ABCnews: Amputee wrestler has all the right moves

"Born Without Arms or Legs, Kyle Maynard is an Inspiration to Others

Sept. 30, 2005- Kyle Maynard was a bona fide contender for a Georgia state high school wrestling championship, despite a physical condition that put him at a distinct disadvantage. Maynard, 19, was born a congential amputee- his arms ending at his elbows; his legs at his knees.

'I've met people who wonder why I wrestle,' he writes in a new book 'No Excuses.' 'Am I trying to have people feel sorry for me? Or am I simply trying to make friends, to be the token member of the team? Some people can't see the truth-that regardless of my physical difference, I am as fierce a competitor as anyone can be.'

...
He was asked if there is such a thing as a good definition for the word 'normal'.

'To me it means just to go about things day to day as if they don't matter, as if the obstacles I face aren't there,' said Maynard. 'Leading a normal life doesn't mean living a stagnant life. You're going to look ahead and you're going to set your impossible goals that other people would say you can't achieve. And you can go out and do it.' "

BBC: Danish air force pays for Rudolph the Reindeer's death

"The Danish air force has admitted causing the death of Rudolph the reindeer and has paid compensation to Father Christmas.

Olovi Nikkanoff, one of Denmark's professional Santa Clauses says his reindeer died of shock as fighter planes flew low overhead.

The airforce admitted liability and paid him 31,175 kroner.(£2,850).

'We're more than happy to pay if it means children around the world will get their presents,' a spokesman said.

Mr. Nikkanoff said he was devastated in February when he discovered his reindeer's body.

The animal had been grazing happily, he said, when two Danish F-16s thundered overhead.

He complained to the air force, which ordered an investigation.

'We got a letter from Santa complaining about his reindeer's death and looked into it seriously,' air forces spokesman Captain Morten Jensen told Associated Press.

Flight data showed the jets had been in the area at the time and a vet concluded that their deafening roar had caused Rudolph to have heart failure.

Mr. Nikkanoff feared he would have only one reindeer to pull his sleigh this Christmas.

But after the air force's decision he declared himself happy with the payout and said he was looking forward to this year's festive season with a new animal on his team."

CNN: Mother of baby found

"New Orleans, Louisiana (AP)-- Barren Snell will never remember his harrowing adventures in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. His mother will never forget hers.

Of the 121 babies evacuated from New Orleans to Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge following the storm, Barren was the only one whose mother had not been found.

Until now.

'I didn't think anyone was going to find us,' Barren's mother Talissa Snell, said Thursday night. 'I thought we were all going to die there.'

Barren, who was born two months premature, was still in the hospital when the hurricane struck. He was evacuated after the storm, when the electricity was out and the hurricane made travel perilous.

Barren's mother and siblings, meanwhile, were stuck in the apartment where they had ridden out the storm, surrounded by flood waters and without food or drinking water.

'We didn't have anything,' Snell said. 'A neighbor shared her food and water with us. That was all that kept us going.'

Snell, 25, made signs she hung out the windows of the apartment. She waved towels trying to attract the attention of a constant stream of helicopters overhead.

'Things were getting really bad,' she said. 'I just wanted to get my kids out of there and find out how my baby was. I just tried to keep hanging on.'

Finally a solider on the street heard Snell's 2-year-old screaming out the window--'Come and get me,' Snell said.

'If he hadn't heard that I don't know what would have happened to us.' she said.

Snell was evacuated to the New Orleans airport but her next destination was still uncertain.

'They're saying maybe Alabama, maybe somewhere else,' she said. 'I just want to get my baby and have my whole family together.'

Officials had already located Barren's aunt, Donna Smith, in Galveston, Texas, where she and her family had evacuated. Smith had been trying to gain custody of Barren so she could take him once he was ready to leave the hospital.

The 3-month-old, who has been fed through a tube since birth, is currently learning to nurse from a bottle and so he can be discharged.

Finding her newphew was a miracle, Smith said. When she got the call from her sister Thursday night, she said it was the second miracle she had been praying for.

'As soon as she got her cell phone charged up after being rescued she called us,'Smith said. 'I just started screaming and crying. I'm so happy.'