Global News Podcast - The Happy Pod: The woman helping thousands of premature babies

Episode Date: January 11, 2025

We meet a Texas woman whose donated breastmilk helped thousands of premature babies. Also: surviving thirteen days alone in Australia's mountains; a chess playing NBA star; and appealing for friends to tackle loneliness.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Discover how to lead a better life in our age of confusion. Enjoy this BBC audiobook collection, written and presented by bestselling author Oliver Berkman, containing four useful guides to tackling some central ills of modernity. Busyness, anger, the insistence on positivity and the decline of nuance. Our lives today can feel like miniature versions of this relentless churn of activity. We find we're rushing around more crazily than ever.

Somewhere, when we weren't looking, it's like busyness became a way of life. Start listening to Oliver Berkman, Epidemics of Modern Life, available to purchase wherever you get your audio books. Hi, I'm Elise. Hello, I'm Amy with Mothers Milk Bank of North Texas. And you're listening to the Happy Palate on the BBC World Service.

Hi I'm Janet Jaleel and in this edition... The thought and idea of being able to impact other families and help save other babies. It feels good. The woman who's helped thousands of premature babies by donating her breast milk. The hiker who survived two weeks alone in Australia's snowy mountains. Also, playing against someone like him was like this really huge moment that I never thought would happen.

It was almost like I didn't have time to be nervous because it was all happening so fast. What's it like to take on one of basketball's biggest stars at chess? And we hear from the man who's just completed an incredible seven year expedition through 17 countries. Nothing is impossible. And if you prepare well and you understand what you're getting into I think 99% of the time you're gonna have an amazing experience.

Welcome we start with a mother who's helped thousands of premature babies by donating her excess breast milk over the past decade and a half. Elise Ogletree, who's 36 and from Texas in the United States, set a new Guinness World Record by giving more than 2,000 litres to what are known as milk banks, charities which provide breast milk for babies whose mothers can't produce enough themselves. The milk is frozen and pasteurized and much of it goes to sick or premature babies in neonatal intensive care units or NICUs who badly need the protections from infection and disease that only come from human breast milk.

Alice is a mother of three who's also been a surrogate. The Happy Pods Holly Gibbs spoke to Alice and Amy Trotter from the charity Texas Milk Bank, which received some of the breast milk. And she started by asking Alice why she decided to donate in this unusual way. After I had my first son, I was producing a lot of extra milk.

But at that point in time, I didn't know that there were other families in the world that didn't produce the milk. And so I was throwing it away recklessly and once I learned that I had a gift I wanted to share it and the thought and idea of being able to impact other families and help save other babies, it feels good. To produce that much milk, it must have been incredibly hard for you and your body and incredibly tiring.

How did you help yourself through that? I had a fantastic support system. I stuck with my schedule. I pumped every three hours religiously. That includes overnight. But the knowing that what I was doing was good for others is what kept me motivated and kept me wanting to do it. As you say, you have helped hundreds of thousands of premature babies. How does that feel?

It feels remarkable and amazing. You know, at the end of the day, I'm not made of money. I have a family of my own and so I can't volunteer and do a lot. But I was able to spend a good chunk of my time but I was able to give back so much more than that time was worth. And Amy, I wonder if I could bring you in here. How much of an impact has Elisa's donation had? Well, first of all, just having the ability to donate any amount of breast milk is a very special superpower. And Elise's story is absolutely extraordinary.

Because donor milk is life-saving for fragile babies, I mean, I would say her impact truly makes her a hero. I mean, just think of all of the families she has helped. I mean, not just the babies, but of course their parents. And there is one condition in particular that can occur in the NICU that has a high mortality rate and that is called necrotizing enterocolitis. Basically it is an infection, a gut infection in the NICU and there is a lot of evidence that shows that human milk can protect the gut and prevent that from happening and so

that is why it is so prevalently used in the NICU. Have either of you heard any feedback from any families that have received donated breast milk and how it's helped their family? Well, I can say from the milk bank, of course, we hear stories all the time. A lot of times what will happen is the reason that a baby would need donated breast milk is a mom gives birth prematurely and her body is not ready to lactate. So sometimes it's just a bridge in the NICU for a day, for three days, for a week until mom can breastfeed on her own.

Elise, for all the people listening who might find themselves in a similar situation to you that they are overproducing. How did you donate breast milk? Well, first you get in contact with a registered milk bank, they'll walk you through their screening process, and then you just do what your body does and produce milk and freeze it and get it to them, regardless of whether it's 100 ounces or 1000. Every ounce matters. Is that something that you would encourage other people to do? Oh, 100 percent. I know some people think, well, it's all on the mothers, like the ones that are producing the milk, but it's not just on us. It's on everyone. Again, I wouldn't have been able to do it without the support system I have cheering me on. But then also just from like a knowledge standpoint, when we have our babies,

our brains are tired. We could be overproducing and then just not even think about donating. And so it's on the dads, the brothers, the uncles, the aunts, it's on everyone. Amy, how grateful are you for mothers like Elise who can donate breast milk? We are grateful every day because it enables us to meet the need that is out there. We are just so honoured to connect those generous moms to the babies who need that donor milk the most. It is absolutely life-saving. Amy Trotter and Elise Ogletree speaking to Holly Gibbs. To Australia now where a man who'd been missing for almost two weeks in

the country's snowy mountains has been found alive. Hadi Nazari was hiking with friends in the remote Kosciuszko National Park when he peeled off from the group to take some photographs but then failed to return to a meeting point. Celia Hatton reports. Hadi Nazari was an enthusiastic hiker. On a Christmas day break from his studies as a medical student, he set off with two friends in the Australian outback for what he thought would be a five-day trek. Instead, he spent an additional 13 days alone in the wilderness after he got separated from his group on the last day of his planned journey. Josh Broadfoot, a police spokesperson, said the 23-year-old had to scrounge for food,

including, luckily, some items left behind by other bushwalkers. He said he'd been finding water where he could and foraging for food where he could in terms of berries. At one point he said he found a couple of muesli bars in a hut. Other than that, you know, 14 days and that's very little food. While Hadi was walking and trying to find help, a massive search operation involving more than 400 people was searching for him. But in the end, it was a group of fellow young hikers who stumbled upon him by accident. It looks out and hears someone calling out very faintly, looks down and sees a little dot on the ridge below and gradually we got closer and closer to each other so we came

down the hill a bit and came up and then yeah just kind of had this moment of realising it was him. That's Josh Dart, speaking to local media, Region Riverina. He said his cousin, who'd been trekking with him that day, had seen Hadi's photo in the park office that morning, but they never thought they'd be the ones to find him. It was really emotional actually, like, we just started crying and then the police came and got him in trouble. And in the meantime, he called his family on another phone and just hearing him

chat to his family was just beautiful, like, just like, in tears. After being winched into a waiting helicopter and traveling to a police outpost, Hadi was quickly joined by his friends. They'd also been looking for him, flying in from different corners of Australia to try to find him. A testament, they say, to what a good guy he is. Police said it was incredible to see Hadi so healthy.

He's great. He's in really good spirits. Seems absolutely amazing, amazing. No significant injuries are apparent and he's very, very thankful for all the search efforts. Hadi told the hikers who found him that he just kept telling himself, I have to find a way out of this. His family said the news of his survival was the best day of their lives. Celia Hatton reporting. Now if you're a

basketball fan you probably know the name Victor Wembanyama. The French athlete is an NBA star for the San Antonio Spurs. But he also plays another game, chess. And he's such a big fan of the board game that he recently challenged fans on social media to turn up to a park in New York to take him on – not at basketball, but at chess. Dylan Ritman, who works for a chess website, was one of the lucky ones that got to do just that. He spoke to my colleague Katie Smith. I was in Manhattan having breakfast with a couple friends and all of a sudden my phone starts lighting up because our work slack was

going crazy because of the Victor Wembenyama tweet and so I'm a huge basketball fan a lot of my co-workers are basketball fans and they knew I lived in New York and it was like 15 minute walk so I finished up my breakfast as quickly as I could and I ran over to the park thinking that I probably already missed it like the weather was so bad, there's no way this famous basketball player is going to be sitting in the rain for that long, but lo and behold he was still there playing. Someone that he was with was saying, hey, Victor has time for one more game, is anyone here good at chess? And there were probably 40 people there, so out of desperation, I just shouted out, I work at chess..com and that really caught their attention because they were like, okay, you come sit down and play. And so pretty fortunate.

Let's just talk through your emotions then at this point. So probably the adrenaline up to up to this moment has guided you on. When you then sit down in the chair, are you nervous? Are you excited? I was much more excited than nervous, thankfully. Playing against someone like him was like this really huge moment that I never thought would happen. It was almost like I didn't have time to be nervous because it was all happening so fast. I did get a little nervous when I went to shake his hand. His hand was like, you see the pictures online, but then you see it in person. And I felt like it was like a baby shaking a grown man's hand at that point in time.

And I was like, okay, hopefully I don't make him mad because you could probably take me. So you're sitting in a park. It's pouring with rain. You're about to play a chess game. How many people are around watching? Are there lots of cameras and phones out as well? Oh yeah, there were probably 30 or 40 people and there was people, random people on the street had their phone out. There were a couple, seemingly more professional photographers

there as well. And so I didn't really know what was going to happen with all that footage. But after the game, it went like semi-viral and that was like a weird experience for me. It's just like a very random person in New York. So the key point here, Dylan, then we've got to get onto the good stuff. Did you win the game? It was a back and forth battle that I was lucky to come out on top. And I think what probably a lot of our listeners will be thinking right now, how good is Viktor Wembanyama at chess then? So as someone who is clearly pretty good yourself and you're surrounded by it, could you get a sense of his game and what kind of player he was?

He was a really hard fought game and I was losing at one point and he was losing at one point and it was attacking and it was crazy and I was just really lucky in the end to kind of get the win. And what about chatting to him after? Did you get a moment to, I guess, speak to him and ask him why he was there? Better than talking to him after. He was actually very chatty during the game. We had a bit of banter back and forth. The New York City chess culture is very talkative and bantery. It was a lot of fun to kind of see him embrace that part of New York chess. You can be a

little kid learning from your parents. You can be an older chess. You can be a little kid learning from your parents. You can be an older man. You can be a random guy living in New York or a seven foot three international superstar. And we can all kind of sit across the board and play the same game at the same level. Dylan Ritman there talking about the universal appeal of chess. And you can listen to more stories like this on Sports Hour, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. We've all been on holidays where things might not have gone exactly as planned. Two Australians who'd visited the UK dreaming of a white Christmas ended up getting a little bit more than they'd been hoping for. They were trapped in a pub for four days because of heavy snow.

Paul and Naomi Wright were among a group of nearly 30 people forced to spend New Year at Britain's highest pub, the Tan Hill, which is around 528 metres above sea level. They were eventually rescued by local farmers with snowplows. Shantel Hartle reports. Back home in Australia's Northern Territory, Paul and Naomi Wright are used to average temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius in December. They wanted to experience snow in winter and chose to end their round Britain trip in the North Yorkshire Dales. But perhaps they didn't expect quite as much snow. We were expecting snow and we laughed about it. We sort of said, oh you know, this could happen.

And my sister-in-law, Bree, she said, not in a million years you'll be fine. And the next minute, yeah, we've got the, you're not going anywhere. It's part of the adventure. So like, what do you do? The couple were among 23 guests, six staff members and a dog who were stuck inside the pub. But they made the most of their extended holiday. Paul pulled his first pint of beer and built his first ever snowman. Naomi found plenty of things to keep herself busy too.

We've been playing cards, we've been playing Scrabble online. They had a party last night. Yep, party last night. That party resulted in some guests feeling a little tender the following day, according to staff. Pub manager Nicole Hayes said it was wonderful to see the friendships that had formed. Honestly, the customers have just kept us going. There's been so many laughs, memories made, friendships made, numbers exchanged, Facebooks exchanged, it's been amazing.

And this isn't the first time for the Tan Hill Inn. In 2021, 60 people who came to the pub to watch an Oasis tribute band ended up trapped there for three days because of heavy snow. Thankfully, staff are prepared for these situations and make sure they have enough accommodation, fuel and food to get them through. Naomi said her family were well looked after by their hosts. They've been so welcoming. They're very, very tired but they still keep looking after us. We keep offering to pitch in, like we'll get in and do the dishes, we'll help cook if need be, like yeah, but they're like no, no, you know, we've got it.

For Paul though there was only one real complaint when the pub ran out of sausages. He joked that it was atrocious saying he was gutted there was no pork sausages no more English breakfast. Chantal Hartle reporting. Still to come in the Happy Pod. I was quite lonely because I was quite poorly. I posted I would like to create a ladies group, a friends group and then the numbers just kept going up and up and up. How one simple appeal on social media helped hundreds of lonely people. What do Tiger Woods, Mark Zuckerberg and Taylor Swift all have in common? Well, their lives and fortunes are all being discussed on Good, Bad, Billionaire,

the podcast exploring the minds, motives and the money of some of the world's wealthiest individuals. I'm Zing Zing and each week my co-presenter Simon Jack and I take a closer look at the world's mega rich and we try to decide whether they're good, bad or just another billionaire. From celebs and CEOs to sports stars and tech titans, find out how billionaires made their money and how they use it. A man from Belgium has just completed an amazing seven-year expedition from northern Canada to the southern tip of Argentina. Arnaud Maldac travelled 35,000 kilometers through 17 countries by skiing, cycling, horse riding, hiking, kayaking, sailing and of course walking. Arnaud who's now 35 years old spent two

years training before starting his seven-year trek in the northern Canadian province of Nunavut back in January 2018. The happy pods Harry Bly spoke to him and started by asking him why he'd wanted to do this. I had done a bicycle trip when I was a bit younger, when I was 22. I cycled from Brussels towards Australia, but I did 13,000 kilometres in eight months and a half, something like that. And since I had never been nowhere in North America or South America, it was kind of an easy choice to travel from North America towards South America. So you travelled two continents, 17 countries. What were some of the highlights? What were

the most amazing things you saw? Probably the most intense one was definitely the starting in the Arctic and because it was like minus 40 minus 50, I traveled like for minus 40, minus 50, I traveled for 100 days by backcountry skiing and snow-kiting without seeing, like I spent two times one month without seeing anybody and I didn't see any trees for like 100 days. And then also probably for sure the Amazon, which is also very different. So that was also very special. Tell me about the people that you met out there, Arnaud. Were there any experiences you had meeting people from different cultures that perhaps were new to you? Yeah, people helped me a lot. Like a lot of people welcomed me or offered me a meal or things like this.

Everyone was really nice and welcoming. But definitely, again, like the Arctic, I started in Nunavut. I think the Inuits, they have a very specific bond with nature. And it's the same in the Amazon as well, even if it's very, very different. People living in the Amazon also have a special link, like a relationship with nature. I think that was very special to me. And what kind of lessons did you learn from this whole experience? First, well, first I learned to know myself better, which was one of the main goals.

You learn also your limits, and also that, well, what are your limits, and also that you can do much more than you think you can. And also, I guess that everything is about perspective. And a lot of times when you're in a difficult situation, you cannot change the situation itself, but you can change the way you look at it. And throughout this expedition, Arnaud, you faced quite a lot of hardship, didn't you? I've read about the story of the polar bear trying to get into your tent. And as you've mentioned, not seeing people or trees for a long time, relying very much on your survival instincts. time, relying very much on your survival instincts. How did you keep a positive mindset throughout times like that in order to keep going?

Yeah, well, it's definitely like, it's a big sport challenge. So when you get into that, you have to get to be aware of what you're getting into. So for sure, like the polar bear was something possible. I knew it was possible that it happens because I was in polar bear country for a very long time. But yeah, it's something you have to be aware of because definitely it's dangerous and not just polar bears. The fact that it was minus 50, it's a very dangerous environment. Arnaud, what is your advice for someone that wants to go on an expedition like this? I would say believe in yourself.

We are much more stronger than we think we are. Nothing is impossible. And if you prepare well and you research things and you understand what you're getting into, I think 99% of the time you're going to have an amazing experience. Arnaud Moldaag talking about his epic expedition. Now if you've ever felt lonely or wished you had more people to meet up with, how about just asking strangers to be your friend? Laura Cooper posted on social media about wanting to start a friendship group after being ill and feeling lonely and

within the hour she was inundated with messages. Within a month Laura, a 42 year old care worker from Scunthorpe in England had formed a group with more than 300 other members aged from 16 to 75. Simon Spark went along to one of their parties. It seems like everyone here has known each other forever. But actually, what we're seeing here are new friendships, because none of these ladies knew each other at all just a month ago. In fact, most were lonely and on their own. I don't go out. Well, I didn't go out.

I just sit at home and I'm quite lonely. I have very few friends and I just needed, I recognised that I needed to get out there, for my mental health I needed to get out there. Well, it's just actually getting up, getting a shower, washing your hair, putting your make-up on. It's feeling better like that rather than thinking, oh I'll just get my jammers on. You know, because that's what I do, I just sit there and think, oh I might

as well just get my jammers on, I'm not off anywhere. And that's me for like 12, 13 hours. During the week especially, I'd sit on my sofa and that would be it. So just trying to get out and meet new people. It was Laura who started everything. I was quite lonely because I was quite poorly and I was in hospital for some time. I've got FND which is a functional neurological disorder. It's where my brain doesn't communicate well with my body. Yeah, it's stress-related, stress-related.

A few of these on here then? Yeah, that'll be lovely. But her appeal for friendship on social media changed everything. It was about five in the afternoon. I posted, I would like to create a ladies group, a friends group. And then the numbers just kept going up and up and up and I was just like, oh, this is real, I can't believe it, it's just like happening. Within the same night, a hundred women had responded, and so the Scunthorpe Lovely Ladies group was born, meeting every Wednesday, now with over 300 members on their social media

group. This is get together, chat, don't chat if you don't want to, just be with people. You know you can just talk to them like you've known them for years and enjoy life again. I watch them on a Wednesday evening and I just step back and everyone's talking and it just, it's lovely, it really is, it just makes me a bit upset but in a nice way. Tonight was their first ever Christmas party. It's been absolutely brilliant. I've met some lovely people. I struggle with anxiety. So tonight it's took a lot. It's amazing. I've got a life now. I'm really happy. I've

got a life now. Brilliant! And that report was by Simon Spark. Now let's end this podcast in Malaysia where efforts are being made to breathe new life into indigenous musical instruments. One of them is a sunda tang, a wooden stringed instrument with a long neck. It looks a bit like a guitar but it only has two strings traditionally made out of tree fibre, and the neck only has six frets or metal strips. Tooni Sundatang, a six-piece band named after the instrument, are on a mission to revive their cultural heritage from the verge of extinction, fusing traditional music with

contemporary rock to attract a younger generation. Nikki Beatty spoke to lead singer Dabrasiya and founder Gindung MacFreddy Simon. In Sabah, a lot of traditional instruments are endangered. The young people are not interested in playing them anymore. So we try to combine the ethnic instrument with the modern instrument so we can attract them. So by modernizing it, you're going to keep it alive. Is that the idea?

Yes. So, Deborah, you're going to perform a track called Tangong. Yes. So you also wrote that track. What does the title mean? The title means folklore. If you listen to the song, we do mention about Mengguyu. Mengguyu is strong man. He is very tall and very strong. During that time, the people asked for his help. So in return, the villagers will provide food and water to munguyu.

Okay, fantastic. Well, thank you all so much. Debressia Tunisundatang, the stage is yours. Thank you. Two new Sunda Tang performing their single Tangon on the Arts Hour. You can catch the whole programme wherever you get your BBC podcasts. And that's all from the HappyPod for now. If you'd like to share a story that's made you happy, the address is globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. This edition was mixed by Adrian Bargova, the producers were Holly Gibbs and Harry Bly,

the editor is Karen Martin. I'm Jona Jaleel. Until next time, goodbye. I'm going to be a good boy I'm going to be a good boy I'm going to be a good boy I'm going to be a good boy I'm going to be a good boy I'm going to be a good boy Delve into a world of secrets, the BBC's Global Investigations podcast, breaking major

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