The owner of a drug store walks in to find a guy leaning heavily against a wall. The owner asks the clerk "What's with that guy over there by the wall?" 

The clerk replies, "Well, he came in here this morning to get something for his cough. I couldn't find the cough syrup, so I gave him an entire bottle of laxative."

The owner screams, "You idiot!  You can't treat a cough with a bottle of laxatives!"

The clerk calmly replies, "Of course you can! Look at him; he's afraid to cough."

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13191273/Iron-lung-man-Paul-Alexander-dead-78-Man-paralysed-suffering-Polio-six-year-old-lived-iron-lung-70-years-dies.html

Iron lung man Paul Alexander dead at 78: Lawyer who was paralysed after suffering Polio as a six year old and lived in an iron lung for 70 years dies

    Paul Alexander contracted polio in 1952 and spent a lifetime in an iron lung
    His team confirmed via his fundraiser that he had died aged 78 on Monday

By James Reynolds

Published: 08:51, 13 March 2024 | Updated: 11:41, 13 March 2024

Paul Alexander, the man who lived in an iron lung for more than 70 years, has died at the age of 78.  A fundraiser for his healthcare confirmed Alexander, of Dallas, Texas, passed away on Monday without providing further details.  Alexander spent an extraordinary lifetime in the iron lung machine after contracting polio in 1952, aged six, which left him paralysed from the neck down.  Unable to breathe by himself, he relied on the machine to breathe for more than seven decades even as new technologies became available.  But in spite of his physical constraints, Alexander achieved much as a published author, lawyer and avid traveller, remembered worldwide for his enduring positive attitude and smile.  Writing on Alexander's GoFundMe page, Christopher Ulmer, organiser and disability-rights activist, said on Tuesday: 'Paul Alexander, “The Man in the Iron Lung”, passed away yesterday.  'After surviving polio as a child, he lived over 70 years inside of an iron lung. In this time Paul went to college, became a lawyer, and a published author.  His story traveled wide and far, positively influencing people around the world.  Paul was an incredible role model that will continue to be remembered.'

Over an extraordinary life, Alexander's determination saw him achieve a number of remarkable achievements.  At 21, he became the first person to graduate from a high school in Dallas without ever attending class in person.  He was accepted into Southern Methodist University in Dallas, after much difficulty with university administration and then got into law school at the University of Texas, Austin.  He pursued his dreams of becoming a trial lawyer, and represented clients in court in a three-piece suit and a modified wheelchair that held his paralysed body upright.  He also staged a sit-in for disability rights and published his own memoir, titled 'Three Minutes for a Dog: My Life in an Iron Lung'.  The 155-page memoir was carefully crafted and took five years to complete; Paul wrote each word with a pen attached to a stick in his mouth.  Paul outlived both of his parents, his brother and even his original iron lung, which began leaking air in 2015, but was repaired by a mechanic Brady Richards, which was prompted by a YouTube video of Paul pleading for help.  The ventilator, a large yellow metal box, requires patients to lie down inside, with the device fastened tightly around their neck.  It works by creating a vacuum to mechanically draw in oxygen to the lungs for patients whose central nervous system and respiratory function were affected by polio.  While in hospital, doctors tried to get Paul to breathe on his own, turning off the machine and forcing him out, but it wouldn't take long for him to turn blue and pass out.  Despite the availability of more modern ventilators, Paul decided to continue using the iron lung machine because he was used to it.  Other devices also require intensive surgery.  Over his lifetime, Alexander never let the device get in the way of what he wanted to achieve, travelling on planes, living independently, praying in church, visiting the ocean, and falling in love.  While at university, Alexander met Claire, who he later became engaged to. He spoke candidly to The Guardian about how her mother forbade him from speaking to her daughter.  'Took years to heal from that,' he told the outlet.

In later life Alexander built a close relationship with Kathy Gaines, who became his caregiver or 'arms and legs', in his words.  Gaines stepped in to help after Alexander graduated law school, supporting him for more than three decades.  Alexander said the pair 'grew together', Gaines herself legally blind from type-1 diabetes.  Polio is an infectious viral disease that affects the central nervous system respiratory function and can cause muscle weakness and paralysis. It is transmitted through contaminated water and food or contact with an infected person.  It has largely been eradicated around the world after widespread use of the vaccine which came into use in the 1950s.  The disease remains endemic in just four countries today: Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.  Polio was recently eradicated in India following an extensive campaign over a period of some 20 years, successfully ending the epidemic with sustained oral and injected vaccines.

What is polio?

Poliomyelitis is an infectious disease that can cause paralysis or even death.  While efforts to produce vaccines effectively ended the epidemic in the western world by the latter half of the 20th century, polio remained one of the most deadly threats to children well into the 1950s.  Polio spreads from person to person through the ingestion of faecal matter from an infected person, or less commonly through coughs and sneezes.  Despite advances in sanitation and hygiene practices through the 19th century, the number of cases of polio in Europe and America soared through the early 1900s.  In the first stage of contracting the disease, the infection stays in the digestive system and throat. Most babies are able to fight off the disease at this point without it becoming debilitating, developing immunity.  Children who develop the disease later on are often less well prepared to fight it without having developed resistance, which can see polio enter a second, more aggressive stage, affecting the central nervous system.  Awareness of how diseases spread in unsanitary conditions saw great steps forward in overcoming epidemics in cholera and typhoid, but the reduced exposure to the polio virus in youth meant many children caught the disease later in development by the 20th century, with horrifying consequences.

Sources: Science Museum, NHS

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13103789/what-happened-Fred-Rosemary-Wests-children-stephen-wright.html

What happened to Fred and Rosemary West's children: Almost 30 years after 'house of horrors' was found, STEPHEN WRIGHT reveals how some live in fear, others have built happy lives while a few were cut down by fresh tragedy

By Stephen Wright

Published: 13:49, 20 February 2024 | Updated: 14:31, 20 February 2024

For some three decades, Barry West had tried to escape the ghosts of his childhood.  As a schoolboy, he had been given a new identity and moved to a different part of the country a place of safety to help him bury the nightmare of his upbringing.  But the odds were stacked against him. And when his body was discovered slumped over a table by a mental health support worker, it seemed almost inevitable. He'd suffered for years from post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression and long-term drug addiction.  Death at the age of 40 would have been a release from the horrors he witnessed as a child at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, the notorious address where his parents Fred and Rose West slaughtered nine girls and young women including Barry's older sister Heather.  His passing from an overdose in supported living accommodation was not a violent end like those of the poor souls who suffered at the hands of his parents.  But it marked yet another tragedy in one of Britain's most shocking homicide cases.  It is 30 years ago this month that the West murders first came to light. On Thursday, February 24, 1994, police turned up at Cromwell Street with a warrant to search the garden for Heather's body. Two days later, they unearthed a human bone.  I reported on the case extensively for the Mail from those early days as more and more bodies were being discovered, through to the trial of mother-of-eight Rose at Winchester Crown Court in the Autumn of 1995. Her co-killer Fred had taken his life in a Birmingham jail on New Year's Day that year, mistakenly believing his death would spare her prison.  I sat through every day of Rose's seven-week trial. She was convicted of ten murders and told she would die in jail. It was a case which, for me, redefined the meaning of the word 'evil'.  What the victims went through how they were abused, tortured and raped before being killed and dismembered was utterly terrifying.  Over the years, many books have been written about the West case and countless TV documentaries made. All have focused largely on the killers and those they slaughtered.  But there is another category of victim whose stories have not been reported so widely. These are the West children, brought up in the most depraved and dysfunctional family imaginable.  Before the discovery of Heather's butchered remains under the patio at Cromwell Street in February 1994 the moment when the true horrors of the house started to unfold the Wests' offspring suffered abhorrent sexual abuse, repeated physical beatings and shocking mental torment.  It was not unusual for Fred to force them to watch video recordings of their prostitute mother (who worked under the name 'Mandy') having sex with customers upstairs. Three of her daughters were fathered by her customers.  Here was a home where, when Fred and Rose were not killing, life revolved around debauchery and sexual abuse. In evidence at Winchester that sent a chill down my spine, a witness recalled hearing a child scream 'stop it Daddy' from another room in the middle of the night.  How could anyone raised in such a warped environment not be affected by it?

How do you cope with being a child of arguably Britain's most evil couple ever?

Make no mistake, each of the West children were victims. As was Anne Marie West, Fred's daughter from his marriage to his first wife Rena. Nobody who heard her harrowing testimony when she gave evidence against her stepmother Rose will ever forget it.  Fred, who murdered Rena in 1971, repeatedly raped Anne Marie from the age of eight and made her pregnant when she was 15. And though she fled Cromwell Street, avoiding the fate of her dead half-sister Heather, her suffering did not stop.  Now 59, Anne Marie once gave a tearful, heartbreaking account of life with Fred and Rose in a TV documentary interview but she has not spoken publicly about her ordeal for many years.  Her stepbrother Barry also managed to escape the family home, albeit as a result of social services' intervention, but he was never able to shake off his appalling past. Now his harrowing story and those of some of his other siblings, who have tried desperately to rebuild their lives, can be told.  Barry John West, born at Gloucester Maternity Hospital on June 16, 1980, was named after Barry Island in South Wales where the family went on day trips. The Wests' second son was just 15 when his mother went on trial for serial murder.  He was one of five West children the others being Tara, Louise, Rosemary Junior and Lucyanna taken into care in August 1992 after police and social services became concerned about their welfare.  The authorities acted after one child, who was being repeatedly abused by Fred, showed a school friend the wounds to her body after one particularly brutal assault.  Fred was charged and Rose was subsequently accused in court of aiding and abetting rape and buggery of a daughter. But the trial collapsed the following year after their children, in a sign of the complicated relationship between the abused and their abusers, declined to give evidence against them.  Nevertheless, those five children would never return to Fred's and Rose's care, and police stepped up inquiries into the fate of Heather, who had disappeared aged 16 in 1987. In time, this led to that search of the Cromwell Street garden and the discovery of her body.  As Fred confessed to more and more murders, police switched attention to the cellar, where further butchered human remains were found.  Fred and Rose had targeted not only their own children, but live-in nannies, teenagers in care enticed to Cromwell Street with the promise of a bed and companionship, and young women lured into the couple's car wrongly feeling secure because of Rose's presence in the front passenger seat.  Some were kept alive for just hours, others for days during which, bound and gagged, they endured repeated sexual assaults before being murdered. Police found hooks drilled into rafters in the cellar, their use not hard to imagine. At least one victim had had plastic tubes stuffed into her nostrils through masking tape wrapped around her face.  By the time all this emerged, Barry had been given a new identity (which for legal reasons we are not disclosing) and moved to a new home well away from Gloucester.  As he moved into adulthood, he lived an itinerant life and was registered on the electoral roll at a series of addresses. He also spent time at Priory House, a mental health unit in the Home Counties.  His death he was found slumped over the table by his support worker on the morning of August 28, 2020 sparked internal investigations at the local county council.  Medical records revealed Barry had a complex medical and mental health history including an opioid addiction and a history of heroin misuse dating back 19 years. He had tried to take his own life in 2015 and there had been 'many overdoses'.  The coroner ruled that he had died as a result of misadventure following 'voluntary injections of pain relieving medication' including morphine, codeine and pregabalin, an anti-anxiety treatment.  A family friend said: 'Barry's was a difficult and tragic life. He was a very complicated, unhappy person and was badly damaged. He was 40 when he died but it was like talking to a much younger, immature person.' The friend added: 'He never found peace, he never escaped the ghosts of his past.'

His elder sister Mae, who had not been taken into care, also found life after Cromwell Street very challenging. Her 2018 memoir, 'Love as Always, Mum xxx', laid bare her on-going anguish.  She described how Fred often put 'hard core porn' videos on TV for his children to watch some featuring 'mum and her clients'.  'Dad didn't make any secret of the fact he sometimes filmed her having sex,' she said. '...I used to find it completely repulsive.'

She added: 'We always knew about their interest in kinky sex: they never tried to hide it from us. They'd leave porn magazines lying around the house, along with bondage gear: masks, rubber suits, whips and the like. It wasn't unusual for us kids to come across dildos, vibrators and other sex toys just lying around the house. It amused Dad, more than anything, to see how we reacted.'

Rose used to ask Mae to answer the doorbell when clients arrived and would disappear upstairs with them, sometimes several clients over a period of hours.  Yet she still has happy childhood memories, and reminisces about family holidays in the countryside. 'My siblings and I all came to believe that, however strange and distressing things might be within the four walls of our house, we needed to stick together,' she said.

Today mother-of-two Mae, 51, lives at a secret location and remains in constant fear of being revealed as a West child. 'The shadows of the past remain,' she has said.

'Knowing your parents are regarded by most people as evil beyond belief is incredibly hard to live with I've found it very hard to deal with the assumption some people have had that my sisters, brothers and I grew up to think our parents' cruel and bizarre behaviour was normal. That couldn't be further from the truth.'

In her book, she added: 'I still see [sisters] Tara and Louise regularly. The three of us are in intermittent contact with our other brother and two sisters, even though they're scattered far and wide across the country, have new identities and are leading their own lives.  I know the abused can become abusers, and in my parents' case that was true. I strongly believe that this doesn't have to be the case. The cycle can be broken. My own children have grown up free of the terrible consequences of physical or sexual abuse.'

In a 2020 podcast her brother Stephen, who was born in 1973 and has not had an easy life himself, revealed he had not had any contact with his jailed mother for more than 20 years. He explained it was 'important' for him to cut his ties with her.  He said: 'In 1999, she called with hate and was blaming me for everything. She said I should have died when I was born and all that sort of stuff. It was a disgrace.'

Tara, born in 1977, was the first of three of Rose's illegitimate daughters conceived with black clients while she was working as a prostitute at Cromwell Street and at other locations.  One of Rose's favourite haunts, which she frequented with one particular regular called Rosco, was the Tara Hotel which gave rise to the name she chose for her daughter.  Tara moved out of the Gloucester area, changed her name and has struggled to form relationships.  Speaking in 1999, Tara said: 'I hate showing my tender side to men. I think it is a weakness. I pretend I am hard. I just can't say "I love you". I fear rejection because of my upbringing. I never said "I love you" to Mum and the love I gave Dad was just used by him.'

She had a string of broken romances behind her. 'A lot of men just can't handle the fact that my Mum and Dad are Fred and Rose West. I told one bloke and he literally ran out of the house. He was so scared.'

She used to visit her mother twice a year in prison and wrote to her frequently. She also met up with her brother Stephen and older sister Mae to talk about the past. 'We don't talk about the sad things. We try and remember the good times,' she said in 1999.  Sometimes she used to see Barry and her two other sisters, Rosemary Junior and Lucyanna, who have also started new lives away from Gloucester. Lucyanna went to university and is now working as a therapist in a different part of the country.  Now 46, Tara was last known to be living in a neat semi-detached house in a quiet town in the North of England.  Three decades have passed since the horrors of 25 Cromwell Street were first revealed to the world. The story of the West children is one of very mixed fortunes. But what of their monstrous mother?

In the months leading up to her trial, while researching the background of the case, I was introduced to a Roman Catholic nun who had comforted Rose at a remand prison near Bristol. Sister Paul gave me a letter Rose had sent to her.

It gives an extraordinary insight into the mind of Britain's most prolific female serial killer. Full of spelling mistakes, Mrs R.P West, as she called herself, wrote the letter at H Wing at Durham Prison where she was held in the run-up to her trial.  'We have a lovely chapel and I have meet (sic) the chaplins (sic) who are all very friendly,' she wrote. 'It was great to go to church on Sunday, and to praye (sic) together with other inmates and to share the closeness of God with them. I have made lots of friends here and I'm never short of a kiss or a hug when it is needed.'

Of course, her supposed conversion to Christianity was a lie. She has never come clean about what really happened at Cromwell Street, or said whether, as many suspect, there are more bodies to be found.  John Bennett, the highly respected ex-Detective Superintendent who led the police case, told my Mail+ True Crime podcast he believes Rose will take her secrets to the grave.  'I doubt very much that she will ever say anything more than she's already said, which is absolutely nothing at all,' he said. 'I think she is now  institutionalised. She's quite comfortable with being who she is, and where she is, and her personal circumstances. There is no gain for her whatsoever to make further admissions or to assist anybody.'

And as her former solicitor Leo Goatley wrote in his 2019 book Understanding Fred and Rose West, she likes prison: 'I know Rose accepted prison as the location of her being, as her domain and her domicile. The all-female environment also suited Rose's lesbian preferences, as her various relationships (including with Moors murderess Myra Hindley) verify. She can sew and knit, prepare meals, adorn her cell, watch television make her cell space pretty much as she want its.'

As another landmark anniversary approaches in this most macabre of cases, will she reflect on her evil deeds including the murder of her own flesh and blood?

Probably not. For her, life behind bars at high security HMP New Hall in West Yorkshire where a recent arrival is serial baby killer Lucy Letby is good. How sickening it is to consider that she is probably the happiest of the surviving West family.  About 200 miles from her jail, there is a 19th century church in Monmouthshire with an unusual grave. It is here 'in God's acre' at St Michael's Church in Tintern Parva that can be found the final resting place of Heather West.  Her grave is adorned with trinkets, mementoes, flowers and icons including a stone hand-painted with her name. It has recently been scrubbed to remove old lichen and moss.  She is watched over by a carved angel and the dedication reads: 'In our hearts, There lives a memory, Of a love, That once was ours.' A further inscription bears the dates of her short life which ended in 1986.  But one thing really stands out: only Heather's first name is on the headstone.  Minister Jan Pain said: 'It is unusual for a headstone to have just the person's first name and not their surname but in this case you can see why Heather's nearest and dearest might want to distance her from any association with West.'

Heather's sister Mae, who was in charge of her funeral, explained: 'I didn't want the name West used. To do that, would have defiled her memory.'

For Barry, that association with the word 'West' and the memories it stirred up was simply too much to bear.

Special Reporting: Simon Trump

The fates of the children

Barry: Died aged 40 in August 2020 after years of depression and long-term drug addiction

Tara: Aged 46, one of three of Rose's illegitimate daughters conceived with clients

Rosemary Junior: Started a new life away from Gloucester

Lucyanna: Went to university and now works as a therapist

Louise: Given a new identity but in intermittent contact with her siblings

Heather: Murdered by Fred and Rose and buried under the patio. Remains discovered in 1994

Mae: Aged 51, now a mother-of-two and lives in a secret location

Anne Marie: Fred's daughter from his first marriage with Rena. Now 59

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13018131/Boys-stabbed-knifemen-sister-tribute.html

Tragedy of teens killed in horror double stabbing: Heartbroken mother and sister of one of two boys, 15, and 16, knifed to death in front of horrified bus passengers, pay tribute to 'beautiful, kind soul' and 'one of a kind'

By Rory Tingle, Home Affairs Correspondent and Elena Salvoni

Published: 08:41, 29 January 2024 | Updated: 12:08, 29 January 2024

Heartbreaking tributes have today been paid to two boys who were stabbed to death in front of horrified bus passengers in Bristol on Saturday night.  Max Dixon, 16, and Mason Rist, 15, were attacked by 'a number of people' in Knowle West at around 11.20pm and later died in hospital.  Max's sister, Kayleigh, paid tribute to her 'baby brother', calling him 'one of a kind'.  'You sleep tight. A beautiful, kind soul gone. Just taken 16 years so young and innocent oh my heart is broken,' she wrote on Facebook.

'I really hope you know how much we love you. How much I love you. 'You will be missed kiddo I'll always look out for you in every sunset, shine bright lil' bro.'

Max's mother, Leanne, wrote: 'Devastated, our lives will never be the same without you my boy.'

Police are looking to speak to passengers on a bus that was passing through Illminster Avenue at the time of the attack.  Scott Alden, Max's football coach, called him the 'cheekiest', 'funniest' boy and a 'very talented footballer'.  'He world is a cruel and dangerous place now, you will be missed by everyone who knew you, thinking of all your family and friends with love,' Mr Alden continues.

A GoFundMe page to raise money for the boys' funerals has been launched by Max's aunt, Christine Fothergill.  Police have launched a murder inquiry and are vowing to 'leave no stone unturned' in the hunt for 'further suspects'.  Two arrests have been made a 44-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy, who remain in police custody. A vehicle has also been seized as police continue their enquiries.  Tributes were left for the teenagers at a vigil in their memory last night, where a heartbroken local told how she held one of the victims in her lap as emergency services raced to the scene.  Parents and children were among some 150 people who gathered last night to pay their respects, with mourners lighting candles and laying flowers with messages remembering Max and Mason and expressing sympathy for their loved ones.  Anti-knife crime campaigner Leanne Reynolds gave an emotional address to the gathered mourners saying: 'We need to stand up and we're not going to put up with this.   No one should be on our streets with a knife.  'It needs to stop, we still need to push to get education we need to explain to these kids that knives are not the way. They need to stop carrying knives.'

England rugby star Ellis Genge went to nursery on Illminster Avenue, where the attack too place, and was among those to offer his support.  He wrote on social media: 'My thoughts are with the families affected by this tragic incident.  I went to nursery at Illminster Avenue and although I know what the west is like, it still shocks you to see news like this.  Kids in these communities need more support and help to be kept away from violence.'

Teenager Shere, 18, said he knew the two boys well and was shocked by the news.  Speaking at the scene today, he said: 'I knew Max. I messaged him yesterday morning to try and meet. We heard about the news and came down here last night.  It is so messed up. Mason had only just lost his dad - I don't know how his mum is coping right now. Our mums are friends.  It's a cruel world. More police are needed here to sort this out.   They need to do more stop and searches on these lads and need to block off where they are getting everything from.  It's not just knives, it's guns too it's all sorts. I just can't believe they are gone.'

One girl, who lives a couple of houses down from the scene of the crime, said she saw the aftermath of the stabbings.  She said: 'I saw the group jump into the car after the boys were stabbed.  I saw definitely two in the car, with three in a van - squished in all sitting in bunched together. It's why the police will find it hard to get them all.  The bus stop is right by our house there were witnesses and I think a lot of them have come forward.  It's been scary, everyone around here is shaken.'

Among the growing number of tributes left at the scene was a note from one of the victim's teachers.  They said: 'Today there will be a missing smile in my classroom. You will always be remembered lovey boys.'

Local school Oasis Academy Connaught, which is a short walk from the scene of the tragedy, said it would be supporting pupils today following the weekend's events.  'Many of you will have heard of the tragic event that happened last night in our community. Our love goes out to all,' the elementary school said in a statement on Facebook.  'We will make sure your children have their adults available to talk to in school if and when they need them.  Please look after each other and those who are in need at this sad time.'

On Sunday night, dozens gathered on Newquay Road, near the scene of the double stabbing, with many expressing their anger and sadness.  A message on one card remembered  Max as 'the loveliest boy' and said he 'will most definitely never be forgotten'.  Another person said their 'heart is broken' and that they would never forget Max's 'cheeky smile'.  Julie O'Reilly was among those in attendance - and revealed she witnessed the immediate aftermath.  Visibly shaken, she said: 'I was there. I went out to the young chap on the floor I went out to him. I had his head on my lap.  Trying to tell him: 'Stay with us, stay with us we've got help coming'. That was last night.  [Today has been] awful. I can't get it out of my head. He was a good boy.'

Another local, Rianne, said she woke up to the news.  She said: 'It's shocking, really sad but you're expecting to wake up to something these days.  I don't know the families I'm in the community, but I don't know the families.  But I've got kids myself. I've just been in a right state. My kids have got to grow up around here.'

The vigil was organised on social media yesterday afternoon. One of those in attendance urged parents to be vigilant to prevent their youngsters from getting caught up in knife crime.  'We need to stand up now, as a community, as a city. We need to stand up and we are not going to put up with this. No child should be on our streets with a knife, they have no reason,' she said in video recorded at the scene

'Go home, search your children's room. Anything you find, get it out of the room and stand together.  Don't be frightened to look for help. Don't let your children come in with new clothes, new trainers, and you don't know where they're from. They are being groomed, get them off the street.  We need to work together as a community, we need to bang on doors. We need funding, we need our kids off the streets.'

Police scrambled to the scene 'within minutes' of a call to an address on Ilminster Avenue, in Knowle West, at around 11.20pm yesterday.  Police carried out first aid at the scene before the two boys were rushed to hospital by ambulance after sustaining fatal stab wounds.  Avon and Somerset Police confirmed that the boys had been attacked by 'a number of people' who fled from the scene in a car.   The teenagers sadly died at Southmead Hospital and Bristol Royal Hospital for Children in the early hours of Sunday morning, with the boys' families by their side.  Police have launched a murder investigation, which is being led by the force's Major Crime Investigation Team.  A heavy police presence remains at the scene with house-to-house enquiries underway and CCTV and doorbell footage being gathered by investigating officers.  Forensic officers could also be seen combing the street.  Police say it is not yet clear at this stage what the motive was behind the attack or if the attackers and victims were known to each other.  Neither boy has yet been formally identified and post-mortem examinations will be carried out in due course.  In a press conference on Ilminster Avenue yesterday, Bristol Commander Superintendent Mark Runacers said that boys' families had been made aware of the two arrests, and are being supported by specially trained family liaison officers.  He told reporters: 'The boys' families were with them at hospital and our thoughts are with them as they process these awful events'.

He added: 'I'd like to reassure people that we will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to catch those responsible for this reprehensible attack, and provide answers to the victims' families.  We are in the early stages of our enquiry but we have already identified a number of witnesses who we will be taking statements from'.

Further suspects are 'being sought' amongst the group believed to be responsible, he said.  He urged anyone who has any information to come forward to either the police or Crimestoppers anonymously 'as soon as possible'.

Detectives are particularly keen to speak with passengers on a double-decker bus which was on Ilminster Avenue at the time of attack, and remains at the scene.  It's not believe anyone involved in the incident was on or got off the bus, Supt Runacres said.  A mobile police station has been setup near the scene where a large cordon remains in place on Ilminster Avenue, between Newquay Road and Tavistock Road.   CCTV cameras are dotted around the area - including one at the junction between Newquay Road and Ilminster Avenue.  A worker in a shop on Newquay Road said the cameras were a sign of problems.  He said: 'This area's been hit [bad] for donkey's years. Two young kids this time.  You tell me any other street in the UK that needs two cameras either side of it?'

Locals in Knowle West said the violence had left them feeling 'panicked' and unsafe.  One man, who did not want to be named, said: 'I have two kids. My daughter is 23. My son is 15.  Have a think about how I feel as a father? I feel so bad and panicked.  My son is 15 I can't believe it. I thought it was a joke at first. How is this possible in 2024?  This is the problem. I don't feel safe with my kids here.'

A woman who arrived at the cordon claimed her neighbour's son was one of the teenagers who died.  The resident, who also did not want to be named, said: 'It was my next door neighbour's son right outside my house last night.  No one's seen my neighbour, which is understandable.'
 
She refused to give further details.  Supt Mark Runacres said: 'This is an incredibly shocking and tragic incident where two young boys, who had their whole lives ahead of them, have sadly died.  Our collective thoughts are with their families at what is undoubtedly a very difficult time. Specialist family liaison officers will now be assigned to the families to provide them with support and keep them updated on the investigation.  A cordon is in place on Ilminster Avenue between Newquay Road and Tavistock Road, and members of the public can expect to see a large police presence as forensic searches and other enquiries are conducted.  There are a significant number of properties within the cordon and we would like to apologise for the disruption caused, but we hope people understand the importance of the work being carried out. House-to-house enquiries are underway and CCTV and doorbell footage continues to be gathered.  We have also identified several witnesses who we will be taking statements from. Detectives are particularly keen to speak with passengers on a bus which was on Ilminster Avenue at the time of the incident.  The neighbourhood policing team will be setting up a mobile police station near the scene. We encourage anyone with any concerns or questions to speak to any of the officers. High-visibility patrols will also be carried out to provide reassurance to the community.'

He added: 'It is extremely important there should be no commentary or sharing of information or images online which could in any way prejudice any future proceedings.  It can be an offence to identify anyone who witnessed all or part of the incident as well as those who have been arrested.  I'd also like to remind people of the impact the sharing of images, footage or even discussing the incident online may have on the families of the two boys. They are already going through the most difficult of times and you may cause them further upset.'

Avon and Somerset Police added that 'tragedies such as this are a stark reminder of the awful consequences of knife crime'.

The force added: 'Reducing knife crime is one of our key priorities as a police service, it's something we work all year round tackling'.

Anyone with information about the incident or with any relevant footage, has been asked to contact 101 and quote reference 5224023382.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12996565/Jewish-school-denial-bullying-14-year-old-girl-took-life-boys-mocked-female-pupils-messages-photos-Snapchat-inquest-hears.html

Jewish school was 'in denial' over bullying of 14-year-old girl who took her own life after boys mocked female pupils with messages and photos on Snapchat, inquest hears

    Mia Janin was found dead at her family home in Harrow on March 12, 2021
    For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or go to samaritans.org

By Frankie Elliott

Published: 15:34, 23 January 2024 | Updated: 15:59, 23 January 2024

A Jewish school was 'in denial' over bullying of 14-year-old girl who took her own life after being tormented by a group of boys for years, an inquest heard today.  Mia Janin, a year 10 pupil at the Jewish Free School (JFS) in Kenton, north-west London, was found dead at her family home in Harrow on March 12, 2021.  Barnet Coroner's Court heard statements from children in Mia's year describe how she was bullied online and in person for the three years she attended the school.  The inquest was told how a Snapchat group was used by Mia's tormentors to mock the teenager and post nude photos of her and other female students.  The school denies being aware of the bullying and the difficulties it was causing Mia, but pupils claim they must have been aware but did nothing to stop it.  In statements read out to the the inquest, one of Mia's friends said: 'JFS probably did know about Mia's bullying. Could they not see anything? How did they miss the bullying that was happening in front of them?'

Another added: 'The school was in denial all the time. They didn't know she was being bullied and didn't hold those who bullied her accountable.  One of the statements described how the group of boys bullied her and other students 'on buses, class and at home'.

Another described how boys kicked footballs at her and her friends, whilst also filming her and calling her names.  Some of them described how one of the boys labelled Mia's friendship group the 'suicide squad' seven months before Mia took her own life, and that this name stuck.  They also described the Snapchat group chat named 'Panacha' which included more than 60 boys from JFS and possibly other schools.  The pupils claimed this chat was widely known about at the school.  Boys used the chat, the inquest heard, to post messages mocking girls at the school, and to post photos of their faces superimposed onto nude bodies of porn stars.  One said they also used the group to share nude photos of girls at the school, which they pressured girls to send them.  In their evidence Mia's friends said they had not seen the group, but knew when someone had been targeted because the boys would talk about it at school.  One child, who described the group as 'intimidating' and 'disrespectful' said: 'I never saw the group chat but did know things would be shared on it because people would talk about what was being shared at school.'

A TikTok video she posted the evening before she died criticising two of her bullies was shared on the Snapchat group.  This led to Mia feeling intensely anxious and she left a voice note with a friend in which she said she was 'mentally preparing herself to get bullied' as a result of the video.  A number of the children said that the next day she seemed 'normal', but one of her friends recalled a conversation they had had at lunch: 'She said 'if you died, would people care about you the next day?'

'I didn't think it was a big deal, we laughed it off,' she said.

Most of the children who gave statements knew Mia was being bullied, but didn't know how bad things were getting, with one saying: 'She hid it really well.'

The inquest heard that the Snapchat group was deleted at the request of Rabbi Cohen, the school safeguarding lead, a few weeks after Mia's death.
Mia's father Mariano Janin gave a moving speech in which he described his daughter as a 'special person'.  'Mia was a special person. She was beautiful, bright and full of life, full of light,' he said.

'On the last night of Mia's life we were sitting at the table having dinner, and she told us she had a hard week.  I was surprised as to what she said, as she had only been back at school one day. She said she wanted to leave JFS.  Marisa [Mia's mother] told her she could and we could look into home schooling.  I was very concerned what would have happened after one day at school, that she should come home distressed.  I didn't realis e at the time just how bad things were for her.'

Mr Janin said that when he dropped Mia off at school on 12 March 2021, 18 hours before her death, she had been 'full of plans' for the future.  He said she had plans to take up drama again, and to go on holiday to Greece in the summer.  'The only thing she asked me was permission to go with her friends to Camden Market on Saturday,' he said.

'She was planning the weekend and starting to plan the holidays and planning to start cheerleading and drama again.'

Mr Janin asked the coroner: 'Can you assure me she was not the victim of a pornography ring inside the school? Can you tell me this? This will be my goal, to find the answer to this question.'

The coroner assured him that 'anything that happened in the school is what we are looking at. There is no evidence that Mia was involved in that.'

The inquest is scheduled to finish tomorrow.

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details

They call us "The Elderly."
We were born in the 40-50-60's.
We grew up in the 50-60-70's.
We studied in the 60-70-80's.
We were dating in the 70-80-90's.
We got married and discovered the world in the 70-80-90's.
We venture into the 80-90's.
We stabilize in the 2000's.
We got wiser in the 2010's.
And we are going firmly through and beyond 2020.

Turns out we've lived through EIGHT different decades...
TWO different centuries...
TWO different millennia...

We have gone from the telephone with an operator for long-distance calls to video calls to anywhere in the world.

We have gone from slides to YouTube, from vinyl records to online music, from handwritten letters to email and WhatsApp. 

From live matches on the radio, to black and white TV, color TV and then to 3D HD TV.

We went to the Video store and now we watch Netflix.

We got to know the first computers, punch cards, floppy disks and now we have gigabytes and megabytes on our smartphones.

We wore shorts throughout our childhood and then long trousers, Oxfords, flares, parachute pants, shell suits, and blue jeans.

We dodged infantile paralysis, meningitis, polio, tuberculosis, swine flu and now COVID-19.

We rode skates, tricycles, bicycles, mopeds, petrol, or diesel cars and now we drive hybrids or electric.

Yes, we've been through a lot but what a great life we've had!

They could describe us as "exennials"; people who were born in that world of the 50s/60s, who had an analog childhood and a digital adulthood.

We've kind of seen it all!

Our generation has literally lived through and witnessed more than any other in every dimension of life.
change.

A big round of applause to all the members of a very special generation, which will be UNIQUE.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12946759/Death-broken-heart-doctors-treatment.html

Proof you CAN die of a broken heart:  It's called takotsubo and doctors are finding new ways to treat it

By Fiona Macrae

Published: 11:56, 10 January 2024 | Updated: 11:56, 10 January 2024

After Sinead O'Connor's tragic death last year, an ex partner yesterday insisted confirmation of her dying of natural causes means she died from a 'broken heart'.  The star, 56, was found 'unresponsive' by police at her flat in Herne Hill, south-east London, in July last year 18 months after her beloved 17-year old son Shane killed himself. On Tuesday officials ruled she had died of natural causes.  Dermot Hayes, who dated singer Sinead for two years after writing an early autobiography of her, told The Irish Sun: 'From this you can surmise that a broken heart is a real illness symptom, and a cause of death.  It doesn’t make Sinead’s ­passing any less painful. It was more to do with a broken heart than anything else.'

Here, Mail Online examines how doctors are now looking at new ways to treat broken heart syndrome (medically known as takotsubo cardiomyopathy).  Veterinary nurse Sarah Woodward was at work when she received a phone call to say her best friend’s father had died.  ‘I’d known him for 45 years,’ says Sarah, from Worthing, West Sussex. ‘It was like losing my own father.’

Before she’d even put the phone down, a stabbing pain started in her chest. It then radiated through her back, into her jaw and down her left arm. She started to struggle to breathe and turned the colour of chalk all classic signs of a heart attack.  Sarah, 54, was, however, exceptionally fit, doing at least ten hours of exercise a week, including kickboxing. She didn’t smoke, cooked from scratch every day with husband Kevin, 58, a gas engineer, and drank alcohol only once a week.  So it never crossed her mind that she was having a heart attack. Instead, she thought it was just a panic attack or that she’d pulled a muscle while exercising.  A colleague, however, called an ambulance and, a few hours later, tests revealed it was something else entirely. Sarah had broken heart syndrome where there is a sudden weakening of the muscle in the heart’s left ventricle, its main pumping chamber.  The mysterious and potentially fatal condition affects around 2,500 Britons a year and often occurs after a bereavement, hence its name.  Around 90 per cent of patients are women aged 50 or over, and around one in 20 will die in hospital as a result.  In survivors, the heart’s shape and pumping capacity usually return to normal within three months, but many suffer long-term problems including chest pain, palpitations and breathlessness.  While symptoms such as sudden intense chest pain and shortness of breath mirror those of a heart attack, takotsubo is not caused by blocked arteries as heart attacks generally are.  Instead, says Dr David Gamble, a clinical research fellow in cardiology at the University of Aberdeen, in around 70 per cent of cases a stressful event is to blame (in other cases, the cause is unclear).  This can be emotional, such as the death of a loved one or the end of a relationship, or physical, such as an assault or car crash.  Intriguingly, the stress needn’t be negative; happy occasions can also spark the condition. A 2016 study by University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland of 485 patients whose takotsubo had an emotional trigger found that while 96 per cent had experienced sad events, in the remaining 4 per cent, it followed a joyful occasion such as a birthday party, winning at a casino or even a surprise marriage proposal.  That’s because all these events and the stress response they trigger in the body lead to a surge in adrenaline, a hormone released to prepare the body for ‘fight or flight’ which tells the heart to beat faster to boost blood flow to the brain and muscles.  In takotsubo syndrome, however, the rush of adrenaline shuts down the bottom of the left ventricle, its main pumping chamber, says Dr Alexander Lyon, an honorary consultant cardiologist at London’s Royal Brompton Hospital. Unable to contract, the bottom of the ventricle balloons outwards.  This characteristic shape is visible on X-rays of the heart and is key in diagnosing the syndrome. It’s what led Japanese researchers in 1990 to name it after a ‘takotsubo’ a traditional narrow-necked, wide-bottomed pot used to trap octopuses when fishing.  One mystery for doctors seeing those affected has been understanding why this rush of adrenaline affects some people, especially women, but not others.  Now scientists may have an answer which could pave the way for better treatments for the condition. In a study published in the journal Cardiovascular Research in June, Dr Lyon and colleagues at Imperial College London, investigated how human and rat heart cells responded to adrenaline.  They found heart cells were much more sensitive to adrenaline if they were also exposed to two molecules, microRNA-16 and microRNA-26a. In those that were, it took only about a fifth of the normal amount of adrenaline to stop them contracting.  MicroRNAs are small compounds that control protein production in cells. It’s not known from where these two emanate, but one theory is they are released by the brain in times of depression, anxiety and stress and travel in the blood to the heart.  Chronic stress may raise the levels to such an extent that some people are more likely to have a takotsubo attack when they later have a sudden shock.  Put another way, if two people experience the same rush of adrenaline after a shock, the person who has higher amounts of these microRNAs in their blood would be more likely to have a takotsubo attack, says Sian Harding, a professor of cardiac pharmacology involved in the study.  ‘It may be that chronic stress is priming people to have this syndrome when they then suffer acute stress,’ she adds.

A study from Massachusetts General Hospital in March supports this theory. It found patients undergoing cancer scans who displayed heightened activity in their amygdalas (the part of the brain that detects stress) were more likely to get broken heart syndrome over the next five years. Dr Gamble says depression, anxiety and other mental health disorders are more common in those who experience takotsubo syndrome, and he is researching whether cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) a talking therapy that improves mental health will aid recovery.  Thirty patients will undergo 12 weeks of CBT and have their heart health compared with that of patients who are either prescribed a 12-week exercise programme (exercise lowers cholesterol, blood pressure and improves blood sugar regulation) or are simply treated with standard care.  Little is known about the best treatments for the syndrome, but there is some evidence ACE inhibitors, drugs prescribed to treat high blood pressure, are useful.  Genes and hormones may also play a role genes, because the condition can run in families, and hormones because the overwhelming majority of cases are in post-menopausal women.  It is thought that male and female sex hormones may protect against the condition, leaving women more vulnerable after the menopause, when levels of oestrogen are lower. Higher levels of stress and anxiety in post-menopausal women may also help explain the link, says Dr Gamble.  One possibility in the future could be a test that measures levels of the two microRNAs identified in the recent Imperial study, to predict if a patient is at risk of experiencing a second attack of broken heart syndrome.  Similarly, drugs that block the action of the two microRNAs could provide a much-needed way of preventing recurrences.  Around one in five broken heart patients has a recurrence and Sarah was one of them. After her first takotsubo attack she was prescribed ACE inhibitors, beta blockers (blood pressure drugs that block the effects of adrenaline), as well as blood thinners to reduce the risk of clots, which could cause a stroke.  But on January 4, 2021, almost three years to the day since she collapsed at work, she felt the same stabbing pain in her chest.  The trigger was a call from her GP in which he gave her some upsetting news about another, unrelated, health condition.  ‘I remember sitting in the staff room, clutching my chest, crying and thinking I was going to die while looking at the waste-paper bin, which was overflowing. It was a feeling of utter resignation and hopelessness,’ says Sarah, who has three grown-up children.

Eight months on, she still has chest pain and breathlessness and while she still goes to the gym, she needs to nap before and intensive workouts are out of the question.  At the back of her mind is the fear she will have another attack. ‘The more I think about it,’ she says, ‘the more I worry that a third time might be the last.’

Happy hour

Everyday activities that boost your happiness hormones

This week: Karaoke

Not only does the physical action of filling and emptying the lungs while singing release feelgood chemicals called endorphins, several studies have found it also triggers the bonding, calming hormone oxytocin.  ‘One study showed that when oxytocin levels were measured after people chatted with each other or sang together, they were higher in the singing group,’ explains Graham Welch, a professor and chair of music education at University College London (UCL).

In fact, oxytocin levels increased five times more in the singing group than in the chatting one, according to the 2014 study, by researchers at UCL, published in the journal Music and Medicine.  While it’s not known exactly why singing with others means that more oxytocin is released, singing ‘also reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol and increases lung activity and heart rate, which boosts oxygenation of the blood, creating a greater sense of alertness and happiness’, says Professor Welch.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12932369/Woman-knifed-death-Lexus-man-killed-train-village-mansion-shocked-neighbours.html

Woman, 56, knifed to death in crashed Lexus before man, 18, was killed by a train moved into her £2.5m village mansion 'a few years ago' after splitting up from her husband and 'kept herself to herself', shocked neighbours reveal

    The tragic incidents both happened in Pangbourne, Berkshire, on Thursday night

By Elena Salvoni and Katherine Lawton

Published: 01:12, 6 January 2024 | Updated: 03:13, 6 January 2024

A woman who was knifed to death in a crashed Lexus near her home had moved into the £2.5million mansion after 'splitting from her husband' and 'kept herself to herself', neighbours have revealed.  Just minutes after the woman's death, a teenager was killed by a train at a nearby station in what police are describing as a 'linked' tragedy.  The woman's property, a seven-bedroom detached house situated on Flowers Hill in the quiet rural village of Pangbourne, Berkshire, is being searched as a part of a murder probe.  Neighbours in the area known locally as 'millionaires' row' have revealed their shock at what happened, with one describing the scene as police gathered at the scene as 'like a horror movie'.  On Friday, there was a palpable sense of astonishment and grief among the nearby residents, who described the 56-year-old victim as a 'lovely' woman who 'kept herself to herself.'

One neighbour, who lives on Flowers Hill and who asked not to be named, said of the woman: 'She had been living there a for a few years. She split up from her husband and has a big house.'

He added: 'Last night there was a lot of kerfuffle down there. I took the dogs out for a walk and couldn't get through. What has happened is terrible.'

Peter Burton, another local resident to Flowers Hill, said: 'We didn't see or hear anything until we heard the helicopters above.'

An elderly woman who asked not to be named, said: 'I find it astonishing.' Another neighbour said the woman lived at the mansion with her adult children.

One was reported as saying: 'It's horrible, I can't believe what happened. We rushed out to help but the police were already here and then ambulances arrived.  We were told to go home and they cordoned it all off.'

Another resident said: 'I'd always wave over when I walked past, she is a lovely woman.  When we saw all the police last night it was like a horror movie scene they were running around all over the place.  And then we heard another person had died at the train station. It's shocking for our little quiet village. So unusual.'

Officers were first called to a reported road traffic collision involving a car on the A340 Tidmarsh Road at the junction with Flower's Hill at around 5.45pm on Thursday.  Within the vehicle a 56-year-old woman had suffered a fatal stab wound and died at the scene despite receiving medical attention.  Shortly after, at around 6.15pm, Thames Valley Police and British Transport Police officers were called to a death on the railway track near Pangbourne where an 18-year-old man died at the scene.  Neither victim has been formally identified but the next of kin for both have been informed and specially trained officers are supporting them.   Local residents said they had rushed to help the woman in the car but she died at the scene at the junction of Tidmarsh Road and Flowers Hill.  Senior Investigating Officer Detective Superintendent Kevin Brown, Head of the Major Crime Unit, said: 'We have launched a murder investigation after the death of a woman near Flower's Hill, Pangbourne, and the associated discovery of a deceased man at Pangbourne railway station.'

Police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incidents.  Mr Brown added: 'Firstly, I would like to send my condolences on behalf of the force to loved ones of both at this extremely difficult time.  We are in the very early stages of this complex investigation, but we are not currently looking for anyone else in connection with either death.  We are still investigating but are treating the two deaths as linked; we are keeping an open mind as to the circumstances of each. There is no wider threat to the public from these sad and tragic incidents.'

Villagers in Pangbourne have been left in shock by tragic events that began yesterday.  Forensic investigators also recovered a black-handled kitchen knife close to the train station at Pangbourne as part of the ongoing probe into the two deaths.  A crime scene investigator in a white suit entered a substation, opposite the Aston Martin dealership on Station Road, at around 11.30am today to photograph, swab and collect the blade.  The electricity company were also in attendance, and are thought to have turned off the power to allow police safe access. The area was cordoned off and watched over by two officers.  The knife was then placed into a knife tube and an evidence bag.  Officers, thought to be part of a specialist search team, attended the location after leaving the Flowers Hill property a short time prior.  One onlooker near the station said on Friday: 'There was a police presence here overnight after the sad incident on the railway. Now they've taped it off and are taking photos of a knife in the substation.  Trains aren't stopping at Pangbourne today so I'm guessing this is why. It's very worrying if it's linked to that poor woman's death.'

Police said: 'After initial significant disturbance to the roads and railway network both scenes have been released and normal transport arrangements for both have resumed. I would like to say thank you to those affected for your patience.  Members of the public are likely to see an increased police presence while we continue to investigate and we would advise anyone with any concerns to please speak to one of our uniformed officers.'

A British Transport Police spokesman previously said: 'Officers were called to the line near Pangbourne railway station at 6.11pm yesterday (4 January) to reports of a casualty on the tracks.  Paramedics also attended and a person was pronounced dead at the scene.  British Transport Police are working closely with Thames Valley Police to establish the circumstances leading up to their death.'

Officers are guarding a £2.5million home in Flowers Hill following the fatal incident, and specialist search officers were at the scene.

A police cordon is also still in place at the railway station. Thames Valley Police last night confirmed that they were dealing with two incidents in the area.  A spokesman previously said: 'Our officers are currently in Pangbourne dealing with two incidents.  'Road closures are in place on the A340 at the Flowers Hill and Tidmarsh Road junction following a collision involving a vehicle.  A woman received medical treatment at the scene but sadly died.  There has also been an incident on the railway line at Pangbourne Station.  Because of these incidents, there are a number of road closures in place in the area, and trains are not running through the station.  People are advised to avoid the area and to plan their journeys in advance to ensure they are not delayed.  The exact circumstances of these incidents is currently unclear, but we will provide an update when we are in a position to do so.'

The property being searched is a seven-bedroom freehold detached house spread over 5,748 square feet. It was bought by current owners in 2014 for £1.95m and is now valued at more than £2.5m.  The police urged anyone with information about the deaths to call 101 or make a report on their website quoting reference number 43240005369.