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A life-changing recovery, a rescued sea turtle and more uplifting stories
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Good morning.
When Billy Caldwell was a baby, doctors told his mother he would not survive past his first birthday because of severe epilepsy that caused hundreds of seizures per day.
Now, having celebrated his 21st birthday, Billy is seizure-free and enjoying trips to the beach with his family. His remarkable recovery came after cannabis-based treatment drastically improved his condition – and his family’s fight to access it helped change UK law in 2018.
His mother, Charlotte, is grateful for the treatment. “Prescription cannabis has not only given me back my right back as a mummy to hope,” she says, “but more importantly, has given Billy his right back to life.”
Read on for more uplifting stories.
The Guardian newsletters team
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Joy in Hollywood as historic Cinerama dome to reopen
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 The Cinerama dome – complete with Minions from Despicable Me – in Los Angeles, California, on 30 June 2015. Photograph: Jim Steinfeldt/Getty Images
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The celebrated Cinerama dome is set to reopen in 2028, eight years after it closed in 2020, reports Matthew Cantor, in a hopeful sign for LA’s cinema culture. The historic 1963 theatre became a symbol of the struggles facing moviegoing after the Covid pandemic, prompting a grassroots campaign to save it. Its reopening comes amid a broader resurgence at the box office, driven by younger audiences, social media and a renewed appetite for communal experiences.
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The Feast app: your most useful kitchen utensil
Get inspired with more than 7,000 recipes from our world-class cooks and smart, exclusive features to make cooking a breeze.
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Rhossi, a rare sea turtle, recovers after 5,000-mile trek from Texas to Wales
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Rhossi, a critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, is prepared to undergo a CT scan at the Houston zoo in Texas on 11 August. Photograph: Evan Garcia/Reuters
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When Rhossi, a young Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, was discovered on a beach in Wales in December 2023, he was fighting for his life. The Kemp’s ridley sea turtle is one of the world’s most endangered sea turtle species, and Rhossi had found himself washed up about 5,000 miles from his native Gulf of Mexico by the Atlantic Ocean’s powerful marine currents.
Nearly three years on, however, Rhossi is thriving once again thanks to the intervention of Anglesey Sea zoo and, most recently, the Houston zoo, which assumed Rhossi’s care after the turtle took a transatlantic flight there last week. Despite lingering pneumonia, Rhossi is reported to be “healthy, active and vigorous”, and should be fit for release back into the wild in the near future.
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The Edinburgh fringe shows turning painful breakups into comedy
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Elf Lyons is starring at the Edinburgh fringe. Photograph: Richard Lakos
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Breakups are usually the stuff of sad songs, but three shows at this year’s Edinburgh fringe are taking a more inventive approach, Brian Logan writes. Elf Lyons turns the collapse of her relationship into surreal, emotionally charged theatre; Kate Dehnert combines standup, rave and primal scream after a decade-long relationship ends; and Ele McKenzie finds the comedy in moving back in with her parents. Three very different takes on heartbreak, and proof that sometimes the finest comedy material comes from wreckage.
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A volunteering trip in Scotland to ‘give something back to the hills’
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Stac Pollaidh’s ‘porcupine ridge’ summit. Photograph: Tonywestphoto/Getty Images
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The Outdoor Access Trust for Scotland is a vital environmental charity promoting and preserving sustainable public access to the great outdoors. With essential funding limited, volunteers are at the heart of their work, rolling up their sleeves in some of the country’s most breathtaking spots of natural beauty to build and repair footpaths, infrastructure and habitats. Writer Mike MacEacheran recently joined them on one of their regular events and found a “joyful shared experience” that proves as good for the soul as it does the natural world.
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How one American couple ditched their lawn and created a wildlife haven
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Crystal Fritz and James Reed McGuire at home in Highland Park, Illinois. Photograph: Thalia Juarez/The Guardian
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James Reed McGuire and Crystal Fritz were novice gardeners when they made the move from inner-city Chicago out to the suburb of Highland Park. They knew one thing, though: they didn’t simply want their front garden to be a piece of turf – so they set about transforming it through rewilding.
What was once a boring lawn is now a thriving ecosystem that attracts and supports birds, butterflies, bees, rabbits, bats, foxes and more, while their efforts have been recognised by the National Wildlife Federation, which designated the space a Certified Wildlife Habitat. “It’s really a stunning environment,” says McGuire. “It brings us a lot of peace and tranquility in a very troubled world.”
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| When my teenage son was struggling, my partner reached him in ways I couldn’t |
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After a catastrophic falling out with university friends, Lola’s 19-year-old son was struggling to see the light. Enter Lola’s boyfriend, who made all the difference – connecting with her son and helping turn things around. It was a learning experience for the whole family, Lola included: “Watching you step in taught me that I didn’t always have to be the one to fix things,” she says. Here, she thanks her boyfriend from the bottom of her heart.
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