Global News Podcast - The Happy Pod: I invented a way for my brother to communicate

Episode Date: April 25, 2026

Ari wanted to help his brother Ben engage with the world after he lost the ability to walk, talk or move his hands. So he designed and built him a bespoke communication and entertainment system - allowing him to chat, go online, watch TV or play video games with just two buttons. Also: the endangered Mexican amphibian found in a river in the UK. Experts say the young girl who captured the axolotl probably saved its life.The women using their own experiences with breast cancer to tackle cultural taboos about the disease in Uganda, and encourage others to get treatment.After the Boston marathon, we hear from an elite female athlete hoping to inspire others by running the race while 22 weeks pregnant. And we find out why two runners stopped to help another who collapsed within sight of the finish line.Plus a statue honouring a giant rat who sniffed out landmines in Cambodia; and why a nature festival has had to clarify that visitors should come fully clothed.Our weekly collection of inspiring, uplifting and happy news from around the world.Presenter: Holly Gibbs. Music composed by Iona HampsonImage credit: NARBE House

This is the Happy Pod from the BBC World Service. I'm Holly Gibbs, and in this edition, one man's quest to improve his brother's life. He is just laughing and joking and the fact he can just talk to me like any brother would, you know, telling me off and stuff. It's like I got my brother back to talk to. It's something I've always dreamed of and we both just love it, you know? We meet Ari, who created a communication system for his brother Ben. Also on this podcast, the rare Mexican amphibian found in a river here in the UK.

The runner carried over the finish line of the Boston Marathon by two kind strangers. I was like shocked, honestly. There was no reason for him to do that. There was no reason for either one to do that. It was like insane. That was the greatest feeling ever. And why the organizers of a nature festival felt the need to say this. Whilst we aim to be as inclusive as possible,

and certainly do not judge anyone. Please do dress appropriately. We start with a remarkable story of one man's determination to help his brother. Ben is 29 years old and has a rare genetic disorder which means he cannot walk, talk or move his hands. His brother Ari and Ari's wife, Nancy, became Ben's full-time carers four years ago. They wanted Ben to be able to engage with the world, so they didn't. designed and built a communication and entertainment system that he can control with two head switches. Ben used the system to speak to the Happy Pod's Helena Burke. Hello, my name is Ben. This is my sister-in-law, Nancy and my brother, Arryn. It is nice to meet you.

So, Ben, how does your life now compare to what your life was like before you had this technology? My life is better. And how does it make you feel to be able to communicate with people again after such a long time? Amazing. What does it mean to you to have a brother that's put all this work into creating a technology for you that improves your life? Feel love. I feel love. And what do you hope listeners of the Happy Pod take away from your story? Smart. I'm smart.

Helena also caught up with Ari and Nancy and began by asking them about Ben's condition. Ben, is it cool that we talk about Club 4A and your condition? Yes. Okay. So Ben has a condition called Tub 4A related leukodistrophy. It is a condition that affects the myelin sheath in the brain. So as Ben grew, especially as a baby, we noticed that he had some delayed milestones, you know, in balance issues and coordination issues.

He essentially kind of was a normal toddler, but over time after that, we started noticing he was kind of regressing. So he was falling down a lot more. He reverted to crawling from crawling. He needed a wheelchair. His speech started getting a little more broken, a little bit more slurred because his mouth wasn't able to make the words anymore. So over time, that's just the natural progression for these types of conditions. So essentially, Ben went from walking and talking as a little kid to being in a wheelchair,

losing ability to use his hands, losing the ability to speak from a young age. So that's kind of how it goes. he's one of the oldest with this condition might be the oldest, but definitely one of the oldest. We'll turn to the technology now. Can you tell me a bit about how it works? I imagine it's very complicated, but in layman's terms, how does it work? It's actually very simple. Ben's system is two switch-based, so he has one switch that scans through options, it'll just go one by one through different options on the screen, and then he has another button that will select it. These buttons also have another way of working is if you hold down the left button, it'll

scan backwards or it'll do something else and the right button, same thing. So essentially, there are four inputs. With that, we created software that uses that specifically, those inputs specifically for Ben for the things he wants. What we did was we stripped it down and said, hey, how can you make this really visual, really easy for Ben to understand things he wants to do and just created a bunch of different apps and software and things that he can use that allow him to do the stuff he wants. So things like playing video games or, you know, watching his favorite TV shows or even searching the web, sending text messages. He can do that.

So we have a keyboard in there that he can talk to us. And that was all stuff that we built using AI. Everything we build or anything that is built can be open and used to anybody. There's no licensing for it. It just allows you to use a software. And we thought that was like really crucial for something like this, especially after going through so much time with Ben having nothing. It's like we want to make sure other families can see what's possible.

And for you guys as a family, what does life look like now that Ben has this tech to help him communicate with you and improve his quality of life versus before when he didn't have it? Ben decided to move in with us in 2022 and it's been a night and day difference. It was 20 questions all the time with Ben. We were always asking him if he's comfortable, if he needed anything. And now he is telling us what he needs. He is independently changing the TV shows on his computer. He's text messaging us. He's playing video games.

It's mind-blowing. It's been a game changer. He is more engaged with the world now. And it's incredible. And yeah, obviously being a full-time carer is a really big commitment from both of you guys. How did you decide that, you know, this was the right thing for you and you wanted to have Ben be in your house with you and spend your life with him? I knew when I first met Ari that Ben,

was one of the most important people in his life. Ben was on the other side of the country, and we would visit. But I always knew every time we left that something was missing in Ari's life. And when we came out here during the COVID pandemic, it seemed like it was meant to be. We didn't realize that Ben's condition was deteriorating

at such a fast pace. And we knew that he needed more. He needed more advocacy. He needed more eyes on him. and Ben wanted us to stay. And it was just an easy decision for us. And we would choose this life again over and over because Ben's given us so much more purpose.

And yeah, we're just so happy to be his caregiver. It's an honor to be his caregiver. I'm glad Nancy answered that because he's my brother. So I would just be like, it was just, I'm of course going to take care of my brother. Yeah. Ben's my best friend. Yeah.

I didn't realize that I was going to, you know, love Ben as much as I do now. And I can't imagine my life without him. He's awesome. He's awesome. What differences have you noticed in his mood since you guys developed this tech? So Ben has always been like super joyful. Even in the times where it was like the darkest, he's always had a smile, you know. But I will say this, after those times to now using his software, he is just laughing and joking. And the fact he can just talk to me like any brother would, you know, telling me off and stuff, he loves it and we love it. And it's like, it's like I got my brother back to talk to. It's something I've always dreamed of and we both just love it, you know.

Do you think this would work for a range of other disabilities as well? Yeah, we've already had a few people reach out who are playing Ben's games. We make a web app. You know, all the Ben's games are available online and we have a handful of people, one in particular that plays pretty regularly and sends us videos. So, yeah, it's really cool. And what do you hope that listeners at the Happy Pod take away from your story as a family? We want people to know that despite having a rare disease and when you think all hope is lost, there's still, you know, meaning and you could still find joy in caregiving for somebody. We want to inspire people to look for more solutions for the person that they love.

Ben shows so much determination and he never gives up. and we want to show that we're not going to give up on him. Ben, Ari and Nancy speaking to Helena Burke. Here in the UK, a 10-year-old girl has made an unusual and probably life-saving discovery in a river. Evie Hill was on holiday in Wales when she came across an ax-a-lottal. For those of us who don't play games like Minecraft, that's an endangered lizard-like animal,

with gills sticking out of its head looking like feathers. They're usually only found in one lake in Mexico. The one Evie came across had bits of its tail missing, presumably the result of a run-in with local predators. Experts say Evie probably saved its life by rescuing it. She and her mum Melanie have been speaking to my colleague Sarah Montague. I was just playing by the bank at the river and I was moving things around and I lifted up the green mat and there was this ex-a-lottal. I could tell it was an ex-a-lottal because I could see it skills. and it had quite a thick tail.

What were your thoughts when you saw it? Oh my goodness, there's an axolot right in front of me in the water. I ran back into the water trying to catch it, but all the mud made the water all cloudy, so I couldn't see it anymore. And I told mum, there's an axolot in the water. She's like, no, this is not. You've probably seen some little lizard or something. And I used to if I could go back in the water.

She said no. But I went back in the water anyway, because when I went back, I could see it in front of the water. I tried to grab it, but it swam up the current and dug its nose into a rock and then I caught it. So what did you do with it once you've got it in your hands? We brought it back to the van and we had to put it in a gravy jar because we had nothing else to put it in. What did your mum say? Oh my goodness. She actually has got an acylotel.

In a gravy jug in the van. Melanie, I've got to ask you, when Evie turned up with this thing, what did you think? To start with, I didn't actually think I thought it's not actually. actually an axolottle surely, took a photograph of it and then did a Google search and it came up with axolotl and then I was Googling all sorts of things about can you find them in the water here but the more reloked, the more I can see, it's definitely an axolotl, I was just in complete shock, but there's actually an axolotl and I thought, why is it here? Why is it in our river? I mean, they're not native. I mean, I suppose it was probably quite lucky that you came across it,

Yeah, because we rescued it and now it's got like a new home in our house. Okay, so it's your pet now? Yeah. I imagine it's not in the gravy jar any longer. No, we've got it a tank and we're setting up a bigger one. What have you called it? Dippy, because the bridge was called the Dipping Bridge and that's where we found it. Is Dippy well? Does Dippy look healthy?

No, it didn't look that good, but it's started to recover now. The home it's in now, you're saying you're getting a bigger one. I mean, is this going to be a very spoiled, Axelotl? Yeah. We've already got a big tank and decorate it and get some new things. Dippy is definitely very spoiled at the minute. Everything it's needed, we've just gone out and bought. We're quite excited by having the new pet,

and I think the novelty of the fact that it wasn't in a very good condition and we're getting to see it recover, and it's made it a little bit more exciting than just going and getting one of them a pet shop. Evie and Melanie Hill speaking to Sarah Montague. To Uganda now, where a small group of women are trying to challenge cultural taboos around breast cancer. A lack of awareness about symptoms, poor screening services and strong beliefs in traditional healers mean nearly 90% of cases aren't diagnosed until the later stages. That makes it less likely people will survive and more likely they'll need a mastectomy to remove their breasts.

But one group in Kampala is helping to boost women's confidence and persuade them to get life-saving treatment. Halima Athuani went to meet them. I watch as Anna uses a knitting machine to make pieces of cream fabric. I put a nipo in the middle. She then uses a sewing machine to stitch the fabric to form a small pocket with a knob of thread for the nibo. She passes it to her colleague Wurda.

Warda fills the pocket with a spongy material. Beads are added to give it some weight and a more realistic shape. It's a project run by two women who are both called Margaret O'Kello. To avoid confusion, I will refer to them as Mrs. O'kelo and Dr. Neko. Mrs. O'kello was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. I'm a breast cancer survivor. I lost both of my breasts. but thank God because I think it had a purpose for me.

Mrs Okello met Dr. Niko at the Uganda Cancer Institute. Dr. Niko had also had breast cancer and had breast removed. After chatting, they realized they had a shared passion, helping more people to recover from the disease. So they set up the Cancer Aid Organization. We needed to help our fellow. Ladies and gentlemen who suffer also from breast cancer. To go and tell people out there that cancer can be treated

and you can get children and live your life. The women used counselling and their personal testimonies to challenge false beliefs around breast cancer and encourage women to get treatment. One of the women, Mrs Okello, helped, was Wairda. When the doctor said she would need a breast removed, Wurda was worried and refused. So the doctors sent her to Mrs. O'kello.

At first, Wurda didn't believe Mrs. O'kello had had her breast removed. So I say, is it the scar that you want to see? Here it is. And that was enough. When she opened for me, her chest like this, I see her scar, that she has really no breast. That's what I come to say that maybe, let me try and see. Warda went through with the operation and started working for the project.

Women without breasts still face a lot of stigma and superstition in Uganda. But Mrs. O'Kello was also able to offer Wairda another lifeline, a free artificial breast which would help her blend in. She gave me one I put on, I found my chest is okay. I'm very smart, I want to also make these things so that other people who come after me, they also benefit the way I benefits. They now charge 40,000 shillings, or $10 for an artificial breast. This compares to $200 for medical-grade silicon ones.

However, they found even $10 was expensive for many patients. So they approached private companies like banks and NGOs for sponsorship. Today, they make between $600 and $900 a year, depending on how much funding they can get. We can't escalate the price. It's not about profit making. No. It's about helping ourselves.

Because I know what it means. That report was by Halima Athuani. You can hear more on people fixing the world wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Coming up on The Happy Pod, why Cambodia has a new statue of a giant rat. To help people understand, there's still a big job to be done here in clearing the landmines.

You're listening to The Happy Pod. This year's Boston Marathon has provided many inspiring stories, but there's two in particular we'd like to bring you. Firstly, to an elite female runner who completed the race while 22 weeks pregnant. Callie Hager Thackeray finished in just two hours and 43 minutes, around 20 minutes below her personal best, She told the BBC's Sarah Dawkins what it was like. Very emotional, to be honest.

What a day. It was chaos, crazy, in the best way possible, honestly. Like, and I knew going into this race, obviously, there was going to be a lot of unknowns, more than normal, and that's okay. But just so grateful that I got through that today. And to do it, like, this far into pregnancy, I'm just, yeah, super grateful that I was able to do that today. Not many kids will be able to say that they,

they've run a marathon with their mum and their dad before they were even born. Right. I can't wait to tell him. It's got five finishes medals now. And, yeah, obviously we'll get loads of toys for his little room, but we want to put his little finishes medals up there first. You know, you've won European medals. You're an Olympian.

Where does this today sit within those achievements? Oh, honestly, yeah. It really does put it up there for me, just because it is such a special thing. and to be able to do this now is just yeah incredible and it's a different kind of hard for sure than what I've ever done I would say this is harder than a lot of yeah the European medal or these other things that I've achieved but in a different kind of way and a more meaningful way and I think it just gave me like more purpose than ever before so as we're sort of seeing this real

shift in like elite sporting culture do you think attitudes really are changing yeah I do I think it, I'm not alone, like, it means so much to me, because, like, you can do both. You really can. And we can do it well. We can be a mom and also shoot for these crazy big goals, scary goals more than ever. Like, I, it's definitely not going to, like, scare me away from any goals. I think, if anything, it's going to push me to, like, show my son what is possible. I just think that makes it even more meaningful for me.

And, yeah, I'm just honored and excited to be a part of that, like, space. And showing that, you know, other women, who are pregnant or are going through pregnancy and trying to balance, you know, running as well or whatever sport they do, you can do both. Meanwhile, the men's amateur race saw an incredible act of kindness by strangers. A.J. Haradasse fell over from exhaustion a few times, but then two of his fellow runners, Aaron Beggs and Robson D. Olivera, stopped to put their arms around him and help him across the finish line.

In doing so, Aaron even sacrificed his personality. personal best for the marathon. You see the finish line and everything and I looked at my watch and I was like debate and I was like, do you help do or not? Do you get a PB? And for some reason my instincts decided

to take me over. I was struggling to get him up and if it wasn't for Robson to come over and help me. We've been able to get there. 200 metres roughly is a long way to carry him. As we got the finish line I had my arm round AJ and I was calling for the wheelchair.

They kept flying past me and AJ and I was like, what are he doing? And I turned round and Robson was actually in the worst condition than AJ. So it just goes to show how much of a selfless commitment it was by himself as well. AJ says he was overwhelmed by his fellow runner's kindness. Like I wasn't expecting anybody to pick me up, especially at that point in race. Like everyone is very close to that feeling. And also, in terms of time, to qualify for Boston again next year, we were approaching that barrier. I was, like, shocked, honestly.

The more I think about it now, it's like there was no reason for him to do that. There was no reason for either of them to do that. It was, like, insane. That was the greatest feeling ever. Like, I told them directly, like, I can't put into words, like, how much that meant. The three runners say they are all. ready planning their next marathons. A statue has gone on display in Cambodia of a rat.

But Magua is not your average rat. He has sniffed out more than 100 landmines during his five-year career and has even won medals for how many lives he saved, as Tamsin Selby reports. The statue of Magua is the world's first dedicated to a landmine detecting rat. According to the UN, landmines remain. an ongoing risk to Cambodia, and more than a million people continue to work and live on land littered with mines and other unexploded ordnance. That's where African giant pouched rats like

Magoa come in. Using their acute sense of smell, the rodents can detect a chemical compound within explosives and then alert their human handlers. During his eight-year career, Magoa covered the equivalent of 20 football pitches in land and could search a field the size of a tennis court in just 20 minutes. Magoa died in 2022 due to old age. Mick Rain is from the Belgian charity Apopo who trained him in Tanzania. The areas we work in, there's normally a lot of metal contamination. So if you use traditional metal detection equipment, they detect every small piece of metal and every time you find a small piece of metal you've then got to investigate it carefully to confirm whether it is a landmine or an item of unexploded ordnance or whether it's just a

fragment so this takes a long time but with the rats they're purely looking for the explosive scent and they are a lot quicker the statue has been carved from local stone by artists and it was unveiled in CM Riyap to mark International Day for Mine Awareness. It wasn't just for Apo or Mogawa, but it was more for Cambodia as well to help people understand there's still a big job to be done here in clearing the landmines. You know, we have got a permanent reminder in a prime position on the river. There's lots of people turning up looking at the statue, taking selfies next to the statue, and I think it's been very, very well received.

Apopo says Cambodia has a target date of 2030 to become mine-free. And it's safe to say, rats like Magoa and the ones who come after him will make a huge contribution to that goal. Tams in Selby reporting. And finally, we've all been there, turning up to an event and getting the wrong end of the stick. But here in the UK, a nature festival has had to issue a very important clarification. after its upcoming event was mistaken for something else. Richard Hamilton has the story.

Now, what's worse, hosting an event to find that the odd person turns up naked or turning up naked to an event where everyone else is fully clothed. Leaving your Freudian nightmares aside for one moment, this was the dilemma facing the organisers and visitors to the Cumbria Nature Festival. It has now urged those attending to make sure, they wear clothes after the event for naturalists was misunderstood at one aimed at nudists. The organisers took to Facebook to issue this clarification, which has been voiced by a producer. After a recent inquiry, we need to clarify. Cumbria Nature Festival is primarily aimed at naturalists,

not naturists. Whilst we aim to be as inclusive as possible, and certainly do not judge anyone, we're aiming the event at wildlife enthusiasts. Please do dress appropriately. And if anyone else has booked in error, please contact us immediately for a full refund. Sam Griffin, who's one of the organisers, added that they had not actually had to refund anyone so far. He said the announcement followed a misunderstanding

and that it's quite common for people to hear the word naturalist and interpret it as something else. We're just wildlife enthusiasts rather than anything else, he said. On the positive side, he thought the confusion may have unwittingly turned out to be a marketing success, as their Facebook page had since gained a lot of followers and generated more ticket sales. According to a survey in 2022, 14% of the British population, that's around 6.75 million adults, describe themselves as naturists or nudists, up from 3.7.7.5 million adults, up from 3.7.7.5 million adults, up from 3.7 million a decade earlier.

British naturism, which has around 9,000 members, said many of them are deeply committed to spending time in nature, so it's understandable that the Cumbria Nature Festival might have aroused their interest. It went on to say that if the festival wanted to collaborate with them in the future, they'd be happy to oblige. The event starts on the 8th of May and will feature activities such as guided walks, workshops and storytelling sessions for fully clothed people of all ages.

Richard Hamilton reporting. And that's all from the Happy Pod for now. We'd love to hear from you. As ever, the address is global podcast at BBC.com.uk. This edition was produced by Rachel Bulkley. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Holly Gibbs. Until next time, goodbye.