Global News Podcast - The Happy Pod: Playing the piano saved my life

Episode Date: December 21, 2024

A man filmed playing the piano while homeless went viral. Now he's raising money for others and says it's saved his life. Also: showing love with Christmas lights; how a cat saved its owner; and AI spots dolphin accents.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Are we not fighting for us? Just for the people back home? Purple Heart Warriors. Listen now by searching for dramas wherever you get your BBC podcasts. This is the HappyPod from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritson and in this edition... I am so grateful and so appreciative that people have allowed me into their lives and into their hearts. Thank you so much for changing my life. They've saved my life. The homeless man whose piano playing went viral, allowing him to raise money to help others.

How love has inspired a husband in Iowa to turn his whole street into a winter wonderland. A remarkable survival story. The guy was screaming, cutUT, CUT, PLEASE CUT. We thought he has some medical problems and actually he was screaming, WE have to take care about his cat. His tiny ginger cat helped him stay alive in snowy mountains for eight days and... ...

...the AI program that can tell where a dolphin is from by its accent. We begin with a man whose hidden musical talent is helping him turn his life around and supporting others. Earlier this year, Rhys Wynne-Jones was homeless and had gone to a church with friends for something to eat. He sat down at a piano to play and as everyone stopped to listen, a volunteer started filming. The video from Penzance in south-western England went viral on social media and his performance of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody has even been praised by the group's drummer Roger Taylor as dazzling. Now, Rhys has been performing concerts and raising thousands of dollars

for charities helping other homeless people. Rhys has been talking to my colleague, Evan Davies. The director came over to me because she saw that I was suffering and she asked me, is there anything that you needed? It just struck into my mind that a church like this might have a piano for me to play on. So I asked the night church, do you have a piano? And I was expecting the answer to be no, but instead she said, yes, we have a piano in the church. And she showed me over to this lovely baby to everybody in the church was, wow, everybody came into the main church room to see me play and I ended up getting recorded and it went viral.

Yeah, it's an amazing story and then, well, you decided to actually perform concerts, so you went from becoming a social media phenomenon to live performance. The transition to that was due to the social media presence. There was a lot of comments saying that, oh, I would love to see him do a concert and oh, he's really good when he's going to perform live. It planted a seed in my head and also at night church's heads about the possibility of doing a concert. And I was very reluctant at first to come forward about who I was and my identity because of all that I suffered. Being homeless is like another level of pain that you can't really experience in society. But when you're in that place, you make friends in the homeless community and you see them

dealing with the pain as well. When I finally got the confidence to do a concert, the night church said, oh, that'd be brilliant and all the money that you raise will help you get out of your situation. You can profit from this. But after everything I've seen, I was like, how can I, how can I take any money from myself? I need to help the people who have a coping mechanism like I do because the piano is how I cope with pain and the people on the streets don't even have that. So by doing these concerts and fundraising for the people that I know on the streets and also the people that I don't know, I'm helping them out the same way the piano is helping me.

Can I ask you, Reece when when did you learn the piano? I mean obviously become quite accomplished at it You must have devoted some years of your life to that So I started learning when I was about 11 12 years old and I had four years of classical training And the concerts have gone well and you've raised thousands of pounds. Bring us up today. I have to say, well, it was a bit of an understatement. It's been absolutely wonderful, incredible response. I've packed all the churches out, hundreds of people have attended and I even packed out Truro Cathedral, my dream venue since I was a child to play in.

I've raised over £12,000 now, I think it's now £13,000 for the latest concert that I've done. I am so grateful and so appreciative that people have allowed me into their lives and into their hearts. And I just want to say to everyone, thank you so much for changing my life. They've saved my life. Rhys Wynne Jones, who has now moved into sheltered housing and is working towards finding a home of his own. At this time of year many of us will have put up our Christmas tree or perhaps adorned our house with twinkly lights to bring some festive cheer. But one man in the United States has taken it a step further. He's decorated his entire street and it's all in aid of making meaningful memories for his wife, as Rebecca Wood reports. And then I'd just go house to house to house. That might sound like something Father Christmas or Santa Claus would say, but it is in fact

John Reichart from Indianola in Iowa. And instead of bringing presents, John has given weeks of his time and spent thousands of dollars turning his street into a winter wonderland, much to the delight of his neighbours. This is his labour of love. I think the whole neighbourhood just feels very blessed to have him in this neighborhood. For John, the extravagant array of twinkling lights and inflatable Christmas characters has a deeper, more personal meaning. It's all for his wife of over 50 years, Joan. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's four years ago and since then John has made it his mission

to keep making her new memories. If it wasn't for my wife, I don't know if I would have done it. But she wanted Christmas, so I'd give it to her. I'll do anything to make her happy. I don't know what to think, but I'm glad he did it. I love him. Word of his efforts spread, and now there are helpers, and a steady stream of admirers.

And to think that he's done all this work just to make her happy, that's what Christmas and love is. And seeing how much joy he can bring, John says he can't see himself stopping now. As long as she's okay and even if she would pass, I'm going to do it in her memory as long as I can do it. Rebecca Wood with that report. A man who got lost in a blizzard in the Carpathian mountains has survived for eight days with the help of an unusual companion. Vladislav Duda, a journalist fleeing conscription in Ukraine, was found soaking wet and lying in a ravine after managing to text a friend his location. His travelling companions had left him behind and rescuers

were surprised he'd managed to stay alive with no food, water or shelter. Until he unzipped his jacket, revealing a tiny orange cat named Persik or Peach. Stephanie Prentiss spoke to Dan Benga from the Maramures Mountain Rescue Team about one of the most difficult and heartwarming rescues yet. He separate from his friends about an hour, an hour and a half before he fall in the ravine. The other two guys, they left him over there. It says that they abandoned him actually.

And they said that they will continue and they want to save their lives. So yeah, I know it's cruel, it's hard to believe, but they left him there. So this guy was trying to walk again, to walk, to walk to save his life and he fell into ravine of 420 meters actually was and then he was lying in a small and then he was lying in a small river, was the only place, the horizontal place where he can lie. And the guy was screaming, cut, cut, please cut, because he doesn't speak English.

We thought he has some medical problems and actually was screaming, we have to take care about his cat, not with cat. He wasn't a cat, he has a cat. And when we opened the jacket, the cat came out from the jacket. Now when everything is over, I can say that cat rescued his life because he has someone to discuss with, he has someone with him. So his friends left him behind to save their lives, but his cat stayed with him.

Yes, the condition was very bad. Actually, he was begging, he was pleading us, if he's dying, he says like that, if I'm dying, please take care of the cat. And so what did happen when you got him to safety? What was his response? I was crying and he was very happy. He was very happy because actually we saved his cat life.

And what is happening with them now? Are they safe? They're together still? Yeah, they are together and starting learning Romanian language. He is so happy. He arrived in Romania. He's so happy he arrived in Romania. He's so happy he's alive and he's so happy his cat is alive that he wants to stay here to make a new

life. From last week is a massive change, 180 degrees change. What you just described to me sounds like extremely dangerous rescue work to get to these people but it's something that you seem to take such great pride in. Why is helping these people so important to you? Believe me, it's probably one of the best jobs in the world from my point of view. Actually, it's not only one feeling. It's a mixture. Crying. Yeah. It's happiness. It's a moment of truth when you can look in the mirror and you can say mission accomplished. Mountain rescuer Dan Benga. Nigeria has the highest rate of neonatal jaundice in the world. It's a common condition which causes yellowing of the eyes and skin in newborns but, left untreated, can lead to serious health issues like cerebral palsy and brain damage. Now, a project to improve diagnosis and access to treatment

has been launched in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial hub. Project Oscar is named after a young disability activist born in Vietnam who developed cerebral palsy after his neonatal jaundice was missed. Enkechi Ogbonna went to meet some of those involved. We actually say that one in three to five babies come with neonatal jaundice. About 60% of all ten babies and about 80 to 100% of all pre-tens. So the prevalence is enormous. Dr Chinyere Ezeaka is a professor of pediatrics

at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and is here for the launch of Project OSCA. Neonatal conditions is actually one of Nigeria's major health issues. So we're having multitudes of deaths from preventable causes, all complicated by neonatal agendas. Treatment needs to occur within 10 days of birth and can be done fairly simply. But in Nigeria, equipment shortages and a lack of awareness are significant. And it is these issues that Project Oscar is trying to tackle. The launch here in Lagos is spearheaded by the Wellbeing Foundation, focused on healthcare

and headed by Toyin Saraki. First of all, we're asking all health providers to screen every child. Then post-distort we're equipping mothers with the tools that they need to monitor their own child. In all the previous programmes for jaundice, mothers were not really included, which was the reason why some cases went unspotted and untreated. The project is also looking to provide greater access to treatment. Project OSCA is training 300 health workers in Lagos to cascade that knowledge.

We're also equipping health facilities with the equipment to treat jaundice. And the hope is that over the first year we will reach 10,000 mothers, screen 9,000 children, and of course treat all those that require treatment. Nonye Mweke is the founder of the Cerebral Palsy Center in Lagos. My daughter happens to have a severe form of cerebral palsy. You can see she's completely dependent. I must say it's quite overwhelming. You have moments of depression, let me use that word.

From baby you miss those nice times you run after your child because she never walked, she doesn't speak, so there's no communication. It gives you a lot of heartaches. Then in terms of management cerebral palsy is the most expensive congenital disorder to manage. Project Oscar is an initiative begun by 23-year-old Oscar Anderson, who was at the launch. I am so pleased. I'm proud to be with you today. So we can help keep them up. Oscar finds it difficult to express himself verbally, so he asked his dad to read us a message he had typed onto his phone.

People with disabilities are not to be underestimated. Ten years ago, he had an idea, and his father Charles explains. Oscar attended a One Young World Summit in Dublin and heard a lady present a case study of associates and friends of hers. He turned to me and said, Dad, that's what I want to do. I want to speak out for people and be a voice for others. Five years later, and with the backing of consumer goods firm Wreck-It!, Project Oscar begun in Vietnam. Since then, it has helped treat more than 150,000 newborns across the country. Then

in London last year, Oscar met Ms. Sara Key. Project Oscar has embarked on its second step, launching here in Nigeria, where it hopes to set an example for other countries globally. And Oscar's mum, Sarah, says the project also has another important message for people around the world. I would say believe in yourself and believe in your children, because even when they have difficulties they can do remarkable things. Oscar, Anderson's mum Sarah ending that report from Enkechi Ogbonna in Nigeria. Coming up in this podcast... I come here every Saturday and it's really good to get to know like different generations to what I would normally do like at school.

generations to what I would normally do at school. The Christmas tree that's knitting different generations together to tackle loneliness. Did you know there is an easy way to get new episodes automatically? Whether it's the Global News podcast, or indeed any of your other favourite BBC World Service podcasts, just find the show on your podcast app and then just click follow or subscribe. And if you switch on notifications, you'll get a reminder too. It's that easy. Follow or subscribe and never miss an episode. Now here's an unusual question for you. Where do you think this animal might be from? It's a dolphin, of course, but now researchers have found out that like humans they have

regional accents and can sound very different from one another depending on where they live. The scientists have also developed a way to use artificial intelligence to identify where any dolphins they record are from. Dr Julie Oswald from the University of St Andrews Scottish Oceans Institute spoke to my colleague Claire MacDonald. I was working on a tool that we use to identify different species in acoustic recordings because we make a lot of undergoer recordings but we don't know what animals are producing the sounds and different species sound quite similar to one another so I was creating an AI tool different species sound quite similar to one another. So I was creating an AI tool to identify species and in analyzing the recordings of all these different species from different

areas, I came to realize that the same species in a different location sounds different from one another. Why? Is it like the kind of human evolution of communication and language? So you're saying it's the same in dolphins? That's right. Yeah, dolphins are what we call vocal learners. So they learn to produce the sounds that they produce. And so animals learning in one location are learning from their closest neighbors and the animals they spend time with. So they're learning slightly different to animals on the other side of the world. So depending on the environment that they're in, they'll learn slightly different sounds.

So if you get, I don't know, a bottlenose dolphin in the North Sea, you know, going off, going off piste a bit and ending up somewhere else. Are there problems communicating with a dolphin from a different area that you don't share the same accent with? Well there might be. The differences are quite subtle, which is why we need these AI tools to distinguish them. And we don't know exactly what the animals are picking up on, what dolphins are queuing in on, on the vocalisation. So that's something that we're really trying to understand now. So we're not sure yet. Dr Julie Oswald from the University of St Andrews.

Here in the UK a knitted Christmas tree has been unveiled that's nearly five metres tall and was made as part of a project to reduce loneliness. It began as an idea to bring people of all ages together for weekly meetings in Edinburgh and ended up with knitters from other countries getting involved. Cameron Angus Mackay has been speaking to the other people. It's now become a social occasion for people but also a chance to be part of something bigger and more important than themselves. part of something bigger and more important than themselves. Norma Johnson is coordinator of the Christmas Tree Project at the heart of New Haven, a vibrant community group two miles from Edinburgh city centre. How good it was to have somewhere to go after the pandemic.

The group are based in an old Victorian school building in the village of New Haven. They are setting up an intergenerational hub for local people in a bid to reduce loneliness among different generations. They came up with the idea of creating a huge knitted Christmas tree to raise some awareness of what they're doing. It started off as a fundraising effort to make this building more accessible. Suddenly it changed shape altogether. People were coming to us and saying how much they enjoyed being part of a project that

had a purpose. Weekly knitting groups have been meeting for months to create green squares which represent the leaves of a tree and there are thousands of them draped over long canes which stick out like branches from a 16 foot telescopic wooden trunk. The local men's shed were given the task of building the structure. Here's volunteer Derek Alexander Hamilton. I thought it was a joke to build a knitted Christmas tree. But then when I was convinced it was going to be a true project,

we had to decide how it was going to be done. There was a tree made in England and it was 14 foot high knitted tree. So we made it over 16 foot. Word spread and soon knitting started arriving from England, Wales, Norway and the USA. The next thing it had spiralled we had three knitting groups coming one evening, two mornings. We were so excited when we had the first hundred squares and then it just launched itself and they were coming from all over and at eight and a half thousand they stopped counting. The Mental Health Foundation says high rates of loneliness are impacting the mental health of people in Scotland. The

knitting sessions aim to get people out of their home so we can make new friendships around a shared activity. That's it, hold it, hold the bow there. That's it. Now pull it back out. But it's not just for elderly people. Here's high school pupil Flora speaking to 89-year-old Pat. I come here every Saturday and it's really good to get to know different generations to what I would normally do at school. It's a two-way thing. I don't know if've minute, other opportunities to mix with elderly people. Not really, other than this.

Judy Crabb, chair of the community group, says it's about breaking down barriers between old and young. People wanted to come together, wanted to find ways of tackling loneliness and isolation in people of all ages, and we've chosen to do that in an intergenerational way. Learn together, share skills. Norma Johnson says the group already have ambitious plans for next year. She hopes to build on the success of the Christmas tree project knowing it's

helped many in the community. We had one lady in her 90s who doesn't actually come to the building. She was housebound but her niece brought her knitting down. And one day she ran out of wool. She had no one coming to visit. So on went the coat, and she went out, jumped on the bus, and got wool and got home again. The first time she'd been out on her own

for months and months. And this is the kind of story we're hearing all the time. That report from Cameron Angus Mackay. It was a story that caught the world's imagination a decade ago. The discovery of a four-year-old girl who'd survived almost two weeks in the Siberian wilderness after getting lost. At the time she was nicknamed Mowgli after the main character in The Jungle Book. And more recently her story has been made into a book and a film.

To mark the 10 year anniversary, Karina appeared on Russian TV to talk about her future plans. Isabella Jewel reports. Karina Chikitova was just four years old when she got lost in a bear and wolf infested forest in the Siberian wilderness. She had been following her father, who had no idea she was behind him. The pair became separated and for the next 12 nights, Carina braved the extreme landscape alone, except for the company of her pet dog, Nida. She survived by eating berries, drinking water from streams and by sleeping in the long grass,

curled up with Nida for warmth. It's this that led to her nickname Mowgli, the protagonist of the jungle book, who was separated from his human family as a baby and raised by a pack of wolves. But her dog didn't just keep Carina warm, Nida was also central to her discovery. After several days in the wilderness, it found its way back to their village and alerted rescuers to her rough location. When she was eventually found in the long grass, the rescuers were amazed that she was still alive. Ten years on, the now teenager appeared on Russian state's TV for an interview.

She says she has no memory of her time in the wilderness but credits NIDA with saving her. Over the last few years Karina has won a child beauty pageant and joined a prestigious ballet school. When asked about her future plans Karina says she hopes to one day become a doctor. Isabella Jewel. On the HappyPod lately we've been highlighting unsung local heroes around the world. Stephen Fairhead in London walks for over two hours every day picking up rubbish and cleaning up. After ten years of doing it he's caught local attention and is now being called a hero on

social media. I go out every day and pick rubbish up, clean the park up. It's approximately 3.2 miles each time I walk around and I do it three times every morning and it just looks nice. You can see it when you walk up the hill when you go the second time, you can see how clean it is. Probably I would say I was doing it every day but only for about 20 minutes but now I would say it probably takes me about two and a half hours. It keeps me active and obviously it's nice that people do appreciate it. I know they do. So

people come up to me and speak to me. So I do know they appreciate it. I haven't had anybody else join in yet, but there's always the chance of that, I suppose. I've had people say they want to, but I've not actually had anybody take it up. I'm wondering whether it's because I leave sort of like before it gets light. Local hero Stephen Fairhead. And that's all from the HappyPod for now. We'd love to hear about your happiest moments of 2024 from family events to global stories or any unusual plans you're making for the new year. As ever, the address globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. This edition was mixed by Rob Fanner and the producers were Paul Day and Rachel Bulkley. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Alex Ritzen. Until next time, goodbye. I surrender. Brave men who fought the Germans in the fields of France and Italy during the Second World

War. But we're not fighting for us. It's for the people back home. Purple Heart Warriors, an original drama series from the BBC World Service, tells their story. Germans surrounding all sides. Listen now by searching for dramas wherever you get your BBC podcasts.