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I'm Janet Jalil and in this edition uploaded on Saturday 8th of June an emotional reunion 24 years after a dramatic beach rescue. I just wanted to go back, you know, visit Yuri, like this is my boy, he wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Yuri. It was one of the most important things I've ever done to succeed in saving two kids and guarantee them a future. Catch of the day.
I always wanted to search for treasure and I thought you'd have to be wealthy with a ship and diving gear and tanks and all that. No, you could find treasure, you'll local pond. A couple in New York discover a safe full of cash using magnet fishing. The amazing fossil found in Australia. Well, it's a pretty bulky bird, about 250 kilos in weight, which makes it about five times the size of an angel. Also in this podcast. The woman who's gone viral singing with her grandad.
The duo have even caught the attention of some big stars and the inspirational last words of a British legend. My final message to you is whatever your personal about. Be brave and face it. Every single day is precious. Don't waste a moment. We start with the heartwarming tale of a reunion. We often ask you to share your positive and uplifting stories and one listener. Christian Helkevist from Sweden did just that.
Back in 2000, as a 13-year-old boy swimming off the coast of Terenia near the Italian city of Pisa, he got into trouble in the water. Two lifeguards came to his rescue and saved him from drowning. 24 years later, Christian, who now works for the Red Cross, returned to the beach with his wife and five-month-old son, and found one of the men to whom he owed his life. Yuri Bianchi.
The two men told us their story, starting with Christian on what happened after he and a friend decided to go for a swim, despite the high waves. After a while, I realized that it was fairly difficult to get back to the beach. In fact, I was rather being pulled out rather than closing in. I soon realized that I will not make it. This is it. I am probably going to die. It was kind of a weird, very calm feeling in the beginning, but after a while, I did get help.
The first thing we did was try to rescue the closest child, the girl. Then I saw Christian, who was with my colleague Guido, and I went to help them. But the current was too strong. It took hold of the three of us, and we spent 40 minutes fighting the waves and the current to return to shore. It made me emotional back then, and still today, when I think about it. It was one of the most important things I've ever done in my life to succeed in saving two kids and guarantee them a future.
I mean, getting emotional because it's so wonderful. I think the feelings now are different from when I was 13. When I was being rescued, then I realized, okay, this is real. I could see adults. They struggle. But I felt at the time I was also very ashamed. I did something stupid. I thought I was going to be a bit more ashamed. I thought I should feel stupid, but not children. They're just playing around. The experience with Christian and the girl fills me with so many emotions.
He'll always be welcoming my home, and I know the same goes for me in Sweden. Yuri came and visited in Sweden, which was awesome. But me personally haven't been including Conte de Jure, unfortunately, I think. I was ashamed. I didn't want to do it too much. I wanted to leave the experience in the past. Now, 24 years later, I've been thinking more and more about it and realized that this is such a wonderful thing to happen. To get saved by Jure and his colleague.
I think becoming a father, I went back to Italy with my wife and my little boy. I just wanted to go back. This is my boy. He wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Yuri. It's just amazing. Christian, we've seen this 24 years ago. Even though I've not seen Christian for 24 years now, he's always with me because he's part of my life. I was young. I saved a child. And going to Sweden to see the family afterwards was the most beautiful journey of my life.
I rescued many people, both as a lifeguard and a fireman. But this is the one that stands out. We established a bond. And now we're back together after 24 years. I didn't expect that much feeling. I thought, I thought, yeah, I'm going to go there. I'm going to say hello. That was it. But we just started hugging, started laughing, see each other again. And having my little baby with me, like, look at this little guy. He's here now. I'm going to raise him. We're going to go to Banu Kolifts often.
And he's going to swim here. And we look out for him. And I know that you will see. It was a wonderful surprise. It was so emotional seeing his baby and his family. Before three of us had died in that rescue attempt, three new families wouldn't have been formed. Christians, mine and my colleague, Guido's. That's exactly how I felt. Like the ripple effects are controlling. Like you really only saved me, saved my future family. And one thing that Yuri wrote on Banu Klipp's Facebook site was that
that he's not a hero that he would do this again. And he would do it many times. He is a hero. He's doing this again. That's only true. That he is. That he is my hero at least. Thank you Yuri. And we will not wait 24 more years. So we will see each other before that. Christian and Yuri talking about their emotional reunion. Many of us took up unusual hobbies during the pandemic. But one New York couples lockdown project has also led them to unexpected
riches. As you may have heard in our Global News podcast, they fished a safe full of $100 bills out of a lake in Queens. How do they do that by attaching an industrial strength magnet to a rope and using that to search for treasure? This report from Isabella Jules starts with a moment. The couple realized they'd stumbled across something valuable. I reached in with my hand. And I felt it right away. And I was like, in my brain, I'm like, oh, no, this can't be happening.
There's no way we just found like a whole bunch of dollar bills. That's what I said in my head. It was just a normal Friday when James Cain and Barbie Agostini were magnet fishing in a New York lake. In the first hour of searching, they pulled up a large metal safe. Not so unusual. But after feeling around inside the box, they realized that unlike the ones they found before, this safe was stuffed full of cash. Oh, it is! Stacks of bills, dude! Hundreds! More money!
When he first told me, he's like, oh, it's money. I'm like, no way. No, it's not. No, it's not. Through the hole in the back, somehow there was this like jagged hole that was only like a couple. Yeah, a couple inches big. He stuck his fingers in there, pulled it out, and you know, the rest was history. Inside was an estimated $100,000 in $100 bills, but it isn't a simple case of just taking the money to the bank. The money is actually so waterlogged, it is not usable at all.
The police, well the NYPD over here are police. They couldn't even take it in its evidence. It's the size of money, but it's just like almost like a mushy pancake. It's completely black-covered and mud. You're able to separate and look inside and you see the security strips. Clearly it's all $100 bills. But all's not lost. The couple were cleared by the police to keep the haul. And luckily there is a way to restore the money.
In Washington, D.C., it's where they have our bureau of engraving and printing where they create the money. We're going to hopefully bring it to them. And it could take up to three years, but they will rebuild every single bill. It takes a long time, free of charge, and they will forensically find every serial number, even if it's in a shredder. The American money will be rebuilt and they will cut me a check.
It's quite a find. The sort of story that inspires magnet fishers across the world to keep trawling rivers, canals and lakes. If you look on YouTube, you can find hundreds of videos of enthusiasts pulling up weird and wonderful objects. They even hold competitions. And next month they'll celebrate International Magnet Fishing Day. Let's go ahead and see what we can find here today. First find, what do we got? Oh, oh, that's really hard.
I've been magnet fishing in the north of England with a couple of YouTubers and it's strangely addictive. While most of what you pull up is rubbish. Every so often you find something truly special, as Mark and Lee told me. Right, look at it. That's a special way of explaining it. It isn't sight, look at it. We found the cash box and inside the cheapest thing was worth 17 and a half miles per mile. What was it? The olden diamond, the colour switch, a ringer of racing.
And that element of mystery is what drives James and Barbie back in New York to keep fishing. I always wanted to search for treasure and I thought you'd have to be wealthy with a ship and diving gear and tanks and all that. No, you just need to find treasure. You'll local pond. Barbie and I are going to Magnet Fish everything in New York City and I will leave nothing for anyone because we're going to get it first. We like to think about the stories of how it ended up in the water.
It's that that Keith is going with Magnet Fishing. Barbie and James giving hope to treasure seekers everywhere. Now, when you think of a goose, you're thinking of a bird that could fit into your oven but not this one. It stood at more than two and a half meters tall and weighed over 200 kilograms. And according to researchers in Australia, it was the biggest goose that ever lived.
The scientists reached that conclusion after analysing the 45,000 year old skull of a giant bird found in Lake Calabona in the South Australian desert. Alfie Haberson reports. That's the slightly irritating squawk of a normal goose. It's small and white with an orange beak reaching about up to your knee. But it can be a bit unpredictable because at any moment, without warning, it can beat its wings and charge towards you on the attack. But that's far from what we're talking about here.
Because this goose, whose skull has been found in the Southern Australian Outback, is known as the Thunderbird or the Demon Duck. They do sound like dramatic nicknames, so how scary can it really be? Here's the lead scientist on the dig, Phoebe McKenerny. Well, it's a pretty bulky bird, about 250 kilos in weight, which makes it about five times the size of an EU, and still much heavier than an ostrich as well, which is the largest bird to currently live.
So in other words, it's about the same height as box of Tyson Fury and heavier than a gorilla. Maybe the only relief is that you will not be bumping into one on your next trip to Australia, because it was alive 50,000 years ago, and was known as the Gay Neonis. The discovery of its skull has revealed that it had a large helmet like head, and sounds like it was probably top of the food chain. Not much would have been able to take down genuineness.
We don't have pack animals as such in Australia, but there would have been things such as giant crocodiles, and we have a giant lizard as well. I suppose at least it wouldn't have eaten people or been able to fly, but neither of those things have ever stopped to grisly bear from causing chaos, so perhaps it's better that we've left the demon ducks in the past. Healthy habit in there, talking about the giant goose that perhaps happily is now extinct.
We heard about Christian and Yuri's amazing reunion earlier, and we've also been asking for your stories of meeting people from your past in unexpected places. Lots of you have been in touch, including Michelle from California in the US. In 1988, my boyfriend and I traveled to Kenya. We were one of about 25 tourists on Lama Island, which is in the northern part of the country near the Somali border. After a day at the beach, we went to get a beer at Paponis.
The bar was deserted. All of a sudden we heard someone say, three tusskers, please. My boyfriend looked at me and said, you're not going to believe this, but that sounds like my fraternity brother, Dan Hacking. We looked and sure enough it was Dan and his two sisters. They were on a graduation trip their father gave to them so they could see where they lived when they were young, and he was a visiting professor in Uganda.
We spent the remainder of our time on Lama together and had many adventures, including finding the police canteen in the dark. We've remained friends over the years. If you're listening, Dan Rachel and Jane, we'd love to have a reunion with you on Lama. And you have a happy chance meeting to share or a story that's made you smile. Please send us an email or a voice note. Global podcast at bbc.co.uk Coming up in this podcast, harnessing nature to clean Mexico City's polluted water.
We have these filters, each of these works as a filter. We have gravel, volcanic rock, and we have zeolites. A mineral that will help improve water quality in each area. Want to teach your kids financial literacy, but not sure where to start? Green light can help. With green light, parents can keep an eye on kids spending and saving, while kids and teens use a card of their own to build money confidence.
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For most of us, it's just a nice daydream. But let's hear from two people who actually have the voices to turn that dream into reality. 25-year-old Yazzie Chamberlain has gone viral on social media with videos of her singing duets of classic hits with her 87-year-old granddad, John Tucker, and lots of people have been commenting on how deeply touched they are by the connection between the two. And the duo have even caught the attention of one of the world's biggest rock bands, Cole Play.
Yazzie and John have been chatting to Alfie Habishan. I've always kicked a lot, and my granddad used to take me to my senior nettings. And I never knew that he had this amazing voice until one day I was doing one of my own gigs, and I could hear someone in the audience joining in, and I was trying to scan the room to figure out who it was that had this amazing low voice.
And then I realized it was my granddad joining in, and then I uploaded a video with my granddad, and everyone just sat in love with him. That's right, it's the legendary. And your voices go so well together. I mean, you have that really powerful voice, but then John comes in with this booming, and it's really spectacular. John, I know this is not the first time that you've sung. Not the first time, no. No, no, that's always sung. You know, it inquires.
Then with my friend, John Hobbs at the Bud Chorl, and the highlight of course was singing with 600 Cornish voices at a Royal Overtoll about 10 years ago. How is it to see your granddaughters getting into singing as well? It just seemed so nutrally, I just felt like she's so good, I'm so proud of her. I think she ought to be at the top, like some of the... Big stars. It's all the big stars, yes I do.
Well, I'm not sure it'll be too long now, because talking of which, some big stars have been in contact, haven't they? I took my granddad on my granddad along to one of my gigs in Bud, so I took granddad's and grandmad to the beach, and I came back and I looked on my phone and I saw Colplay had left a comment on the video. Automatically, I was freaking out, I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
I think it's absolutely amazing all these people commenting, but I think granddad does think it's amazing, but I think the main thing of it is, is I think really he just loves spending time with me and singing. When I sing with granddad, I've had to really train myself to not cry, and I have to also remember that it's not necessarily a sad thing, even though sometimes you can feel really sad seeing your grandparents get older, and I do feel sad about that all the time.
But what I try and do is live in the moment with my granddad. It goes like this with all the pain, the mind of one major. And just make sure that he is enjoying his life. I think the message that I give is a little reminder to people to go and pop in and have a cup of tea with their grandparents, and that's really special to me. You see, that's how I imagine, you know, when I try and sing in the show, that's how I imagine it. It comes out, but it certainly does it. What do you do?
One thing that I just want to ask before I let you go is just, what do you think makes for a long and happy life? Well, singing from me and having a family, you're by. And for me, I feel like music and love and family, and also stop stressing and just enjoy yourself. And I stand by me and darling, darling, stand by me. Oh, stand by me. Oh, stand, stand by me. Stand by me. As E. Chamberlain and her granddad, John Tucker, singing and talking to Alfie Habeson.
Now, for a couple of quick stories, we spotted this week. Three Andean Bear Cubs have gone outside for the first time at the Wildlife Conservation Society's Queen Zoo in New York City. The five-month-old Cubs have been seen running, jumping and climbing trees under the watchful eye of their mother, Nicole. These type of bears are rare and typically Andean bears give birth to one or two Cubs at a time.
And initially, more than 13,000 people have gathered in Verona to market Italian operas addition to UNESCO's list of intangible global heritage. Performing were 300 choristers, an orchestra of 150 musicians, and a selection of the world's finest opera singers performing the grapes. Andean Bear Cubs have gone outside for the first time at the Wildlife Conservation Society's Queen Zoo. To Mexico now, Anaskeem that's harnessing the powers of nature to help clean polluted water.
Mexico City often floods in the rainy season, but at the same time is running out of clean, usable water for the more than 22 million people who live in the metropolitan area. One project designed to help solve the crisis involves the creation of 12 wetlands around the city. And it's hoped they'll eventually be able to filter 14 litres of water a second for using cleaning, sanitation and possibly even for drinking.
Craig Langran took a cable car ride to one of the new wetlands with the man behind the idea Alejandro Alvar. We're high above the houses, heading for the suburb of Cuautapec, which clings to one of the mountains that ring Mexico City. Now you can see the wetland there. Now it's a built-in. Oh wow, yeah, so in the background there are two big mountains and then lots and lots of houses for us.
As far as the icon see, really. And then, yeah, just literally right down here below Austin's lightly to the left. I can see a large body of water. We're stuck now at Ramanosaki straight. Let's go. Alejandro is a biologist and a professor at a local university. And he's built this wetland in order to clean Cuautapec's dirty water. So we're just standing on a bridge over a river. If I tell you around, I can see the river flowing down from the mountain side.
The water's a muddy brown colour and you can smell the sewage actually. That's not a great attour. As the river winds down the mountain, sewage and industrial waste is often emptied into it. We're standing at the point where the river enters the wetland, which just months ago was a stagnant lifeless swamp. It was full of lilies, but smelly. With dead animals, rubbish everywhere. It was an open air dump where people threw everything.
Alejandro's big idea is using the soil, plants and microorganisms to treat the waste water flowing in from the river, as well as creating a thriving habitat for wildlife. But first, he had to clean and drain the swamp before carefully selecting which plants to use. Alejandro's divided the wetland, which is about the size of two large football pitches, into several rectangular sections, separated by top all in. There are 15 or 20 man-made beds, which each look like a flower bed.
And in each of those beds, you can see different rocks and plants. Each of these works as a filter, and each has different properties that will help improve water quality step by step. We have gravel, volcanic rock, and we have zeolites, which are a mineral, that will help improve water quality in each area.
This combination of the soil, rocks, and plants, work in tandem as a sort of biological filter, and together they provide a home for microorganisms, good bacteria, which are able to break down and remove pollutants from the water. The wetlands also become a magnet for the local wildlife. I can see huge floccabirds flying above the water. Chorritos en el secado playeros. Clovers, in this case, shorebirds. They are capable of feeding on small microorganisms in the water.
We also have some herons that come here. Biologist Professor Alejandro Alva, ending that report by Craig Langerin, on a groundbreaking project to clean polluted water in Mexico. That's nearly it from us, but not quite. Before our final item, there's just time to say we'd love to hear if you have any stories to share that or make us all smile. As ever, the address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk.
This edition was mixed by Vladimir Muzechka, the producers were Isabella Joule, Holly Gibbs, and Rachel Balclay. The editor is Karen Martin, I'm Jeanette Jouleal. And now to leave you with a message of hope. Earlier this week, a British rugby league international player, who's raised millions of dollars for medical research, died at the age of 41. Rob Barrow was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2019.
In the following years, he raised money for MND charities and remained positive right till the end. So we'll end this episode with his message to the world. He asked for it to be broadcast after his death. I hope one day we find the cure and live in the world, free of MND. But the time that you watch this, I don't know longer be here. I am just a lad from Yorkshire who got to live out his dream of playing rugby league. I hope I have left a mark on the disease.
I hope it shows to live in the moment. I hope you find inspiration from the whole story. My final message to you is whatever your personal about. Be brave and face it. Every single day is precious. Don't waste a moment. In a world full of adversity, we must still dare to dream. Rob Barrow, over and out. Welcome to the Bright Side, a new kind of daily podcast from Hello Sunshine, hosted by me, Danielle Robay and me, Simone Boyce.
Every weekday, we're bringing you conversations about culture, the latest trends, inspiration and so much more. We'll hear from celebrities, authors, experts and listeners like you. Bring a little optimism into your life with the Bright Side. Listen to the Bright Side from Hello Sunshine on the I Heart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts.