. For the first time in a generation, the animal team here is preparing for the birth of an Asian elephant calf. Robbie Clark, the zoo's acting curator and elephant manager, told me more. Ni Lin is one of our six elephants here at the zoo right now. She's our youngest member of the herd. She's a first-time mom. She is 12 years old. Her due date is at about 659 days, which we estimate to be February 18th. Elephants have the longest pregnancies in the entire animal kingdom. And as Robbie explained, every birth matters. Asian elephants as a species are endangered.

24:27We estimate there's less than 50 ,000 individuals in the world. And when I say that, it's not just the number of elephants in the wild. That actually includes elephants that are under human care. A baby Asian elephant will be a huge impact on that. We haven't had a baby Asian elephant here in 25 years. It's not an easy thing for us to just say, hey, let's have a baby elephant. It's taken years and years of planning and preparation and dozens, if not hundreds, of people and specialists, not just here at the zoo, but colleagues around the world helping us get ready for this. Robbie showed me the birthing stall, where Neelan will welcome her calf, and where the team has been rehearsing for months.

25:07So this is our mom for these over here. Oh my goodness. So this is all the reason. Actually, the space is where she's going to have her baby. We practice everything in here several times a day, so she's as prepared as possible. We've been training Ni Lin to allow us to go in with her. The vet team wanted us to be prepared that if the calf doesn't nurse, can we express milk from Ni Lin? So we're actually sensitizing her to a breast pump, like things that you would never think about for an elephant. We're doing with her. I mean, I have several follow-ups, but I think the one that's sticking out is how big is a breast pump for an elephant?

25:52We actually bought a human breast pump. Oh! I actually had never utilized one either, and I was like, okay, I'm going to need some assistance. So we just desensitized her to the sound, the suction. She's not a fan, but we're working on it. As we move deeper into the building, half a dozen elephants moseyed around, including the soon-to-be father, Spike. Spike is cool, calm, and collected. Some zoos have successfully seen males have a fatherly role with calves, with play and coordination and maybe even some discipline. There's other zoos that have seen the opposite, where there's not a lot of interest, But it'll be quite exciting to see how Spike reacts because he's never been around a baby.

26:37But being over 13 ,000 pounds, hopefully to see him interact with a 300 to 400 pound baby will be positive for everyone. Baby fever seems to be hitting the zoo's visitors, too. I've never seen an elephant before like this so close, so this is surreal as well. Have you ever seen a pregnant elephant before? No. I mean, it's just amazing. I can't believe it. It's awesome. I wish everyone could experience the relationship that myself and the animal care team for this herd experience on a daily basis. Elephants are extremely social and intelligent. I hope that people realise that elephants are amazing animals and that they deserve the chance to survive as a species.