Fourteen Heartwarming, Inspiring And Truly Remarkable Stories From 2013

Like every other year, 2013 has brought its ups and downs. However as the old saying goes, it's how you deal with the situation that makes you the person that you are. These next 14 stories showcase some of the most heartwarming and truly remarkable people we've come across this year.  There is no denying the world is full of a lot of special people, these are just a few of the people that stood out for us. WARNING: Grab a tissue, this might make you slightly teary.   1. “There Is Still A Lot Of Decent People In Ireland” The words of Hector Ó hEochagáin the morning he shared on Twitter a letter that had been sent in for his attention to national radio station 2FM back in Spring. A listener to Hector’s popular breakfast show was, like the rest of the nation, deeply saddened to hear the news last week that jockey JT McNamara had been left paralysed after a devastating fall at Cheltenham.   2. Parents Heartwarming Gesture To Celebrate Deceased Daughter’s Birthday A couple wanted to mark their daughter’s birthday, who had sadly passed away two years ago, by purchasing a meal for complete strangers. This image was posted to imgur with the caption: “My friend got handed this while out for dinner.”   3. Heroes Come In Many Forms, This Lovely Gentleman Saves His Pension Money For Food For The Dog Shelter The gentleman in the picture arrives at the Carrick dog shelter annually, bringing food for the animals. He is a pensioner who saves his money for the dogs every year because he can’t keep one himself. Some people are truly remarkable.   4. Hero Bus Driver Saves Woman From Jumping Off Bridge This man stopped his bus and helped encourage a woman  not to jump off a bridge. Hero. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9l2TaLb9Xs#t=44   5. Boy With Stutter Finds His Voice For The First Time Educating Yorkshire is a hit Channel 4 documentary series, that followed the daily lives of staff and pupils at Thornhill Community Academy, near Dewsbury. The final episode showed one very moving scene that has since become an Internet viral sensation. Musharaf Asghar has almost been silent since the age of five, having battled endlessly with a speech impediment and for the first time in his life, he managed to overcome his stammer thanks to the efforts of his teacher Mr. Burton. Burton found inspiration to help the 17-year-old boy with his condition from the Hollywood film, The King’s Speech. After years of therapy that did not work, Asghar addressed his peers in an emotional and courageous assembly speech. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFXl27z5sIE   6. Wonderful Note Left On A Veteran's Girlfriend's Car A passer-by noticed a sticker on the back of her car which said “my heart is in Afghanistan” and decided to leave a note with some money instructing her to take her boyfriend out for dinner when he returns home.   7. Batkid - Thousands Turn Out To Fulfil 5-Year-Old Boy’s Superhero Dream Batkid, or 5-year-old Miles Scott, touched hearts worldwide in November when he became Batman for a day. Miles is in remission from leukemia and the Make-A-Wish foundation organised the unique experience. The response was nothing short of amazing.   8. So DeGeneres – Ellen Rewards Waitress With $10,000 For Her Random Act Of Kindness Sarah Hoidahl is a waitress at a restaurant Ruby Tuesdays in New Hampshire. When serving a table she heard two female National Guard soldiers discuss their lunch, telling the waitress they didn’t want anything too pricey as they weren’t being paid due to the government shutdown. In a random act of kindness, Sarah decided to pick up the $27.75 lunch tab and wrote the ladies a sweet note, which was then posted onto Facebook and within hours went viral. Ellen de Generes wanted to repay the 22-year-old... This is pretty special. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUmaLRCiGZY   9. Man Leaves Enormous Tip For Waitress To Realise Her Dream Of Travelling To Italy The lady who received the tip had told the customer about her dream of travelling to Italy.   10. One Man’s Small Gesture On New York Subway Goes Viral A compassionate picture of a man riding the subway in New York, letting another man sleep on his shoulder, went viral a few months ago. The image uploaded online was accompanied by this message: “Heading home on the Q train yesterday when this young black guy nods off on the shoulder of a Jewish man. The man doesn’t move a muscle, just lets him stay there. After a minute, I asked the man if he wanted me to wake the kid up, but he shook his head and responded, ‘He must have had a long day, let him sleep. We’ve all been there, right?’”[sic] The Jewish man, Isaac Theil, managed to be tracked down and speculated why the image had proven so popular on the web. “Maybe the photo wouldn’t have become so popular if people weren’t seeing a Jewish man with a yarmulke and a black man in a hood, and because they might not necessarily correlate the two,”  he suggested. “But there is only one reason that I didn’t move, and let him continue sleeping, and that has nothing to do with race. He was simply a human being who was exhausted, and I knew it and happened to be there and have a big shoulder to offer him.”   11. Boy Writes Plea to Santa Asking If He Can Stop Kids Bullying His Sister Ryan Suffern, an 8-year-old boy wrote one of the most selfless letters we’ve ever seen. The young lad sent an early plea to Santa Claus asking him if he could intervene and stop his twin sister from being bullied at school.   12. One Woman’s Final Gesture for a Dying Friend In late 2010, Iowa woman Laura Brammeier was diagnosed with multiple brain tumours, just weeks after Laura had become engaged to her partner of three years, Nate Yoho. Eager to start a family the thirty-year-old woman froze her eggs before undergoing chemotherapy. In 2011 the couple married. Sadly in the same year the tumours returned and due to her physical condition carrying a baby would now be impossible. Laura’s best friend of 24 years Kara Stetson a married mother of two offered to become a surrogate. In July a baby shower was held at the Yoho house, with Kara 5 months into the pregnancy, however just days after the celebrations, Laura lost her battle to cancer. This month, little Caralyn Yoho was welcomed to the world by an adoring father. Before passing Laura and her husband filmed videos for her daughter that she would never meet. “Part of it’s having a little bit of my wife back, I can see her when my daughter smiles. It just makes me content with everything,” Nate said.   13. Invisible Dogs Seen For The First Time In the major cities over the world animals are being abandoned on the street. Two college students, Violeta Caro Pinda and Felipe Carrasco Guzman decided to raise awareness of the plight of homeless pups in Chile with a creative approach. The duo made this heart-warming video showing what creaticity and passion can do to engage strangers, and spread both happiness and kindness. The pair tied balloons to street dogs with phrases such as, “hug me,” “play with me” and “don’t leave me.”   14. The Spirit of Christmas – Heartbreaking Tale Spurs Amazing Act of Kindness for One Irish Family This is a story that touched our hearts only two weeks ago and we know the term, “proud to be Irish” is a little cliché, but it encompasses just how we were feeling after hearing this poignant and extremely emotional tale on 2FM. Sian and Eric met 14-years-ago while working for Dell and together they have two boys aged 7 and 9. In May 2012, Eric was diagnosed with leukaemia, after two bone marrow transplants and the cancer returning in the summer, Eric then developed an infection that many transplant patients suffer from after the operation and unfortunately the condition was in his liver. In an interview with Ryan Tubridy on 2FM Sian, who extremely upset, explained she was desperate to find somewhere to stay over the Christmas period and emphasised to the presenter that she was not looking for a freebie or hand-out, but just a recommendation of where she could stay to ease the pressure.

Sian's story touched the nation and 2fm were inundated with offers from all around the country. Sian joined Ryan live on air the following day and the presenter read out some of the messages his team had received in the aftermath of the Limerick family’s story being shared.

It was then that Tubridy introduced, Tom Moran, and the spirit of Christmas was encapsulated. The managing director of Bewley’s and Moran Hotel Group, got in touch with the station after hearing the story unfold.

Tom, who was in the middle of a board meeting, explained that his wife phoned him in panic and asked her husband to listen in to the show, in fact everybody at the meeting listened to Sian’s heartbreaking story.

Tom offered Sian and the kids a stay in Bewleys of Ballsbridge over the festive season and extended his gesture outside of the holidays. The man had also organised VIP trips for the kids to RDS Winter Wonderland and assured Sian that Santa would visit the hotel.

Sian, along with the entire country, was left speechless.

“There’s always a Clarence, there’s always an angel out there and Tom is fitting the bill,” Ryan said.

  We hope you enjoyed these touching and moving pieces as much as we did. Here's to more wonderful and uplifting stories in 2014.