Eddy's Good News: Medical start-up find way to revive kidneys and bridges in the Forest Of Dean

Virgin Radio

28 Jun 2024, 16:43

Every day during his show on Virgin Radio Anthems, Eddy Temple-Morris brings you Good News stories from around the world, to help inject a bit of positivity into your day!

Be sure to listen each day between 2pm and 6pm (Monday - Friday) to hear Eddy's Good News stories (amongst the finest music of course), but if you miss any of them you can catch up on the transcripts of Eddy's most recent stories below:

Friday 28th June 2024

A medical start-up in the USA have found a way to revive kidneys that would otherwise be thrown away and are getting them to patients on waiting lists to improve the system by nearly a third. 

30% of kidneys available for implant are deemed unsuitable and thrown away. Many are ruined during transport because they’re put on commercial airlines which, as we know, are subject to last minute changes, are often late or cancelled. Sometimes the coolers that are critical for the organs to survive are overlooked in transit. 

So the new start up, 34 Lives are giving their revived kidneys the best chance of reaching their recipients by setting themselves up in the grounds of Purdue University, who have not only a world famous engineering department but their own airport, that services small planes which are so much more reliable and an infrastructure that can support the transportation of human organs which have a ‘use by’ or ‘out of body’ time of around 24 hours. 

34 Lives have thus far saved 10 lives and they’re only just getting started. 

Via: goodnewsnetwork.org

We talk about building bridges metaphorically but the bridges that are being built in the Forest Of Dean, are very real, very small and very important for dormice, a protected species who are struggling there. 

Because of a disease to Ash trees, Forestry England were forced to fell trees in the Forest Of Dean. Unfortunately dormice only come to ground to hibernate in winter. They feel extremely at risk - and are - from all sorts of predators. They prefer to move through the forest from tree to tree. But their transportation routes have now been cut off because of the felling management of the forest.

So Forestry England have put up little rope ladders where the Ash trees used to be, vital corridors for these cute little rodents that are protected in Europe and the U.K. Habitat loss has resulted in dormice populations falling by 50% in the past 30 years. These rope and netting bridges which they’ve installed cameras on to monitor the traffic, will help them travel which helps them mate and thrive.

Via: positive.news