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Nat Barr shares scary cancer diagnosis

Sunrise co-host Nat Barr has shared a recent personal health scare that underscores the importance of regular skin checks. Barr disclosed that doctors diagnosed her with skin cancer after a persistent “pimple” on her nose prompted her to seek medical advice. On Tuesday's Sunrise program, Barr detailed her experience, explaining how a seemingly innocuous blemish led to an unexpected and concerning diagnosis. “I’ve had this pimple on my nose, it’s been about three weeks. It keeps going up, down, up, down, won’t go away,” Barr shared. This irregularity convinced her to consult a dermatologist, who used advanced AI technology along with a Spectrascope to examine the lesion. The specialist diagnosed the 3mm lesion as cancerous, with Barr receiving a score of 7.4 on the test, where any score above seven is indicative of cancer. “That was so tiny, it was just a tiny little red thing,” Barr said, showing just how easily such a small detail could be overlooked. The dermatologist’s use of AI to analyse photos of Barr’s entire body further highlighted the cutting-edge methods now available in skin cancer detection. This technology can compare images over time to identify changes more accurately than the human eye, providing a powerful tool in early diagnosis and treatment. Following the diagnosis, Barr was prescribed an anti-cancer cream to treat the lesion and also underwent red light therapy, a treatment that selectively targets and kills cancer cells. Reflecting on her experience, Barr expressed how this health scare made her more aware of the importance of regular skin checks. “It’s just a good reminder for everyone," she urged, "remember to get your skin checked regularly." Despite the scare, Barr reassured her fans about her health. “The outlook for my health is fine,” she confirmed, noting that her next appointment is scheduled for Friday. In the meantime, she mentioned that the lesion is currently concealed with make-up. “I do the same process this Friday, and then it gets all crusty, and then it will be fine,” she added. Skin cancer, often underestimated, can start as something as small as a persistent pimple or a red spot. Early detection and treatment are vital, and advancements in technology now offer more precise and early diagnoses, potentially saving lives. Images: Sunrise

Caring

Australians are having fewer babies and our local-born population is about to shrink: here’s why it’s not that scary

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/amanda-davies-201009">Amanda Davies</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-western-australia-1067">The University of Western Australia</a> Australians are having fewer babies, so many fewer that without international migration our population would be on track to decline in just over a decade. In most circumstances, the number of babies per woman that a population needs to sustain itself – the so-called <a href="https://www.who.int/data/gho/indicator-metadata-registry/imr-details/123">total fertility rate</a> – is 2.1. Australia’s total fertility rate dipped below 2.1 in the late 1970s, moved back up towards it in the late 2000s (assisted in part by an improving economy, better access to childcare and the introduction of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-baby-bonus-boost-looks-like-across-ten-years-81563">Commonwealth Baby Bonus</a>), and then plunged again, hitting a low of <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/population-projections-australia/2022-base-2071#assumptions">1.59</a> during the first year of COVID. <hr /> <iframe id="CHdqj" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: none;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/CHdqj/3/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe> <hr /> The latest population projections from the Australian Bureau of Statistics assume the rate remains near its present 1.6% for <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/population-projections-australia/2022-base-2071#assumptions">the next 50 years</a>. An alternative, lower, set of assumptions has the rate falling to 1.45 over the next five years and staying there. A higher set of assumptions has it rebounding to 1.75 and staying there. A comprehensive study of global fertility trends published in March in the medical journal <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00550-6/fulltext#%20">The Lancet</a> has Australia’s central case at 1.45, followed by a fall to 1.33 by the end of the century. Significantly, none of these assumptions envisages a return to replacement rate. The bureau’s central projection has Australia’s population turning down from 2037 in the absence of a boost from migration. <hr /> <iframe id="oi55c" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: none;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/oi55c/3/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe> <hr /> It’s easy to make guesses about reasons. Reliable contraception has been widely available for 50 years. Rents, mortgages and the other costs facing Australians of child-bearing age appear to be climbing. It’s still <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-17/career-or-baby-michelle-battersby-pregnancy-gender-/103186296">difficult to have a career</a> if you have a child, and data show women still carry the substantive burden of <a href="https://theconversation.com/mind-the-gap-gender-differences-in-time-use-narrowing-but-slowly-191678">unpaid work around the home</a>. The US fertility rate has fallen <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/children-per-woman-un?tab=chart&time=1950..latest&country=OWID_WRL%7EUSA%7EAUS">much in line with Australia’s</a>. Reporting on <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-birth-rates-are-at-record-lows-even-though-the-number-of-kids-most-americans-say-they-want-has-held-steady-197270">research</a> into the reasons, Forbes Magazine succinctly said a broken economy had “<a href="https://fortune.com/2023/01/12/millennials-broken-economy-delay-children-birthrate/">screwed over</a>” Americans considering having children. More diplomatically, it said Americans saw parenthood as “<a href="https://fortune.com/2023/01/12/millennials-broken-economy-delay-children-birthrate/">harder to manage</a>” than they might have in the past. <h2>Half the world is unable to replace itself</h2> But this trend is widespread. The <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00550-6/fulltext#%20">Lancet study</a> finds more than half of the world’s countries have a fertility rate below replacement level. <a href="https://theconversation.com/chinas-population-shrinks-again-and-could-more-than-halve-heres-what-that-means-220667">China</a>, which is important for the global fertility rate because it makes up such a large share of the world’s population, had a fertility rate as high as 7.5 in the early 1960s. It fell to 2.5 before the start of China’s <a href="https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3135510/chinas-one-child-policy-what-was-it-and-what-impact-did-it">one-child</a> policy in the early 1990s, and then slid further from 1.8 to 1 after the policy was abandoned in 2016. <hr /> <iframe id="idC4X" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: none;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/idC4X/3/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe> <hr /> South Korea’s fertility rate has dived further, to the world’s lowest: <a href="https://time.com/6488894/south-korea-low-fertility-rate-trend-decline/">0.72</a>. The fertility rate in India, which is now <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/publication/un-desa-policy-brief-no-153-india-overtakes-china-as-the-worlds-most-populous-country/">more populous than China</a>, has also fallen <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN?page=&locations=IN">below replacement level</a>. Most of the 94 nations that continue to have above-replacement fertility rates are in North Africa, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. Some, including Samoa and Papua New Guinea, are in the Pacific. Most of Asia, Europe and Oceania is already below replacement rate. <h2>A changing world order</h2> The largest high-fertility African nation, <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/09/the-world-population-in-2100-by-country/">Nigeria</a>, is expected to overtake China to become the world’s second-most-populous nation by the end of the century. But even Nigeria’s fertility rate will sink. The Lancet projections have it sliding from 4.7 to <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00550-6/fulltext#%20">1.87</a> by the end of the century. The differences mean the world’s population growth will increasingly take place in countries that are among the most vulnerable to environmental and economic hardship. Already economically disadvantaged, these nations will need to provide jobs, housing, healthcare and services for rapidly growing populations at a time when the rest of the world does not. On the other hand, those nations will be blessed with young people. They will be an increasingly valuable resource as other nations face the challenges of an ageing population and declining workforce. <h2>An older world, then a smaller world</h2> Global fertility <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00550-6/fulltext">halved</a> between 1950 and 2021, shrinking from 4.84 to 2.23. The latest projections have it sinking below the replacement rate to somewhere between 1.59 and 2.08 by 2050, and then to between <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00550-6/fulltext">1.25 and 1.96</a> by 2100. The world has already seen peak births and peak primary-school-aged children. In <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00550-6/fulltext">2016</a>, the world welcomed about 142 million live babies, and since then the number born each year has fallen. By 2021, it was about 129 million. The global school-age population aged 6 to 11 years peaked at around 820 million in <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/publication/un-desa-policy-brief-no-152-population-education-and-sustainable-development-interlinkages-and-select-policy-implications/">2023</a>. The United Nations expects the world’s population to peak at 10.6 billion in <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-planet-s-population-will-get-to-10-4-billion-then-drop-here-s-when-we-reach-peak-human-20231213-p5er8g.html">2086</a>, after which it will begin to fall. Another forecast, produced as part of the impressive <a href="https://www.healthdata.org/research-analysis/gbd">Global Burden of Disease</a> study, has the peak occurring two decades earlier in <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30677-2/fulltext">2064</a>, with the world’s population peaking at 9.73 billion. <h2>Fewer babies are a sign of success</h2> In many ways, a smaller world is to be welcomed. The concern common <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-long-fuse-the-population-bomb-is-still-ticking-50-years-after-its-publication-96090">in the 1960s and 1970s</a> that the world’s population was growing faster and faster and the world would soon be unable to feed itself has turned out to be misplaced. Aside from occasional blips (China’s birth rate in the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1973601">Year of the Dragon</a>) the fertility trend in just about every nation on Earth is downwards. The world’s population hasn’t been growing rapidly for long. Before 1700 it grew by only about <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/population-growth-over-time">0.4% per year</a>. By 2100 it will have stabilised and started to fall, limiting the period of unusually rapid growth to four centuries. In an important way, lower birth rates can be seen as a sign of success. The richer a society becomes and the more it is able to look after its seniors, the less important it becomes for each couple to have children to care for them in old age. This is a long-established theory with a name: the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4116081/">demographic transition</a>. For Australia, even with forecast immigration, lower fertility will mean changes. The government’s 2023 <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/publication/2023-intergenerational-report">Intergenerational Report</a> says that whereas there are now 3.7 Australians of traditional working age for each Australian aged 65 and over, by 2063 there will only be 2.6. It will mean those 2.6 people will have to work smarter, perhaps with greater assistance from artificial intelligence. Unless they decide to have more babies, which history suggests they won’t.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/228273/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/amanda-davies-201009">Amanda Davies</a>, Professor and Head of School of Social Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-western-australia-1067">The University of Western Australia</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/australians-are-having-fewer-babies-and-our-local-born-population-is-about-to-shrink-heres-why-its-not-that-scary-228273">original article</a>. </div>

Family & Pets

How to overcome the ‘Sunday scaries,’ according to a therapist

How to overcome your Sunday scaries According to an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report, most Australians are working longer hours – spending more time on the job than on their household activities, caring for family, education, meals, personal care and leisure combined. If this grind sounds familiar, you probably don’t need scientific data to tell you how much Mondays can suck (though back in 2011, University of Vermont researchers used Twitter data to confirm indeed, we all hate. Mondays the most). In recent years, these Monday blues have crept into our off-the-clock hours, too: a phenomenon that’s increasingly coming to be known as the ‘Sunday scaries.’ Five reasons this ‘anticipatory anxiety’ happens “The Sunday scaries is an overwhelming feeling of dread and anxiety about going to work or school the next day,” says clinical psychologist, Dr Renée L. Goff. Depending on your schedule, this anxiety doesn’t necessarily have to hit on a Sunday, but whenever you’re spending what’s meant to be personal time stressing about upcoming work. And what do the Sunday scaries feel like? “Some people describe it as a heaviness they can feel in their body, while others feel so jittery they could jump out of their skin,” Dr Goff says. “You’re also very aware of the time ticking away and the freedom of your weekend coming to a close.” It’s also extremely common. Based on different polls, 75 to 80 per cent of people experience the Sunday scaries, says therapist Amanda Stemen. But just because it’s widespread doesn’t mean it’s not manageable. Here’s how experts say you can ease your Sunday anxiety. Structure your Sunday “Structure can be a best friend when [you’re] feeling the Sunday scaries,” says psychotherapist, Angela Ficken. “Instead of sitting on the couch and watching the clock, go do something that you enjoy.” You might still get whiffs of that sense of dread, but that feeling is harder to hold onto when you are engaging in something that makes you feel good, she says. Plus, research tells us that adding structure to our days can help give us a greater sense of control and improve mental health. That’s why it’s not just important to structure your Sundays, but to be consistent with it, Ficken says. Don’t forget to relax The Australian Government Department of Health data shows just how little time we have during the week to tend to non-work activities – but when you’re planning out your Sunday, try not to cram in too many errands and chores. If you’re feeling more stress in general, it’s important to make space for relaxing activities in your Sunday plan to ground yourself, says marriage and family therapist Naiylah Warren. And there’s no right way to relax. “Maybe a body scan meditation, maybe a mid-afternoon shower or bath, maybe an engaging movie or show,” Warren says. “[Whatever] feels like a helpful distraction to reground from the scaries.” Pinpoint anxiety sources behind the Sunday scaries Anxiety is a normal human experience, and one of the main ways to manage it is to identify your personal triggers. “Try to pinpoint what is really causing you to dread the week,” Dr Goff says. “Is it a deadline, meeting or presentation?” Even if there’s not a sole reason behind your Sunday anxiety, organising the stress you expect from the week ahead into bite-size chunks can help make it all more manageable. “Create multiple to-do lists,” Dr Goff recommends. One list for tasks that need to be completed immediately, another for tasks that are less urgent, and a final list for tasks that you’d like to complete at some point. “Seeing these can help put into perspective what is important and what you can let go of for now,” she says. “This can help decrease the anticipation of the stress and dread of the week.” Create some excitement for the week ahead Getting rid of the Sunday scaries isn’t just about tempering the doom-and-gloom of the week ahead, either. “Having something to look forward to also gives you something to think about that’s pleasing rather than only focusing on the dread you feel,” Ficken says. It’s a form of reframing your thoughts: instead of focusing on the awful things you expect from the week, build excitement over a coffee or lunch date with a friend you’ve been meaning to catch up with. “This gives you the opportunity to shift your thoughts to something fun and will help improve your mood.” End your Sunday with the right energy Whether you want glowing skin, a sounder sleep or a mental health boost, a great nighttime routine can come with major health benefits. But if you suffer from the Sunday scaries, you may want to build a special routine for these more anxiety-ridden evenings, Warren says. “This is an opportunity to give yourself proper wind-down time – maybe you want to journal, do a face mask, read a few pages of your book – allow yourself to decompress so you can feel empowered and confident you’ll be ready for the next day,” she says. And do your best to honour this “you” time. That means, when possible, make Sunday night about your self-care – and leave the work emails for Monday morning. Written by Leslie Finlay. This article first appeared in <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/healthsmart/conditions/mental-health/how-to-overcome-the-sunday-scaries-according-to-a-therapist" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.com.au/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=articles&utm_campaign=RDSUB&keycode=WRA87V" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here’s our best subscription offer.</a> Image: Getty Images

Mind

Jamie Oliver shares details about wife's "deeply scary" health condition

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has opened up about his wife’s “deeply scary” experience with long Covid, as the illness remains uncharted territory with fresh data still being uncovered. Jools Oliver has been fighting the illness for the past two years. “She’s had bad COVID and long COVID, so she’s been really affected by it, sadly,” Oliver, 47, shared. “She’s OK, but still not what she wants to be.” “It’s been two years. She finds it deeply scary.” Her condition has left doctors stumped, with long Covid affecting 10-20% of people with ongoing Covid symptoms, according to the World Health Organisation. The popular chef explained they had seen specialist medical professionals but have been unable to cure her symptoms as the condition is still being learnt about. “We’re all over Harley Street like a rash, but no one really knows anything,” Oliver went on, referring to the street in London, known for being home to a large amount of private medical specialists. Despite her condition, Oliver says his wife continues to remain positive and keep her spirits up. The couple share five children together and have been married for 22 years. Oliver's new cookbook is being released on September 1 and, of course, is dedicated to his wife Jools. <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CftLf9LDs7P/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CftLf9LDs7P/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Jamie Oliver (@jamieoliver)</a> </div> </blockquote> Image: Instagram

Caring

“Scary and painful”: Monkeypox survivors recall their experiences

Before suffering full-body chills, a fever and other intense flu-like symptoms, the first sign that Matt Ford had come down with monkeypox were several spots on his body. The US man noticed the lesions after receiving a call from a friend who he’d had skin-to-skin contact with in June. “Right after the call, I checked myself and noticed some lesions I hadn’t seen before,” the 30-year-old told <a href="https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/human-interest/excruciating-lesions-and-a-40c-fever-i-had-monkeypox-and-this-is-what-its-like-c-7670514" target="_blank" rel="noopener">7News.com.au</a>. The next few days saw him experience flu-like symptoms, including a fever, chills, sweats and fatigue. After those symptoms lessened, the number of lesions increased, with Ford counting 25 in total across his body, including his face, feet and scalp. The lesions quickly became itchy and painful, interfering with his sleep and resulting in him needing narcotics to fall asleep. “I don’t think many people fully understand just how painful it can be, especially if lesions appear in the perianal or genital areas,” he said. “(The pain) was at least an eight or nine out of 10.” <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> I have monkeypox currently and this shit is absolutely no joke. If you’re in New York and can get the vaccine, go do it. — Matt Ford (@JMatthiasFord) <a href="https://twitter.com/JMatthiasFord/status/1540049980253016064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2022</a></blockquote> Under local rules, Ford was required to isolate until “all lesions have resolved, the scabs have fallen off, and a fresh layer of intact skin has formed”, ensuring he was no longer contagious. In total, he stayed home for three weeks and was “grateful” for his support network. “It was pretty brutal towards the end of it, and I felt pretty stir crazy,” he recalled. “But I’m grateful to have had a strong support network checking in on me and sending care packages.” For UK man Harun Tulunay, catching monkeypox came with a slightly different experience. The 35-year-old primarily experienced flu-like symptoms, such as a fever of 40 C, swollen glands, a white and red rash, pain and chills. Ten days in, Tulunay had been hospitalised and finally received a diagnosis when he noticed a lesion on his nose. Though painful lesions in his throat made him unable to swallow, Tulunay said most didn’t cause him grief. “I had (lesions) on my back, in my hair, on my feet, on my hands, my legs,” he told 7News.com.au. “My whole throat was all covered in painful lesions. “It was the most scary and painful June of my 35 years of life.” After about 35 days, Tulunay’s symptoms had all cleared up. “You really don’t expect it can happen to you until it happens to you,” he said. Ford and Tulunay’s experiences come as Australia’s Chief Medical Officer, Paul Kelly, declared monkeypox a communicable disease of national significance, with most cases occurring among people aged between 21 and 40 years old. “Although monkeypox is not usually considered a sexually transmissible infection, physical contact with an infected person during sexual intercourse carries a significant risk of transmission,” Kelly said. “Intimate physical contact such as hugging, kissing and sexual activities represent a risk of infection, with infectious skin sores being the likely mode of transmission.” The World Health Organisation has also declared monkeypox a public health emergency, with more than 20,000 cases recorded across 71 countries since January. Image: Supplied

Body

“It’s emotional and scary”: White Island eruption survivor removes her face mask

A survivor of the 2019 White Island volcano eruption who suffered burns to 70 percent of her body has finally been able to remove her face mask. Stephanie Browitt was visiting New Zealand’s northeastern Bay of Plenty region with her sister and father, who were both among the 22 people who died in the eruption. Her road to recovery has been a long and difficult one, which she has shared on social media with more than 1.6 million followers. Appearing on Nine’s 60 Minutes, Stephanie removed her compression mask for the first time, telling host Sarah Abo that it was a “big deal” and that it felt like “this day would never come”. “It’s emotional and scary. It is actually quite daunting as much as it is exciting,” she said. Looking in the mirror, Stephanie said she saw a woman who was tougher than she ever thought she could be. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/06/steph8.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="721" /> Image: 60 Minutes “I see a person who has gone through so much more than I ever expected to go through in life. I see a very tormented person,” she continued. As much as this is exciting, it has been a long, hard journey to get here. I am tougher than I ever thought I would be. “I have learnt that the fight for survival is a real thing. I was literally fighting every day to survive, to just get back to being myself. I never knew that I had this in me.” <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CedLNM1vrna/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CedLNM1vrna/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Stephanie Coral Browitt (@stephaniecoral96)</a> </div> </blockquote> Sunday’s episode also showed never-before-seen photos of Stephanie’s injuries, revealing the extent of the severe burns that covered almost her whole body. Stephanie told the program that she remembers waking up for the first time since the incident, after she was in a coma for two weeks, in bits and pieces. “I was full of tubes and surrounded by medical equipment and in a very small room with lots of noises. Those things will always stay with me, I don’t think they will ever leave. It’s just things you don’t forget,” the 26-year-old said. She said her recovery had been extremely difficult, especially in the early stages. I had to start from scratch like a baby. Sitting upright, getting out of bed, taking my first few steps, even feeding myself – I had to relearn all of those skills from scratch and they didn’t come easy at all,” she said. “It was incredibly difficult. “There have been plenty of moments where I have wanted to give up, or I have just been in tears not wanting to do anything. But I do feel I have come a long way from day one.” Stephanie is now in the process of suing Royal Caribbean, the company that ran the excursion to the island on the day of the eruption, over the physical and psychological injuries she has suffered. Her lawyer, Peter Gordan, claimed that data from the weeks prior showed that the island was a “ticking time bomb”. “It makes me furious. They let down so many people … So many people died needlessly,” he said. “I think Steph’s injuries are the worst I have ever seen. I don’t think I have ever met quite an exceptional person in the way she has battled on.” Despite the hardship she has - and continues - to overcome, Stephanie is looking to the future, telling 60 Minutes she hopes to “go back to as normal a life as possible” and plans to return to working full-time, travelling and her social life. “I know I have got the support of so many people, and that helps me realise that this isn’t as scary as I feel it is,” she said. Image: @stephaniecoral96 (Instagram)

Caring

Dark Waters is a scary movie. Here’s Why…

Many people have said Dark Waters is more terrifying than any horror movie. That’s because the most frightening thing about Dark Waters is the fact it actually happened. A US corporation – Dupont – put money before human lives and jeopardised the health of every person on this planet by dumping toxic PFOA waste in waterways in West Virginia for years. This makes Dark Waters one of the scariest movies you’ll see but don’t let this put you off. We all need to see this movie because it’s about how corporations think they can get away with polluting our planet in shocking ways, as long as they keep it hidden. Yes, it’s a bit like Erin Brockovich but even a bit more sinister. Why is it sinister? Because in Australia, we can usually watch a film like this and thank God we live on a remote island in the South Pacific. But that argument doesn’t hold any more. There’s a scene in Dark Waters where Mark Ruffalo (playing lawyer Robert Bilott) asks what’s a safe level of the pollutant – PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic Acid) and the answer is – one drop in an Olympic-sized swimming pool! You see Ruffalo’s face as he mentally adds up the amount of this chemical he’s seen flowing in streams near Parkersburg in West Virginia, and you know from his expression, pretty much the world’s water supply has been wiped out. Dupont has illegally dumped so much of this chemical that by now, it would have worked its way into the underground water system and there’s no saying how far it’s travelled. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RvAOuhyunhY?controls=0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> <h4 id="h-what-s-the-story-behind-dark-waters">What’s the story behind Dark Waters?</h4> Dark Waters is based on real-life events to do with the lawyer, Robert Bilott. Back in 1998, Bilott was working as a lawyer in Cincinnati when a cattle farmer called Wilbur Tennant (played by Bill Camp) visits him at work saying his cows are dying and he’s convinced the DuPont Chemical plant in town has something to do with it. At first Bilott isn’t interested – he tells the farmer he’s a defence lawyer and he “defends chemical companies.” But, as a favour to his grandmother, who knows the farmer, Bilott later drives to the farm to check it out. Once he gets there, he sees the property is a graveyard and the farmer tells him 190 of his cows have recently died. Bilott agrees to do some research and to find the environmental report DuPont, and the Environmental Protection Agency, wouldn’t share with the farmer. But what Bilott finds is far more deadly. He discovers a cover-up involving DuPont’s plant in the town of Parkersburg. He finds a synthetic chemical known as PFOA, which was created to coat army tanks in the war but was later used as a coating for cooking utensils – commonly known as Teflon – has been dumped in the area’s waterways for years. <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.54574132492115px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7843832/dark-waters-3-um.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/4fbfa27af6ae46b5b367a4550e95fbe6" /> From his research, Bilott finds DuPont has known about the dangers of PFOA and the fact it’s linked with deformities in babies and cancer in people. Even worse, he learns these synthetic chemicals are known as ‘forever chemicals’ because our bodies can’t break them down – so they stay in our systems forever. Bilott is hooked and knows he has to chase this case down to the very end and show Dupont they can’t do this sort of thing. As Bilott says later in the movie: “The system is rigged. They want us to think it will protect us. We protect us. We do.” Just how serious is this PFOA toxic waste? PFOA is one of a class of PFAS toxins or Perfluoroalkyl substances. They are are all man-made toxins and it’s estimated the majority of living creatures on earth now have PFASs in their bloodstream. Dark Waters is the first movie to document this story about PFASs and the film has had a major impact. When it was first released late in 2020 in the US, DuPont suffered a stock price fall. The full cinema release of the movie was delayed because of COVID-19 earlier this year but now you can watch the film on Binge, Apple TV and Prime Video. Does Dark Waters get its message across? Dark Waters is two hours long and a lot of it is fairly harrowing, documentary-style viewing. But to make sure we understand the fully story, this is the most realistic and compelling way. Some reviewers have said the subject matter deserved more but the low key, intense nature of how the film is made – produced by Todd Haynes – is far more persuasive than any other style. The understatement wins you over to the seriousness of what’s unfolding. We see the effect this harrowing, drawn-out legal battle has on Bilott’s family life with his wife, Sarah, (played by Anne Hathaway) and their sons. Ruffalo gives a strong, intense performance as Bilott and we can feel his commitment to the situation. Tim Robbins delivers a great performance as Bilott’s boss at his company, allowing him to keep working on this case even though it ends up taking 13 years to resolve. What’s the story behind PFOA and PFAs? Dark Waters highlights the dire reality of pollution from this class of harmful chemicals called PFAS. PFOA is just one of these and it’s found in Teflon, carpets, waterproof clothing, grease-proof paper and some packaging. Most people have heard of the dangers of PFOA and many frying pans now have packaging promoting they are ‘PFOA free.’ At a time like this with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting most of the world’s population, it’s even scarier to know that the health issues linked with PFAS contamination include a reduced response to vaccines. The threat of PFAS contamination is not limited to the US. There have been major contaminations in Europe and unfortunately, here in Australia, we’re not exempt either. A story in the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/toxic-secrets-where-the-sites-with-pfas-contamination-are-near-you-20180616-p4zlxc.html" target="_blank" aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)">Sydney Morning Herald,</a> written by Carrie Fellner and Patrick Begley in June 2018, reports at least 90 sites across Australia are now under investigation for elevated levels of PFAS chemicals. You can limit your exposure to PFAS The<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/factsheets/Pages/pfos.aspx" target="_blank" aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)"> NSW Health Department’s website</a> has lots of information about PFAS and what you can do to limit your exposure. Our Defence Department has manufactured these chemicals as well and so did an American company called 3M which operated within Australia. You can see the 90 sites where PFAS have contaminated the area on the map <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/toxic-secrets-where-the-sites-with-pfas-contamination-are-near-you-20180616-p4zlxc.html" target="_blank">below.</a> (This map is republished from a story in the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/toxic-secrets-where-the-sites-with-pfas-contamination-are-near-you-20180616-p4zlxc.html" target="_blank" aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)">Sydney Morning Herald, </a>written by Carrie Fellner and Patrick Begley in June 2018.) <img class="wp-image-118038" src="https://womenlovetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Dark-Waters-Map.jpg" alt="Dark Waters map" /> The <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/factsheets/Pages/pfos.aspx" target="_blank" aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)">NSW Health Department website </a>has some tips of what you can do to minimise your exposure to PFAS if you live in a PFAS affected area. This list includes being careful not to use groundwater, bore water or surface water for drinking or cooking. They say, using town water from the taps is OK but to be even safer, filtering your tap water would be a good idea. Images: Dark Waters

Movies

Woolies takes down “scary” displays while Coles stands firm

Image: Facebook and Getty A Coles customer did not receive quite the reaction they were expecting after sharing her concerns on Facebook over “frightening” in-store Halloween displays. The concerned mother slammed the Halloween displayed she encountered at the storefront of Coles' Ferny Grove store in Brisbane, claiming it is too scary for children. But a lot of people commenting on the post disagreed, accusing the shopper of being "overly sensitive”, and instead vehemently hoping the decorations would remain up. The display in question features a large skeletal prop looming over the front counter at the Brisbane shopfront, as well as several skeletons playfully suspended from the ceiling. “I was quite taken aback by the Halloween display at the storefront counter with the skulls and quite scary/frightening things and gravestones for young children to see,” wrote the concerned mum. She explained that she mentioned her concern for young children to the woman at the checkout and asked if she could raise it with the manager, but says her request was denied. “I do think that you should try to keep Halloween decorations in all stores light and not leaning too dark and scary/frightening for young children,” she said. “Not all of us want to explain to young children why there’s a skull at supermarket entrances when they cannot understand things yet, but just sees images and cannot choose what they wish to see or not.” A Coles spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia that stores are getting into the spirit of Halloween with spooky displays. “Every year we see more customers looking for ways to celebrate the fun of Halloween and some of our stores are getting into the spirit with spooky decorations.” “Our intention is to inspire customers, not frighten them, so we are grateful for customer feedback and will follow up with our stores.” Despite several customers echoing similar sentiments over the spooky Halloween displays popping up in Coles stores, the majority of people defended the supermarket. “I couldn’t disagree more. My three and six-year-old love the display, it’s a work of art and a great conversation piece,” wrote one Ferny Grove shopper in defence of the supermarket. "I’ve heard many positive comments and think this sensitivity is too much." Another wrote: “I really hope these stay". "The Ferny Grove team put an amazing amount of effort into it and the majority of locals love it. Hopefully one negative Karen doesn't ruin it for the rest of us,” they said. A third shopper wrote: “Love the Halloween display. My children have been brought up to be resilient and I talk to them and explain things, so they don't become scared of a plastic display." It’s not just Coles copping flak from customers over their Halloween displays, with Woolworths being forced to take down their spooky display in a Western Australian store. A local mother shared a post to Facebook on Friday, asking for the Grim Reaper skeletal display at Woolworths Esperance be taken down as it was “too scary”. “We want all customers to feel comfortable and welcome in our stores, and appreciate this customer's feedback on the decorations at her local store,” the Woolworths store said in a statement. “We have passed this feedback on to the store team, who have since amended the display.”

Legal

“Scary to talk about”: Changing discussions around breast cancer and sex

As one of the most common cancers in Australian women, the challenges of breast cancer are experienced by thousands of women each year. But one of the areas some say isn’t talked about enough is the impact of breast cancer on women’s sex lives and body image. “Health professionals are comfortable and used to talking about the side effects of chemotherapy like nausea and vomiting to patients, but many do not feel comfortable discussing the other side effects of treatment, and how these may impact intimate relationships,” says Kate White, a professor of cancer nursing from the University of Sydney Nursing School. “[Doctors] often wait for the patient to bring it up, rather than proactively explaining it as another potential side effect.” Medical oncologist Dr Belinda Kiely agrees that changes in the conversations around breast cancer and sex need to come from doctors. “We, as doctors, are very good at asking people about their pain, or their nausea or their constipation, but another line of questions should be ‘what’s happening with your sex life?’ or something along those lines,” she says. “I think we could do a better job of bringing it up and not relying on women to bring it up when it is a bit scary to talk about.” Dr Kiely also points out that changes in physical and mental symptoms can impact the sex lives of patients in various ways. Professor Fran Boyle agrees, noting that issues surrounding intimacy can arise when any serious illness is diagnosed. But, there are some issues unique to breast cancer patients when it comes to getting intimate with a partner, such as hormonal changes due to breast cancer treatment. “Breast cancer also affects a part of the body which is important for many women for arousal as well as body image, and, when sore or numb post-surgery, women may not wish to be touched on the breasts,” she says. “Hair loss from chemotherapy can also affect body image and relationships.” Other issues can include low libido, vaginal dryness or soreness, as well as hot flashes and sleeping problems, which Professor Boyle says can have an “impact on the desire for closeness”. A gap in the discussion Rebecca Angus was diagnosed with breast cancer at 33, and her eventual journey to recovery impacted her life in countless ways. In her experience, Rebecca found that discussions around sex with medical practitioners focused on medical aspects, leaving the effects on mental health unspoken. “Sex is explored at the beginning of chemotherapy education. However, it mainly focuses on fertility preservation, ovarian suppression and contraception during treatment,” Rebecca says. As Rebecca recovered, fatigue from treatment and medical restrictions on how she could engage in sexual activity had dramatic effects on her sex life. “You’ve got this cancer in your body that has tried to kill you, so you don’t have the best relationship with your body at that stage,” she says. “There are a lot of rules around when and how you can have sex as well. Your body for a while is not your own, it belongs to health professionals.” Though her experience may not be universal, Rebecca says, “Having a good sex life within a relationship is so valuable for anyone with cancer”. She also hopes to normalise conversations around these more sensitive topics so that women can obtain the help they need. “You can get help from your psychologists, gynaecologists and oncologists - your specialists are there to help you.” Professors White and Boyle will be appearing alongside Dr Kiely and Rebecca Angus for a Q&A all about breast cancer and sex on Thursday, September 30. <img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7844487/qa.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/0a06a22ca4574d9481ca358a26eeab95" /> Image: Supplied Let’s Talk About Sex is a free Q&A session run by The Breast Cancer Trials and moderated by journalist Annabel Crabb that offers the chance for anyone to ask questions about this important issue. The online event will take place between 5pm and 6.30pm, and attendees can register <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.breastcancertrials.org.au/qa-events" target="_blank">here</a>. Image: Getty Images

Body

Harry Potter star speaks about "scary" collapse

Harry Potter star Tom Felton has taken to social media to update fans on his condition after suffering a “scary” health related incident. The 34-year-old actor assured his followers that he was “on the mend” after collapsing during a celebrity golf match at the Ryder Cup in Wisconsin last week. “Hello everyone, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Just wanted to say a huge thank you for all the lovely well wishes as of recent,” Felton said in the video. “Bit of a scary episode, really – but on the mend, people have been taking really good care of me. So thank you very much to anyone who has sent messages of get well soon because I am on the mend, officially.” Switching into a singing voice he added: “Don’t you worry ‘cause Tom will be doing fine…So don’t you worry, Tom will be doing fine.” Tom was loaded onto a stretcher on the golf course on Thursday after reportedly collapsing at the 18th hole, and driven off for medical attention. <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7844428/new-project-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/d35583503cf7435bbf3d5fe3d6735134" /> Image: Getty The PGA of America confirmed the incident in a statement to CNN shortly afterwards. “In today’s Ryder Cup Celebrity Match, actor and Musician Tom Felton experienced a medical incident on the course while participating for Europe,” A spokesperson said. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment. No further details were available. Felton is best known for playing Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter franchise – a role he landed at 14 years old. He went on to appear in all eight Harry Potter movies.

Body

"I'm in hospital": Lisa Curry shares scary hospital experience

Former Olympian Lisa Curry has shared that she has been in hospital for the last five days as she was admitted for chest pains. Even more surprisingly, no clear cause had been found yet. "I'm in hospital. It's day 5 after coming in with chest pain, a wide squeezing band around my chest and back. All my tests are good. Everyone is stumped," <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.nowtolove.com.au/tags/lisa-curry" target="_blank">Lisa</a> wrote. <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRSC5bzLc7E/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRSC5bzLc7E/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Lisa Curry AO (@lisacurry)</a> </div> </blockquote> She shared a photo of her late daughter Jaimi, saying that you "can't test for heartache". "For every beautiful photo of our girl , there are 10 sad ones. As I lie here thinking about our Jaimi, I wanted to show you how much she hurt too. Broken hearted by things that people said to her and did to her." "There are many people, like Jaimi, who are beautiful, soft, fragile, sensitive, and are taken advantage of, their trust misused and abused," she continued. "There are some really questionable people who take advantage of others who are fragile, who go on to live their lives not having a clue the damage they've left." "You don't go through each one and tick it off - they overlap, they come and go constantly," she wrote. "You never know what will trigger the heart ache, or the tears… it could be a word, a thought, a song, a photo, a memory, a hug from a stranger… all we need is a hug… and understanding… nothing even needs to be said." She ended the post pleading with her followers to seek medical help if they've experienced any kind of chest pain.

Caring

“Every second feels like hours”: Amazing moment a kidnapping is foiled

Terrifying bodycam footage has been released by US authorities of the moment police foiled the kidnapping of a six-year-old girl. The video shows the moment when Jason Burba, an officer from the Louisville Metro Police Department, approached a red sedan after the suspect was in custody, opened the passenger door and found the child who had been snatched from her bike and thrown into the car. After saying “hello”, the officer began to reassure the little girl. “It’s OK,” he told her as he picked her up. “Come here, it’s OK.” Burba is then seen walking to a police vehicle while the child, who was not physically harmed, can be heard crying, “I want my daddy.” During a police press conference, Burba, who is a father of four, admitted the cry went straight to his heart. “It was tough,” Burba told WAVE 3 News while fighting back tears. “You have kids.” Burba’s sergeant, Joseff Keeling, is also a dad to a young child. Both officers said they felt the same panic as any parent would if their child had been kidnapped. Keeling said all police units stopped what they were doing when they received reports a man had pulled a child off her bike before throwing her in the back of his red vehicle by her collar. Neighbours who had followed the car wrote down three of the digits on the licence plate and gave them to police. “It’s like the world stops,” Burba said of the search. “Like every second feels like hours.” Keeling told radio station WHAS that he saw the car and followed it as it pulled into a driveway. In Keeling’s bodycam footage, he can be seen pulling the vehicle over and ordering the driver to get out of the car with his hands up. “When I approached the vehicle, I didn’t know what was going to be behind that door,” he told WAVE. “The windows, the tint was so dark.” Robby Wildt, 40, was arrested, charged with kidnapping a minor, and booked into Louisville Metro Corrections on a US $1 (AUD $1.34) million bond. In an interview with WHAS, Keeling credited the witnesses for providing a good description of the car and recording part of the number plate. Image: Louisville Metro Police Department

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"Scary": The Project slams new government ad about COVID

<div class="body_text redactor-styles redactor-in"> Lisa Wilkinson and fellow Channel 10 stars are furious at the latest advertisement that warns about the dangers of COVID-19. The government-approved advertisement shows a terrified young woman struggling to breathe on a ventilator and will run on free-to-air television across the nation from Sunday night. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Here’s the Government ad which will run in Sydney tonight. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19nsw?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID19nsw</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID19</a> ⚠️ Some viewers may find the video confronting ⚠️ <a href="https://t.co/wdVf9akprl">pic.twitter.com/wdVf9akprl</a> — Ricardo Gonçalves (@BUSINESSricardo) <a href="https://twitter.com/BUSINESSricardo/status/1414100513918906369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 11, 2021</a></blockquote> The advertisement is aimed at showing Australians that the virus can impact everyone and not just the elderly, but comedian Nazeem Hussain had other ideas. "The ad is acting like it's on the population, like it's our fault that the vaccination rates are so low but actually it's a supply problem," comedian Nazeem Hussain said. "The government needs to take responsibility. We should make an ad for the government to go and get some more friggin' vaccines." Lisa Wilkinson said that the message is "confusing". "We've gone from the Dr Nick Coatsworth ad where he is not wearing a face mask, he doesn't do any QR code check-in, he doesn't hand sanatise before he walks into that cafe, to this scare campaign," she said. "I would have thought there should have been something in between the two." Third panellist Jan Fran said that she had "no idea" what message the government was trying to send. "The person in that ad looks under 40. So what they are saying is you are a young person and you could have some severe consequences from getting Covid, but you are not eligible for any of the vaccines," the comedian said. "So it's like what do you want me to do?" NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has pointed to the low vaccination rates as a reason as to why Sydney is in such a strict lockdown. "NSW - in fact, no state or nation or any country on the planet - can live with the Delta variant when our vaccination rates are so low," she said. "So please, do not think that the NSW Government thinks we can live with this when our rate of vaccination is only at 9 per cent. "Because if we chose to live with this while the rates of vaccinations are at 9 per cent, we will see thousands and thousands of hospitalisations and death." Prime Minister Scott Morrison has already claimed that the lockdown in Sydney is "absolutely not" due to vaccine delays and that government officials have always planned for Australia to still be in the "suppression phase" by July 2021. </div>

Caring

"Crazy": Terrifying three-metre find clogging up toilet

A man has had to call in the fire department after a "crazy" find in his toilet. Crews from Iskandar Puteri Fire Station in Malaysia were called to the bathroom of a house after the man was reportedly bitten on the bottom last month. The toilet was checked and firefights removed a 3.6-metre python from the toilet bowl. The size of the serpent was so large that it broke some of the piping, the fire department revealed. The snake was released safely outside. On Facebook, the snake’s “scary” bathroom exploits had some people spooked. “Be careful in the bathroom after this,” one woman wrote. “Don't forget to close the bathroom door too.” One man called it “crazy”, while another woman wrote it had her worried about using the bathroom at work. As for why the snake was slithering through the pipes, some suggested it’s possible the recent hot weather was to blame and the toilet-dwelling serpent was seeking a place to cool down.

Family & Pets

Couple's heart-stopping moment as snake hitches ride on windscreen

A North Queensland couple has filmed the heart-stopping moment a large snake hitched a ride as they sped through a busy highway. Melissa Hudson and her partner Rodney Griggs were driving along the Bruce Highway when a 3m carpet snake slithered up the bonnet of the car and onto the windscreen. The video posted to social media shows the pair laughing hysterically as they desperately try to remove the slithering reptile. “What are we going to do Mel?,” Griggs is heard asking while driving. “Just keep driving, you concentrate on the road,” Hudson responded while laughing. “He can’t get in the f****** car can he?,” Griggs asks. “How are we going to get out?” They even turned on their wipers in an attempt to remove the serpent. In the end, they pulled over to the side of the highway where a brave traffic controller removed the snake with his hands.

Family & Pets

"I felt violated": Mum finds intruder living in her roof

A Queensland mother has been left in a state of shock after discovering a stranger had been living in her roof. Monica Green from Norman Gardens in Rockhampton said she had noticed things were out of place in her home in recent months, but had dismissed her own concerns. However, on Monday, she arrived home early from a doctor's appointment and discovered the house to be a mess. The air conditioner was turned on, the back door was left open, and a half cooked meal of chicken nuggets was left on the kitchen counter, prompting Ms Green to immediately call the police. The police had discovered an attic door, which had been left askew. “I felt like it was something out of a horror film,” she said. “Why was he in the roof? What was his intentions? Was he here to harm us? Was he here to steal one of my kids? “I’m meant to be the one that protects them and I feel like I’ve failed.” Before she was made aware of the intruder, she had noticed food had gone missing, and her security camera had been disabled. Jason Milner from Queensland Police said the incident was “certainly unique”. “It’s not a usual break and enter occurrence”. “I felt violated. I felt like my personal space had been invaded. I felt shocked, terrified, scared,” Ms Green told the Courier Mail. She believes they initially gained entry to her home by stealing her car keys. Queensland Police are investigating the incident.

News

"I was petrified": Rebel Wilson reveals she was kidnapped at gunpoint

Rebel Wilson has spoken about the horrifying moment she was kidnapped at gunpoint by a group of men in rural Africa. The Australian actress appeared on the UK TV special Ant Middleton & Rebel Wilson: Straight Talking, where she was interviewed by SAS Australia instructor Ant Middleton. Speaking to the 40-year-old, Wilson was asked about the moment where she felt the most fear in her life. She revealed that she had been travelling with a group of women in Mozambique when they were ambushed by armed men. “We were on this cattle truck and these men came on another truck with a lot of guns. (They pulled up beside us) with the big guns and they were like, ‘Yeah, you’ve got to get off your truck.’” she said. Wilson said the group was taken to a house and held hostage overnight. “I felt like I was very good in the crisis. I was like a team leader,” she added. “They sat us down, and I said, ‘Everybody link arms,’ because I was petrified in the night that they might want to take one of the girls or something.” They were allowed to leave the next day. “They came and said, ‘Your truck is ready now. You can go, go, go,’” she said. “We just got back on that truck and got out of there and crossed the South African border a few hours later.” The Pitch Perfect star still doesn't know the reasoning behind the kidnapping, but she's developed her own theory. “I think maybe those guys, maybe, used us to smuggle illegal things in the bottom of the truck,” she added. She did not specify when the incident happened.

Travel Trouble

Huge snake hitches a ride on moving car

A driver has gotten the fright of his life when a large snake made a surprise appearance on his car window as he and his partner were driving along a road in regional NSW. Couple Rachael Pace and boyfriend Kyle Vella were driving in Stroud, on the NSW mid north coast, when the snake hitched a ride with their car. Ms Pace filmed the terrifying incident, showing the reptile pop up next to her boyfriend's window as he was driving. Mr Vella yelled out "holy s**t" as the snake slithers along his closed window. “Oh my god, what the f*** do we do,” he asked his girlfriend in the video. But the snake seemed to be enjoying the ride as it laid along the base of the window. “What are we going to do?” Ms Pace said. “Look how big it is, it goes back there,” she said as she pointed the camera to the rear of their ute. “It’s going to fall off,” Mr Vella said. He eventually managed to pull over, but as he shook his door to move the snake, it didn't seem to budge. The encounter has since gone viral on social media, garnering over 100 comments and 400 shares on Facebook. “It’s not every day that you’re driving and a snake casually pops up,” she said in the post on New Year’s Eve. Eventually, a kind neighbour who lived across the road from where they parked their car, came out and helped them get the snake off their car. Ms Pace said the snake was released into a nearby creek. NSW Poisons Information Centre Senior Specialist, Genevieve Adamo, said the state’s snake season peaked in late December and January. She urged people to watch out for snakes and spiders outdoors as the weather heated up during the summer holidays. “Australia has some of the most venomous snakes in the world, so it’s important people seek immediate medical assistance for all suspected bites,” she said. “If someone is bitten by a snake you should keep them still, call an ambulance and apply a pressure immobilisation bandage. “Tight tourniquets should not be applied and the bite site should not be washed, cut or sucked.”

Family & Pets

Woman’s horrifying discovery in Kmart bra

A Victorian woman has taken to Facebook to share a horrifying discovery inside a Kmart bra. Katie Harrison Pring posted a photo of a spider on the cup of a bra to the Kmart Mums Facebook group, which was enough to make anyone’s skin crawl. “Not the only one shopping for bras today,” Ms Harrison Pring captioned the image. Hundred’s of people flocked to the comments, sharing their terrified reactions, with one woman saying that she’d “need new underwear if I saw that”. <img style="width: 321.95448460508703px; height: 500px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7839049/screen-shot-2020-12-03-at-21317-pm.png" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/c0da97b735704d4cba1bd1437aeec413" /> “Lucky you’re already in the underwear section,” one woman added. “Kudos for getting close enough for a photo. Those damn things can jump like an Olympic triple jumper,” another wrote. “I now understand the burning of the bras!” quipped one user, while others added the whole shop should be “burned to the ground”. When asked which store it was so other people could avoid paying a visit, Ms Harrison Pring said it's “lucky” Ballarat has more than one Kmart. “That’s how you know you’re in Australia!” commented another member of the group.

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"Scary": The Project slams new government ad about COVID

"Crazy": Terrifying three-metre find clogging up toilet

Couple's heart-stopping moment as snake hitches ride on windscreen

"I felt violated": Mum finds intruder living in her roof

"I was petrified": Rebel Wilson reveals she was kidnapped at gunpoint

Huge snake hitches a ride on moving car

Woman’s horrifying discovery in Kmart bra

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