A scrapyard cut open an old safe and found $26,000 in old -- but still good -- coins and bills inside, reported. The scrap dealer said he plans to donate the money to charity. David Dodds, the managing director of Sackers, a scrapyard and scrap metal dealer in Ipswich, has a theory about how the safe full of money came to be in his possession. "The suspicion is it could have been an old factory that was due for demolition and it was in the corner of their offices. When it's demolished then all the scrap goes into the bin, comes into the works and then we treat it," he said. According to , Dodds said that lots of safes come through his business, but it's exceptionally rare for anything to be found inside, much less anything valuable. Nevertheless, back in April, his crew opened up four safes that had wound up in their scrapyard. Three, not unexpectedly, contained nothing at all. The fourth one, however, contained the huge cash haul. Many of the bills were damaged from water that had seeped in over the years. Similarly, much of it was so old that it is no longer considered legal tender in Britain, although it can be exchanged for more modern money. The money was put into police custody. The police said that they wanted to see if it was somehow the proceeds of a crime. Additionally, they said they wanted to give anyone who could be the money's rightful owner a chance to make their case and claim it. At least one person tried to convince the police the money was theirs, but "within about 30 nanoseconds" authorities realized the person had no case. After a few months, a court determined that the money rightfully belonged to the scrapyard. However, Dodds won't be keeping the money. Instead, he said he would be donating it to two hospitals: East Anglian Children's Hospice and St. Elizabeth Hospice. "We wanted to give the money to somewhere local so it could really make a difference," said Helen Crapnell, the marketing manager at Sackers. As reported at the time by , back in June a tourist visited a small Canadian museum that had been in possession of a safe for decades, unable to open it but letting tourists take a crack at it. The tourist was able to open it on the first try. Unfortunately, the only things in the safe were a handful of receipts and an old notebook.
The mother of a college student who died after choking during a charity pancake eating contest has reportedly reached a settlement with the school where the tragic incident took place. Caitlin Nelson was taking part in the charity event at Sacred Heart University in 2017 when she began to choke while eating. As the reported, two nursing students saw her begin to choke and immediately administered aid, and police and paramedics later joined in treating the college student. But Nelson did not recover, suffering severe brain damage due to a lack of oxygen and eventually dying after being taken to a nearby hospital and later transferred to another in New York City. The young woman's mother, Roseanne Nelson, had filed a wrongful death suit against the the following year claiming that the event was too dangerous to have taken place. She reportedly reached a settlement this week. Her lawyer confirmed that the lawsuit had now been dropped but did not give details about what damages may have been included, the Independent reported. As the report added, the mother claimed that the school should have been aware of the dangers of having students eat the thick pancakes so quickly, and she also said they failed to have proper medical personnel on hand. The event had been organized by a sorority to benefit Prevent Child Abuse America, the outlet added. Nelson fell ill as she struggled to eat so quickly, the suit claimed, and soon collapsed. "When the buzzer rang, Caitlin did what nearly all amateurs do: she stuffed pancakes in her mouth much faster than she could swallow," the suit stated, via ."Moments later, Caitlin started to shake uncontrollably and then collapsed."Sacred Heart had filed its own lawsuit against the food service provider, claiming it was responsible and seeking for it to pay out the damages, but the university dropped it when the settlement was reached. As the CT Post reported, the 20-year-old was remembered as a kind and loving person, and a playground was dedicated in her honor in her hometown. "She was a selfless, loving, wise, and warm-hearted woman. She saw life as an opportunity to assist those in need," her sister, Anne Nelson, said at the park's dedication."Caitlin treated each and every person with respect, never failing to put a smile on someone's face."Caitlin Nelson had already been in the spotlight during her youth, as her father was a New York City Port Authority police officer who died on 9/11.
As early as 2,800 years ago, Romans would flock to the Circus Maximus to be entertained with chariot races. Now, the ancient site has been transformed into an outdoor venue for the Rome Opera House's summer season. Chris Livesay talks to soprano Rosa Feola about how Circus Maximus is the savior of Italian Opera.
Volunteering is one of the few things we can still do in lockdown — and doing good feels good too. Katie Strick has a guide to the fantastic charities you can help now
