Archive for the ‘Stories of the week’ Category

Court battle for M-way crash Good Samaritan

Monday, May 24th, 2010

tolleymail1Here’s a story from SellThatStory that can’t fail to provoke a reaction. David Tolley dashed across a motorway to rescue a driver who’d crashed, and to move her car so there wouldn’t be a pile-up.

He was struck by two vehicles, thrown 35ft along the carriageway and left in wheelchair, virtually paralysed below the chest.

Insurance companies tried to claw back up to a third of his compensation settlement, claiming he was partly to blame.

It’s the first known case of insurers challenging a “rescuer” over liability.  The judge ruled in favour of David.  He was represented in his legal battle by Ed Fletcher who himself suffered a spinal cord injury in a motorbike accident.

David’s story appeared in the Daily Mail, Daily Express, Daily Telegraph and Daily Mirror.

Corrie’s Michelle Keegan tells us of her cancer heartache

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

michellekeegan0001Michelle Keegan, voted Britain’s sexiest soap star, opened her heart to SellThatStory and told of her secret cancer heartache.

Her gran was diagnosed with “the secret killer” – ovarian cancer. And though Michelle, 22, kept it secret from her Coronation Street colleagues, she says it helped her act some of her most tearful scenes as on-screen dad Joe McIntyre lost his fight for life.

Click here to read the full two-page spread that appeared in the Daily Mirror.

And if you have a moving health story of your own, contact us at info@sellthatstory.com

Sunblock gave me rickets

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

ricketsHelen Smith thought she was taking sensible precautions when she put on factor 50 sunblock to protect her fair skin.

She had no idea that it would giver her rickets.  Helen, a 38-year-old nurse, kept the sunlight off herself so effectively that she developed a vitamin D deficiency.

She suffered excruciating joint pains for almost a decade before doctors diagnosed rickets, a disease more commonly associated with child malnourishment.

Helen’s story appeared in the Mirror after she told it to www.SellThatStory.com and you can read the full version here.

If you have a remarkable health story, drop us a quick email at info@sellthatstory.com

Trawling the web for an illicit encounter

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

illicitCan an affair help a marriage?

Or will it inevitably end in disaster?  Radio 4′s Woman’s Hour looks at one website which helps people who are looking for an affair to find sex locally. 

A couple speak openly about how the wife’s affair – begun after 13 years of marriage - actually strengthened their relationship.

But Angela, appearing on the programme, says that “industrialising” the process of infidelity is morally reprehensible. “It’s playing Russian roulette with your marriage,” she says.

Follow this link to hear a fascinating interview.

Caught in the age trap for cervical cancer checks

Sunday, March 21st, 2010

cervical0001

It’s a year since Jade Goody died of cervical cancer.

Her plight aroused huge debate on the government’s screening programme in England, which is available only to women aged 25 or over.

Stacey Davies, a beauty therapist from Manchester, is 22.  Despite her mum having had a cervical cancer scare, her GP has repeatedly told her she’s too young for the smear test.

And she’s unable to get the HPV vaccine which is now routinely given to schoolgirls, because she’s too old.

Stacey’s story appears in today’s Sunday Express thanks to SellThatStory.

If you have a story to tell- and a story to sell – click here and see how SellThat Story can help you.

My daughter grew another head and other true life stories

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Bizarre title, bizarre programme.

But if you’ve always wanted to know about the first man in the UK to have a bum implant, or why a jailed cannibal insists on sending recipes to his friend, who’s a chef, then this is the week’s must-not-miss TV for you.

Find out why it was that Henry was prepared to sepend £7,000 on a nicer bottom. And why a mother thinks her baby looks like a snail. And how a woman survived an attack by a python – and fought it off with a cheese grater.

As for the daughter who grew another head, you’ll have to watch the programme to find out.

Cutting Edge, 9pm Thursday, Channel 4.

True love for Edith, 84, and Joseph, 92

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

goldenoldies0001Here’s a heart-warmer for Valentine’s Day, courtesy of SellThatStory. It’s in today’s Sunday People, in their Take It Easy magazine.

Joseph Gadion, 92, was the “Casanova” of the day centre for the elderly in Manchester. It was Edith Black, 84, who caught his eye.

He’d been married before, for 59 years, and she for 50, but they were both happy to prove age was no barrier for their love.

Do you have an amazing love story?  Email us at info@sellthatstory.com

 “How do I sell my story?” It’s just a click away with SellThatStory.com

Lottie, the amazing TV extra, aged 98

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

lottieblogShe’s Britain’s oldest TV extra, at the amazing age of 98.

This was our favourite story of the week at SellThatStory.  Lottie Goodwin started her professional acting career on Emmerdale when she started drawing her pension, and she’s still going strong 38 years later.

It was a delight talking to Lottie at her home in Altrincham, Cheshire.  She really is incredible for her age and it is honestly no surprise that people think she’s in her 70s.

Read our story about Lottie in the Manchester Evening News or in the Daily Mirror.

 “How do I sell my story?” It’s just a click away with SellThatStory.com

If you have a story about someone who is amazing for their age, contact SellThatStory.  You can email us at info@sellthatstory.com or phone 0161 660 9404.

Miracle marigolds saved my sight

Sunday, December 13th, 2009

macularAs a retired optician Harry Marsland knew that the eye condition he had meant only one thing: He would lose his sight.

Every single eye expert was in agreement.  What he had – age-related dry macular degeneration – was untreatable.

And yet Harry, 73, is adamant that he has proved them wrong – and that an extraxt from marigolds has restored his vision to near-perfect.

Before he started taking the tablets he needed his wife to guide him as he walked in the dark.  Now he can drive a car.

If you’ve defied the docs, if you believe you’re a medical miracle, we want to hear from you.  Harry’s story was in the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Express this week.

If the question’s “How do I sell my story?” then the answer’s just a click away.

Email us at info@sellthatstory.com or call John or Angela on 0161 660 9404.

Trapped in a coma for 23 years

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Once in a while there’s a story so amazing that it goes worldwide. 

It doesn’t matter where it happened because nobody on the planet could read it and fail to react.

The story of car crash victim Rom Houben is a perfect example.

For 23 year doctors were convinced he was in a coma.

In truth he was completely conscious.  He was totally paralysed but he his brain was unaffected, he could see, he could hear.

“I screamed, but there was nothing to hear,” he told German magazine Der Spiegel.

Medics finally realised he wasn’t in a persistent vegetative state after all.

Now he can communicate with a specially-adapted computer and he says he feels like he’s been re-born.