Day 4097: Survivors and Volcanic Lightning.

   

"Too Long": junk collage, digital.

 

Want music?

    Click here: FKJ & Masago, Tadow.

2GN2S ...

They met as babies fighting for their lives. Now they're college roommates.

The two newborn babies had the same critical heart condition and were placed in intensive care rooms next to each other at a Texas children's hospital. Both sets of parents were told their infants had about a 40 percent chance of survival. "It was so scary and stressful," recalled Kimberly Rippentrop, 54. "We weren't given  much hope.

Her son, Seth Rippentrop, and the infant in an adjacent hospital room, Tate Lewis, pulled through after weeks in the hospital following surgeries for hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital condition where the heart's left side doesn't form correctly.

"We'd see each other at camp every year and we were assigned to the same cabin," said Seth, 21. "Whenever we'd start talking, it was like no time had passed. We'd immediately pick up where we left off." Tate said the pair quickly bonded because they could each relate to what the other was going through

Now 21 years later, they're together again - this time as roommates at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Tate & Seth

Seth is on the dean's list and is studying physics, while Tate is majoring in business administration and plays on the golf team.

At some point, Tate and Seth may require heart transplants, Leonard said, but for now, they're both thriving.

To read full story, here

 

 I only picked three from the "The week in 35 photos", less than usual, but the Editor's note: This gallery contains graphic images. Viewer discretion is advised. a sign of our times.

Hundreds of sheep are led through Madrid's Puerta del Sol plaza on Sunday, October 22, during an annual parade in defense of grazing and migration rights.

 

 

 

Canada's Nyl Yakura and Xingyu Dong celebrate winning their men's doubles gold medal match at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, on October 25.

Volcanic lightning flashes over Mount Sakurajima as it erupts in Kagoshima, Japan, on October 24.

 

 

 

A 3+ minute video, Donald Margulies, here.

 

Just because ...

Pin-tailed Whydah

Thursday's Smiles ...