Krista Bo
00:00:00
'Hey there. Here's your weekly dose of feel-good stories. You'll hear how a major League Baseball player decided to spend his day off.
Cameron Lard
00:00:07
We got to meet Salvador Perez, and he went and played wiffle ball with us in the backyard. That's crazy.
Krista Bo
00:00:14
Plus, we'll take you inside the 10th annual National Battle of the Bands. From CNN, I'm Krista Bo, and this is Five Good Things.
Krista Bo
00:00:28
Welcome to Love Lagoon, where Chilean flamingos are coupling up and hatching eggs together at the Paignton Zoo in southwest England.
Lisa Ward
00:00:37
It's based off of the program Love Island, which you have here in the UK, where they follow groups of people who are forming relationships in the stories and how that goes. So we decided to do the same for our flamingos.
Krista Bo
00:00:47
Lisa Ward is the team leader of birds at the zoo. Recently, two male flamingos paired up Curtis and Arthur, which is unusual but not unheard of.
Lisa Ward
00:00:58
Same sex pairings will sometimes happen in these kind of large flocks of animals that are really social, and they like their own space. And so I guess kind of like humans. You only invite someone into your space when you like them.
Krista Bo
00:01:10
Flamingos may be social, but these colorful birds can also be protective of their own space, especially during breeding season. So the zoo says some feathers were definitely ruffled, which opened the door for an unexpected family unit.
Lisa Ward
00:01:23
Because we've had so many birds that have wanted to breed, they've made their nest quite close to each other, and then there's been a lot of fighting, there's been a lot of squibbling, and because of that, what we think has happened is that male and female pair have laid an egg and then for whatever reason, it's just been too much going on and they've abandoned the egg. And that's where Curtis and Arthur have come in and decided that they wanted to take on this egg.
Krista Bo
00:01:44
And in a rare feat recently, Curtis and Arthur successfully hatched a chick together. The chick's about a month old and doesn't have a name yet, but Lisa said they're doing an amazing job raising the chick.
Lisa Ward
00:01:56
It's an incredible achievement that they've been able to do this together. I think even though it's not necessarily their genes that they're kind of defending, I guess they can't stop that desire to want to create a family.
Krista Bo
00:02:12
'Some kids in Kansas City will never forget a recent game of backyard wiffle ball, when one of their favorite professional baseball players unexpectedly stopped by to play. Lesley Lard and her nine-year-old son Cameron, are huge fans of the Kansas City Royals.
Lesley Lard
00:02:28
'I joke with them - he was at a World Series game in 2014 because I was pregnant. So I say, technically you got to go to a World Series game. But ever since he was little, he's been a fan right along with me.
Krista Bo
00:02:40
Kids and teens of all ages can often be found in the Lard's backyard playing wiffle ball. But Cameron says last Thursday's game was truly unforgettable.
Cameron Lard
00:02:48
We got to meet Salvador Perez anyway and he went and played wiffle ball with us in the backyard. That's crazy.
Krista Bo
00:02:55
'The Kansas City Royals star catcher Salvador Perez, also known as Salvy, played for several innings. And the kids managed to strike Salvy out, but eventually the nine-time MLB All-Star hit a home run.
Lesley Lard
00:03:16
And he looked like he was having just as much fun as the boys did.
Krista Bo
00:03:19
Cameron said Salvy inspired him.
Cameron Lard
00:03:21
He's a future Hall of Famer, and if I ever make it into the MLB and I see like kids playing wiffle ball, I'm definitely going to stop and play. Just thank you, thanks a lot, Salvy.
Krista Bo
00:03:33
And the 2015 World Series MVP told CNN affiliate KMBC. It was a special day for him, too.
Salvador "Salvy" Perez
00:03:40
I love to play baseball. I love to play hard. I like to compete. I think God put me in the right spot just to make this kid happy. You know, for a little bit.
Krista Bo
00:03:47
So not only did Salvy make an impression on the kids, it's possible they brought the team some good luck, too. Since the impromptu wiffle ball game, the Kansas City Royals won three out of the four games they played this week against their division rivals, the Cleveland Guardians.
Krista Bo
00:04:06
The FDA just cleared a new device called Traumagel that could stop severe bleeding in seconds and potentially save countless lives.
Joe Landolina
00:04:14
Traumagel is a plant based gel that controls bleeding on contact, and so you can squirt it into a bleeding bullet wound and nearly on contact, you're able to get that under control compared to packing it with gauze and holding pressure for five minutes.
Krista Bo
00:04:31
'Joe Landolina is the CEO and co-founder of Cresilon Inc., the company behind Traumagel. He says he invented it when he was a 17-year-old student at NYU. Partly inspired by the horror stories his father used to tell him about his days as an EMT. He says it's simple to use and could make a world of a difference in high stress, life threatening situations.
Joe Landolina
00:04:51
So all you do is you uncap the syringe. You effectively squirt it into whatever is bleeding, whether it's a gunshot wound, a stab injury, a laceration or anything else. And then from there, you can transport the patient to the next level of care.
Krista Bo
00:05:04
Joe says they're now working on getting it into the hands of EMS agencies, hospitals, and even the military.
Joe Landolina
00:05:10
Today on the battlefield, 91% of preventable deaths are due to hemorrhage, meaning that if there was only a better hemostatic agent available to first responders, countless lives could be saved.
Krista Bo
00:05:21
There are other products like it on the market, but Joe believes Traumagel is special because of how fast it works.
Joe Landolina
00:05:28
We have worked with surgeons and seen the product in action, and the look on their face when they see this product work. It really moves us forward. It gives us hope. This is something that can change the way that traumatic injuries are treated.
Krista Bo
00:05:48
The world's oldest living man, just celebrated his 112th birthday with his friends and family in England on Monday, and says he doesn't even feel his age at all.
Krista Bo
00:05:58
'John Alfred Tinniswood was born the same year the Titanic sank, and when New Mexico and Arizona officially became part of the U.S. - 1912. This also makes him the oldest living World War Two veteran.
Krista Bo
00:06:11
He stays busy by listening to the radio and managing his finances without help. The father of one, grandfather of four, and great grandfather of three was declared the oldest man alive by Guinness World Records back in April.
Krista Bo
00:06:24
What's his secret for a long, healthy life? He told GWR he thinks it's part luck, part moderation.
Krista Bo
00:06:36
'The end of August signifies a few things - summer ending, school starting again and football season is in full swing. If you're more of a halftime show kind of person, then you'll love this next story. Stick around.
Krista Bo
00:06:54
On Sunday, marching bands from eight historically Black colleges and universities competed in the 10th annual National Battle of the Bands in Houston, Texas. And boy, did they put on a show.
Announcer
00:07:05
Give it up to the Purple Marching Machine!
Krista Bo
00:07:12
That's the band from Miles College, also known as the Purple Marching Machine. And they're marching across the field of NRG Stadium to Cameo's song, "Talkin Out the Side of Your Neck," decked out in purple and gold uniforms. Adrienne Minnefield is a senior at Miles College and part of the band's flag team. She says that song is a classic.
Adrienne Minnefield
00:07:31
It's something we do every show, every year. It'll probably never change. It's just Miles College radition and it gets the crowd every time.
Krista Bo
00:07:39
Her bandmate, Zaymar Peak is the trumpet section leader who performed in the competition for the first time.
Zaymar Peak
00:07:44
Everything that I've done, it led up to this moment just walking out of the tunnel, just entering the dome, it was very exciting and the crowd was, they gave the energy, which gave me the energy to put on a great performance.
Krista Bo
00:07:56
Prairie View A&M, Tuskegee and Texas Southern were some of the other HBCUs that performed in front of thousands of people last weekend. Event organizers say the annual event has raised about $1.3 million in scholarship money to date. This year, each band took home $50,000 for participating. The theme of this year's event was celebrating Champions of Culture. So while there are no official winners, Adrienne said it's a chance to have fun and showcase some amazing talent.
Adrienne Minnefield
00:08:23
I feel like it just shows like everyone's passion as a bandsman or as a dance girl, as a flag girl who appreciates music. It just helps us come together and perform because that's what we love doing. We all love to perform.
Krista Bo
00:08:41
All right, that's all for now. Join us tomorrow for the next edition of One Thing. CNN's Phil Mattingly joins host David Round to help compare and contrast the 2024 candidates economic policies.
Krista Bo
00:08:53
Five Good Things is a production of CNN audio. This episode was produced by Eryn Mathewson and me, Krista Bo. Our senior producers are Felicia Patinkin and Faiz Jamil. Matt Dempsey is our production manager. Dan Dzula is our technical director. And Steve Lickteig is the executive producer of CNN Audio. We get support from Joey Salvia, Haley Thomas, Alex Manasseri, Robert Mathers, Jon Dianora, Leni Steinhardt, Jamus Andrest, Nichole Pesaru, and Lisa Namerow. Special thanks to Katie Hinman. And thank you for listening. If you like the show, please consider giving us a good rating and review and sharing it with a friend. It helps us spread the good vibes. Take care. Till next time.
