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“Shocked and amazed”: Neighbours raise over $50,000 for bullied boy

<p dir="ltr">A couple from Texas has helped raise over $55,000 for their young neighbour who was being bullied.</p> <p dir="ltr">Their story began when young Shayden Walker knocked on the door of Brennan Ray and Angell Hammersmith, looking for friends.</p> <p dir="ltr">The conversation was captured on their home’s video doorbell system, as Walker asked if they knew any children between the ages of 11 and 12 because he “needs some friends really bad”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Walker, who approached their house wearing a Jaws t-shirt, explained that some neighbourhood kids had been bullying him.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I could hear the innocence and vulnerability in his voice,” Ray told DailyMail.com. “All I knew is that I wanted to help the kid.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The video has since been viewed on TikTok more than 66 million times, with TikTokers from across the world commenting that they hope he finds some “REAL friends soon” and saying “I have never wanted to hug a kid so bad in my life.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Ray and Hammersmith decided to start a GoFundMe page for Walker, asking people to “spread kindness for Shayden” and give what they can to help provide for the boy, while encouraging people to “come together and show him he's got some friends.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“We are raising money to help buy him a gaming system, school clothes and hopefully some amusement park tickets and anything else he may want or need,” the fundraising page reads.</p> <p dir="ltr">In just four days of the fundraising page being online, people from around the world have helped donate more than $55,000AUD to Shayden and his family, with the organisers saying they are “shocked and amazed” at people’s generosity.</p> <p dir="ltr">Many of the donations came with messages for Shayden, saying “You have a friend in me.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Walker's stepfather now says Shayden's a “totally different kid” than he was just last week, while the young boy said in a video posted to his father's TikTok page that “Y'all have touched my heart so much, it's just literally to the point where I want to cry.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The family have requested that the donations be turned off on the donations page, saying they are not seeking any money.</p> <p dir="ltr">Many people commented on Shayden’s message, praising his bravery and sending messages of support.</p> <p dir="ltr">One person wrote, “Shayden, you are a strong kid. No one deserves to be bullied or made fun of.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“You are incredibly brave to be putting yourself out there and actively looking for friends instead of staying in the house.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“I know you are young, but the best advice I can give you is that you do not need anyone's validation but your own to know your worth. If you love yourself, you will never be alone.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: GoFundMe</em></p>

Family & Pets

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“That name goes back four generations”: Paul Walker’s brother makes a touching tribute

<p>Almost a decade after the world lost <em>Fast & Furious </em>star Paul Walker, his younger brother Cody Walker has paid heartfelt tribute with the birth of his third child. </p> <p>Cody and his wife, Felicia, welcomed their son on April 30, with <em>People </em>magazine reporting that he weighed in at 7lbs 5oz. Felicia took to Instagram on May 2 to make an announcement, too, declaring that they’d had a boy, and writing “welcome to the clan, Barrett”.</p> <p>Many took this as confirmation of his name, and rushed to congratulate the family on their new addition. Felicia had shared a picture of the newborn in the arms of his big brother, Colt, with the announcement, and fans were delighted to note that he was the image of a proud older sibling, beaming from ear to ear. </p> <p>However,<em> People</em> magazine have now revealed that there was more to the story, and that the newborn Walker’s name is even closer to his father’s heart than anyone had anticipated. </p> <p>It was a day after his birth that Cody and Felicia reached their decision, declaring their son’s name to be Paul Barrett Walker - naming him after Cody’s late brother. </p> <p>"This November will mark 10 years since we lost my brother, Paul,” Cody told the publication, “and I just felt now was the appropriate time.”</p> <p>He went on to share that he and their other brother - Caleb - were “both done having children”, and that the name held special meaning to all of them. </p> <p>“My brother, Paul, was Paul William Walker IV and that name goes back four generations,” he explained. "Within the family, he went by ‘little Paul’ or ‘Paul 4,’ even though he quickly outgrew our father in height. </p> <p>“It was important to me to have that name carry on.”</p> <p>It isn’t the only move Cody has taken towards honouring his brother, having teamed up with Tyrese Gibson and Chris Lee to bright FuelFest to life - an automotive and motorsports festival showcasing car culture, with a portion of profits going towards Paul’s nonprofit Reach Out WorldWide, something that Cody views “as a part of Paul that he left behind.”</p> <p>And in an echo of his message regarding his new son’s name, he noted that “it’s important to so many to see that part of his legacy live on.”</p> <p>And Paul’s daughter, Meadow, has made her own moves towards furthering her father’s legacy, with a cameo appearance in <em>Fast X</em> - the tenth instalment in the <em>Fast & Furious</em> franchise. </p> <p>“For me, this is super exciting,” she said of her involvement, “and he would be amazed that this is happening.”</p> <p><em>Images: Instagram, Getty</em></p>

Family & Pets

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Tom Walker discusses carols performance with Kate Middleton

<p>Scottish singer-songwriter Tom Walker has discussed his "top secret" rehearsal with the Duchess of Cambridge ahead of their performance together at the Royal Carols in December.</p> <p>Appearing on Good Morning Britain, Tom said Kate Middleton is "fantastic" and a "really talented musician".</p> <p>Kate played piano for Tom for his emotional performance of the song <em>For Those Who Can't Be Here</em> at the carols event at Westminster Abbey, surprising royal fans with her musical talent.</p> <p><span>"We had a rehearsal together, a 'top-secret' rehearsal, just to make sure we were both comfortable with playing with each other and so she could get her head around the arrangement of the song," he explained.</span></p> <p><span>Walker explained that the rehearsal took place at London's Metropolis Studios, and how he was sworn to secrecy. </span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CX6kRgzhTCb/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CX6kRgzhTCb/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Tom Walker (@iamtomwalker)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span>"I'm sure I'm allowed to say that at this point. At the time it was very top secret," he continues.</span></p> <p><span>The duchess, who also hosted the event, wrote on Instagram, "Together at Christmas brought together so many inspirational individuals for a night of wonderful carols and music. </span></p> <p><span>"But above all, it was about celebrating the goodwill, acts of kindness, love, empathy, and compassion which have helped people come through these difficult times.</span></p> <p><span>"Thank you to all involved for making this happen."</span></p> <p><span>In an interview with <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/17149039/tom-walker-owes-kate-middleton-big-time/" target="_blank">The Sun</a>, Tom said his performance with the duchess was a "wonderful experience" and described her as "so warm".</span></p> <p><span>"She made the effort to thank all the musicians but it was us who felt so grateful to be part of something so special," he explains.</span></p> <p>Royal fans were stunned by Kate's hidden talent, with one person writing on social media, <span>"She plays the piano too? Now I love her even more."</span></p> <p>Check out the performance below.</p> <p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yw95R0Vl4_c" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p><em>Image credits: Instagram @iamtomwalker</em></p>

Music

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Singer Stan Walker marries in private ceremony

<p>Singer Stan Walker has tied the knot with partner Lou Tyson in an intimate romantic ceremony in New Zealand.</p> <p>The couple, who first began dating in 2013, said “I do” in a private service last month.</p> <p>Given ongoing COVID restrictions both in Australia and in New Zealand - where they’re based - their plans for a big wedding were put aside in favour of a low-key ceremony with only immediate family.</p> <p>Tyson’s son, who Walker affectionately refers to as “Boy”, was their pageboy, while both of their parents were in attendance, as well as a celebrant.</p> <p>Walker’s siblings — he has three brothers and one sister — all live in Australia so they were unable to attend.</p> <p>But they’ve posted a hauntingly-beautiful video of their wedding on YouTube for all of their friends and family who could not attend – as well as fans. They’ve said they see it as a virtual bonbonnière to share with loved ones.</p> <p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pqr2Q5f6-kI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p><strong>Plans for a huge event were put on hold</strong></p> <p>The couple had been planning a huge event with hundreds of guests, incorporating both of their extended large ‘whanau’, or family. But they’ve said they still intend to put on a big party in the new year when travel is hopefully back on the table.</p> <p>Tyson wore a traditional white dress, while Walker opted for loose-fitting silk pants and shirt.</p> <p>Walker, 30, first rose to fame when he won <em>Australian Idol</em> in 2009. He went on to become a top recording artist – both in Australia and in New Zealand. He also embarked on some successful television and acting projects.</p> <p>The couple have taken a while to get married. While Tyson has long been the love of Walker’s life, touring and recording commitments separated them in 2017 for some time and they went their separate ways. But they reunited in 2020.</p> <p>While lockdown means live gigs are currently off the table, Walker has been busy working on some new music. His eighth and ninth albums will be released this month and in October.</p> <p>As a backdrop to the couple’s wedding video, Walker sings his song titled: <em>Mateamateaone.</em></p> <p>He is a cancer survivor, who underwent treatment for stomach cancer a few years ago, and he is a passionate First Nations advocate.</p> <p><em>Image: YouTube</em></p>

Relationships

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Young boy who saved his sister is "proud" of his scars

<p>The seven-year-old boy from Cheyenne, Wyoming, in the US, was hailed as a hero last year when he jumped in front of his younger sister to save her from being attacked by a German Shepherd.</p> <p>Called Bridger Walker, the boy says he’s “proud” of his scars and at the time, he explained his actions by saying: “If someone had to die, I thought it should be me.”</p> <p>Bridger needed 90 stitches for the damage to his face and he’s since undergone multiple procedures, some pro bono, on his face, which has reduced the scarring, the <em>New York Post</em> reports.</p> <p>His dad, Robert, told <em>People</em><br />magazine that Bridger is still as humble a year later: My wife and I asked him, ‘Do you want it to go away?’ And he said, ‘I don’t want it to go all the way away’,” the father of five said.</p> <p>“Bridger views his scar as something to be proud of, but he also doesn’t see it as being representative of his brave act. He just perceives it as, ‘I was a brother and that’s what brothers do’. It’s a reminder that his sister didn’t get hurt, and that she is okay.”</p> <p>Celebrities from around the world — including Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo and Brie Larson — as well as strangers, sent Bridger gifts and letters for his act of courage.<br />“It was certainly unexpected when everything went viral,” Robert said. “It is not something we’d ever want to relive, but the light certainly outshone the darkness by exponential degrees.”</p> <p>“Chris Evans, his video was amazing and he sent the shield. Bridger couldn’t have been more delighted,” Robert said. “When he talked to Tom Holland, he was probably the most starstruck because that was a live call so that one certainly left an impression … His emotional recovery was really a worldwide effort and that was so special to us.”</p> <p>Bridger also attracted the attention of New York dermatologist, Dr Dhaval Bhanusali, who flew him out and treated him at his office for free.</p> <p>“He gave us so much hope,” said Robert, who said other doctors were pessimistic about how much they could help fix Bridger’s face. “That was kind of our first rainbow after all of this.”</p> <p>When the pandemic made cross-country trips to see Dr Bhanusali difficult, Bridger began seeing a doctor in Utah who also helped repair his scars.</p> <p>All of them have since helped reduce Bridger’s scarring and made him smile and feel optimistic again, his father said.</p> <p><em>Photo: nicolenoelwalker/Instagram</em></p>

Caring

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Miraculous transformation for 6-year-old hero

<p dir="ltr"><strong>Warning: Graphic content</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Parents of Bridger Walker, the young boy whose face was horrifically damaged when he bravely saved his sister from being mauled by a dog, has revealed their son’s incredible transformation.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7839450/boy-mauled-by-dog-2.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/9e96542f01094e209f598d4f0be24b76" /></p> <p dir="ltr">6-year-old Bridger from Wyoming in the US was left with 90 stitches after he was attacked on July 9, 2019.</p> <p dir="ltr">He also walked away with a huge scar that snaked down the right side of his face.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7839448/boy-mauled-by-dog-4.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/45d89329e50b4df0a9700f2f0a4f06cb" /></p> <p dir="ltr">A little more than five months after the horrific incident, his dad Robert Walker has shared photographs of the young boy, saying his son’s progress is “nothing short of miraculous”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Bridger has now had three laser treatments, and at his last treatment he also had a steroid injection to help with some of the tightness,” he wrote, with three images of the 6-year-old hero attached.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Bridger has full sensation, does not have any drooping, and has not lost any muscle control,” he continued.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We have gone from genuinely wondering whether he would ever smile again to hardly noticing his scars.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7839447/boy-mauled-by-dog-5.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/ddaf73e5389c401c98fe37db54390e4a" /></p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Walker has paid tribute to some of the country’s top skin experts, Dr Dhaval Bhanusali, Dr Cory B. Maughan, and Dr Sandra Lee (aka Dr Pimple Popper).</p> <p dir="ltr">The dermatologists heard of little Bridger’s story when it hit headlines across the globe and decided to take on his case pro bono.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7839451/boy-mauled-by-dog-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/8746533b798843ecb1d0185068334ea9" /></p> <p dir="ltr">“We are so very grateful for what @drbhanusali and @corymaughan have been able to accomplish in such a short amount of time,” Robert added.</p> <p dir="ltr">He went on to explain that Bridger still is “shy” around dogs but is “slowly getting over his fears”.</p>

Caring

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Toy poodle “kicked into air” during alleged attack on dog walker

<p>A man from Sydney has claimed he was repeatedly bashed and his dog was kicked into the air during an alleged attack as they walked through an inner-city suburb.</p> <p>According to police, Seung Kang, 33, was strolling the streets of Pyrmont with his dog Zico last Friday night when a man approached them.</p> <p>Ian Ryan, 34, allegedly spouted abusive language towards Kang before punching him and kicking the poodle as they tried walking away.</p> <p>“Go to war! Go to war! Warfare,” a man can be heard saying in a video of the alleged attack.</p> <p>“[He was] telling me to go back to my country,” Kang told<span> </span><em>10 News First</em>.</p> <p>“He was basically wanting a fight … just, lots of swear words, and very aggressive.”</p> <p>A spokesperson for NSW Police said a passer-by came to the rescue and helped Kang.</p> <p>It’s alleged he was repeatedly punched in the head before more people came to his aid.</p> <p>Ryan allegedly fled the scene.</p> <p>Inspector Gary Coffey said the incident appeared to be unprovoked.</p> <p>“We can only draw up the fact that he was in possession of alcohol at the time of the offence … and clearly there’s no obvious motive,” said Coffey of the accused.</p> <p>He called the alleged attack “reprehensible”.</p> <p>“There’s no excuse obviously for attacking an innocent man just out walking his dog,” said Coffey.</p> <p>Ryan was arrested on Sunday after handing himself to police.</p> <p>He appeared in court on Monday charged with five offences, including common assault, committing an act of animal cruelty and stalking or intimidating with intent to cause physical harm.</p> <p>The court heard Ryan was defending himself from the dog which he claimed had barked near his legs.</p> <p>Ryan was refused bail.</p>

Family & Pets

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"Cancer is the best thing that ever happened to me": Stan Walker's miracle comeback

<p>Stan Walker is set to go back on tour after focusing on his health battle over the last few years, during which he underwent bouts of surgery to treat his stomach cancer.</p> <p>The 28-year-old will begin his Australian tour in early August, two years after having his stomach removed.</p> <p>“Cancer is the best thing that ever happened to me,” Walker told <a rel="noopener" href="https://7news.com.au/sunrise/entertainment/cancer-is-the-best-thing-that-ever-happened-to-me-stan-walker-goes-back-on-tour-c-372376" target="_blank"><em>Sunrise</em></a> in an interview aired on Tuesday morning.</p> <p>“It allowed me to be, like, reborn in every way. It’s like I had to die to be reborn again, and that made me realise I’m not gonna wait for nobody to tell me … what I can do. I want to go hard and I want to go right in with everything and live my wildest dream.”</p> <p>The singer carried the CDH1 gene mutation, which had been responsible for the cancer deaths of 25 of his family members and gave him an 80 per cent chance of contracting the disease.</p> <p>In 2017, Walker was diagnosed with stomach cancer after doctors found 13 tumours inside his body.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bnsg-z5H0qJ/" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bnsg-z5H0qJ/" target="_blank">1 year ago today my whole life changed forever. Hardest thing I've ever done but honestly turned out to be my biggest blessing... Found out i had cancer &amp; was supposed to go on a mean health kick before my operation, but what did I do lol? As you can see I lived my best life &amp; ate half the world cos I knew I wasn't gonna eat again for a looong time hahahaha... I was in the operating theatre for over 6hrs, tryna get my fat gut out hahahaha... A few more procedures, a collapsed lung, almost dying a few times, a lot of complications, another major operation &amp; a lot of spewing later here I am.. SKINNY hahahaha... no but I'm actually at my best now... I'm blessed man.... All jokes &amp; laughs aside, to get to where I am now was actually the hardest thing.... &amp; now I'm going on tour 1 year post getting my whole stomach out &amp; a few other organs hahahahah... I am the result of Gods grace... Also I probs would have healed faster if I didn't bots it &amp; think I was allgood straight away ahahhahaa... But all in all I'm here alive, happy &amp; more ready for this tour than ever.. This will be my greatest achievement yet... So if you're keen to come along &amp; celebrate &amp; party with me... get yo tickets at www.ticketspace.nz Aroha mutunga kore ❤️️❤️️❤️️❤️️</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/stanwalker/" target="_blank"> Stan Walker</a> (@stanwalker) on Sep 13, 2018 at 10:55pm PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Walker said he spent months doing rehab and undergoing major operations. </p> <p>“If I hadn’t done the operation, I would for sure be dead by now,” Walker told <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.who.com.au/exclusive-stan-walker-opens-up-about-his-cancer-battle" target="_blank"><em>WHO</em></a> last year.</p> <p>“To be honest, I can honestly say going through that cancer thing, and the last however many years of everything, I am so thankful – because I haven’t been this happy in so long. I can look at myself and 100 per cent back myself that I’ve got this.”</p>

Caring

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Scott Walker has gone but his voice will drift with us into the twilight

<p><em>Pick your day — dark, rainy, lamps on — let those songs fill the room, and you’ll be lost in the most beautiful fog in the world. Stop all the clocks, Scott is gone — but the voice that made that world is here forever.</em></p> <p>-Peter Milton Walsh,<span> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apartments">The Apartments</a></p> <p>In Sydney in the very early 90s, my buddy Roger and I wanted to start a kind of acoustic ensemble. We were in a swooning, noisy, melodic guitar band called the Plug Uglies, darlings of the inner west, but we needed something else. Our big idea? We wanted to play the songs of Scott Walker and<span> </span><a href="https://www.jimmywebb.com/the-songwriter">Jimmy Webb</a>. We wanted to have a go at those grand stories, the soaring melodies. We called our little ensemble The Drunk, The Monk and The Spunk. (Don’t ask.) My fingers still thrill at playing those wonderful chords.</p> <p>Scott Walker – born Noel Scott Engel in 1943 - almost exists outside time. His voice first came to greet us in the 1960s, in the Walker Brothers. A trio of Americans, not brothers at all, who found success in England in 1965 with Make It Easy on Yourself, My Ship Is Coming In and The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore – heartfelt and emotional pop ballads, with massive orchestral arrangements, and enormous, exploding choruses, produced for Philips Records by Johnny Franz.</p> <div class="fluidvids"><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q11ium_-Lv8?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fluidvids-item" data-fluidvids="loaded"></iframe></div> <p>The group, rivalling the Stones or The Kinks in popularity, collapsed under the pressure of this instant stardom, and Scott went on to release four solo albums between 1967 and 1969 – Scott, Scott 2, Scott 3 and Scott 4.</p> <p>This was the Golden Age of the songwriters. The cultural earthquake of 1968 had been followed by a wave of astounding music, and Scott Walker lies at its heart. These records shudder and swell, his sometimes obtuse lyrics adrift on poetic orchestral arrangements, mainly by Angela Morley, which define the notion of Baroque pop.</p> <p>It’s quite hard to measure the influence of these four records, but it runs deep, and in the last day many have been eloquent in their praise, from Thom Yorke and Damon Albarn to David Sylvian, Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley.</p> <p>David Bowie owed Walker a huge debt, partly repaid by his contribution to the making of<span> </span><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/scott_walker_30_century_man">30 Century Man</a>, an excellent documentary on the work of Scott Walker.</p> <div class="fluidvids"><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JEYWGQMqC74?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fluidvids-item" data-fluidvids="loaded"></iframe></div> <p>Scott 4 was a commercial failure, and Walker disappeared, back into his quiet life. The Walker Brothers re-united in the 70s, and released three albums, but they also didn’t sell and he disappeared again. But in 1981, Julian Cope from Teardrop Explodes released a compilation of Scott’s 67-71 work,<span> </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/sep/02/fire-escape-sky-scott-walker">Fire Escape in the Sky: The Godlike Genius of Scott Walker</a>. This album influenced a generation of post-punk musicians, and became the momentum which led Walker into the next phase of his career.</p> <p>The albums Climate of Hunter, Tilt and The Drift were released across the next two decades, as Walker created a new music, unsettling and evocative and difficult. By now he had joined the British label 4AD, the home of the beautiful outsiders, in the company of true fans like The Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil. Rob Young has described elegantly<span> </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/mar/26/scott-walker-experimental-genius-nite-flights-tilt-bish-bosch?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=facebook&amp;fbclid=IwAR3WnGcbTSXD5HeoVt-JIecd5gLI5qsG8cklfk27cVBucWifK_7GmZKq1z8">in the Guardian</a><span> </span>this later period of Walker’s creative output.</p> <p>Although it appeared on 1978’s Night Flights, I find Walker’s song, The Electrician, in some ways, an aural lexicon for his entire career. Unsettling, ethereal soundscapes almost cut loose from tempo or time, bookend a rich centre, with grand melodies and exploding strings, harp notes cascading into Spanish guitar flourishes, and then the death knell of the de-tuned guitar leading us back into the cavern of torture.</p> <div class="fluidvids"><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yELbkzAIfmA?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fluidvids-item" data-fluidvids="loaded"></iframe></div> <p>But the song I, and many others, return to as a touchstone is<span> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLOTAJQF0Fo">Montague Terrace (In Blue)</a><span> </span>with its floating verses, a slow, ticking clock that, true to form, erupts into a grand chorus - “But we know, don’t we, And we’ll dream, won’t we?” It became the centre of our set of acoustic covers, the cello and accordion swelling under the chorus, the drifting trumpet solo. It was The Drunk, The Monk and The Spunk’s finest moment. A recording exists somewhere.</p> <p>In 2017, 4AD staged a BBC Proms event to honour the music of Scott. One of the highlights for me is Norwegian singer-songwriter Susanne Sundfør wrapping her wonderful voice around The Amorous Humphrey Plugg (from Scott 2) – it peels back the domestic façade, the woman trapped and angry, with children and home, as mired in frustration as the man is trapped in his endless thirst, the nightly pleasures of the city.</p> <div class="fluidvids"><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7GUNAtrDhOg?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fluidvids-item" data-fluidvids="loaded"></iframe></div> <p>The Apartments’ Peter Milton Walsh describes this ability of Walker’s: “His lyrics were so vivid and the language was completely personal, full of night and rain and loneliness. People in a certain kind of trouble. He owned that world, just as Sinatra once did.”</p> <p>And, like Sinatra, Scott Walker had a voice. His will be with me as I drift into my twilight, as timeless as memory:</p> <blockquote> <p>Oh to die of kisses<br />Ecstasies and charms<br />Pavements of poets will write that I died<br />In nine angel’s arms.</p> </blockquote> <p>-Scott Engel</p> <p><em>Written by John Willsteed. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/scott-walker-has-gone-but-his-voice-will-drift-with-us-into-the-twilight-114299">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>

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Stan Walker shares harrowing new photos of his cancer battle

<p>Stan Walker has shared some harrowing new photos of his time in hospital battling stomach cancer.</p> <p>The 27-year-old recently revealed how tough his cancer battle has been in the documentary <em>Stan Walker: The Fight of His Life</em>, which saw him make the decision to have his stomach removed.</p> <p>Now the singer has given an insight into how much he struggled in the aftermath of the operation, telling fans at one point nothing could pass through his mouth as it could have “killed me”.</p> <p><img width="499" height="265" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7819088/e4df0e7bf2d4871a51e0717f97196c60_499x265.jpg" alt="E 4df 0e 7bf 2d 4871a 51e 0717f 97196c 60" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p> <p>“Nothing was aloud (sic) in my mouth,” he wrote, over an image of himself being supported by loved ones in the hospital corridor. “Because I had a leak inside that would have killed me if anything had gone in it.”</p> <p>In another image, Stan is lying in bed with a tube going directly into his arm with the nutrients he needs to sustain him.</p> <p><img width="368" height="624" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7819085/1.png" alt="1 (10)" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p> <p>“That’s the pick (sic) line,” he said. “It was 55cm and went into my arm and then into my heart.”</p> <p>“I was hooked up to a machine 23/7 and it was the only way I could get fed and liquids for two and a half weeks,” he explained, adding he celebrated his 27th birthday in hospital.</p> <p>In another photo, Stan is hooked up to a breathing mask, which he needed when he suffered from a collapsed lung.</p> <p><img width="369" height="626" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7819086/2.png" alt="2 (4)" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p> <p>“I was on this mother all day,” he wrote across the image. “It was a life-saver but annoying as hell!”</p> <p>The former <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/health/caring/2018/04/australian-idol-star-stan-walker-reveals-fight-against-stomach-cancer/">Australian Idol star revealed in January</a></span></strong> that he had inherited the rare cancer-causing gene CDH1, a mutation that has caused the deaths of more than 25 members of his family.</p> <p><img width="366" height="625" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7819087/4.png" alt="4" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p> <p>Despite losing his stomach, Stan is remaining positive and has previously said he will not let the disease “define” him.</p> <p> </p>

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Stan Walker shares emotional Mother’s Day tribute to his cancer survivor mum and grandmother

<p>Former Australian Idol winner Stan Walker has shown great bravery despite himself and other members of his family facing terrifying health battles. </p> <p>The singer not only has undergone stomach-removal surgery and battled cancer, but he has also stood by his mum, April, as she has battled the disease as well.</p> <p>“When she had cancer earlier on, man, that broke me,” he previously said of his mother.</p> <p>On Sunday, Stan shared a heartfelt tribute to both his mother and grandmother in honour of Mother’s Day.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 658px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media"> <div style="padding: 8px;"> <div style="background: #F8F8F8; line-height: 0; margin-top: 40px; padding: 62.4537037037037% 0; text-align: center; width: 100%;"> <div style="background: url(data:image/png; base64,ivborw0kggoaaaansuheugaaacwaaaascamaaaapwqozaaaabgdbtueaalgpc/xhbqaaaafzukdcak7ohokaaaamuexurczmzpf399fx1+bm5mzy9amaaadisurbvdjlvzxbesmgces5/p8/t9furvcrmu73jwlzosgsiizurcjo/ad+eqjjb4hv8bft+idpqocx1wjosbfhh2xssxeiyn3uli/6mnree07uiwjev8ueowds88ly97kqytlijkktuybbruayvh5wohixmpi5we58ek028czwyuqdlkpg1bkb4nnm+veanfhqn1k4+gpt6ugqcvu2h2ovuif/gwufyy8owepdyzsa3avcqpvovvzzz2vtnn2wu8qzvjddeto90gsy9mvlqtgysy231mxry6i2ggqjrty0l8fxcxfcbbhwrsyyaaaaaelftksuqmcc); display: block; height: 44px; margin: 0 auto -44px; position: relative; top: -22px; width: 44px;"></div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bis1vnoHrGy/" target="_blank">A post shared by Stan Walker (@stanwalker)</a> on May 12, 2018 at 7:19pm PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Alongside a black-and-white photo, Stan wrote, “Happy mothers day to my mumma &amp; her mumma... My mum is actually GOAT [Greatest Of All Time] ... Straight up OG [Original Gangster].”</p> <p>“Today was the first time I got to have mothers day with my mum &amp; nan (my last grandparent) together... Actually cherish these moments more than anything.</p> <p>“To all the beautiful mummas out there... You are the life givers... You take on all our pain... You love us unconditionally &amp; protect us fiercely... Mothers are the true heroes... I appreciate you all including all my surrogate mummas... Thank You.”</p> <p>On his social media, Stan shared photos of his family making a visit to Kmart on Mother’s Day.</p> <p>Recently, Stan released a musical tribute to his mum, who battled breast cancer.</p> <p>The song “Thank You” was released last month and the lyrics say: “After all we've been through, you've never run out of love.”</p> <p>“There's no words to say but "I love you", so I'ma say thank you - just know it will never, ever be enough.”</p> <p>Stan found out that he had the cancer-causing CDH1 gene during a routine check-up. Two weeks later, he was diagnosed with gastric cancer.</p> <p>In September last year, Stan had his stomach removed but kept his health struggle under wraps for months.</p> <p>Last week, Stan revealed during an interview with <em>Today Extra</em> that he refused to cry during the nine-month period in which he faced complications such as seizures, gallstones and appendicitis</p> <p>“The whole time through my treatment, I never cried once,” he said. “I never, like, felt sorry for myself once.”</p>

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Australian Idol star reveals fight against cancer that has killed 25 family members

<p>Australian Idol winner Stan Walker has revealed his fight against a rare stomach cancer in a new documentary <em>Stan</em>.</p> <p>The soulful singer, who won Australian Idol in 2009, had his family’s “ugly curse”, a mutated cancer gene which has killed 25 members of his family over the past three decades.</p> <p>Stan’s mother April was being treated for breast cancer last year when she insisted her son go for a check-up.</p> <p>The routine examination found the then 26-year-old pop star had gastric cancer, caused by the faulty CDH1 gene. His stomach would have to be removed.</p> <p><img width="441" height="331" src="https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/21df9f693734648a1bcae0d8225ede04?width=1024" class="tge-imagecaption_img" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Stan Walker won Australian Idol in 2009. </em></p> <p>Stan decided to chronicle his operation, the complications he suffered and the impact of the cancer on his life and career, for his documentary.</p> <p>“People made assumptions when I started posting photos afterwards and those assumptions turned into facts,” he said.</p> <p>“It took just one person to say ‘Is he on drugs?’ and it didn’t matter who I was or how much credibility I had, when I went to gigs, before I could even have a sip of alcohol, someone would ask me ‘what drugs are you on?’</p> <p>“I didn’t justify myself. I knew they would learn and feel really sh*t afterwards.”</p> <p>Stan – as well as his mum, dad Ross and brothers and sister – relocated to Melbourne for his surgery, which removed his stomach and attached his oesophagus to his intestines.</p> <p>It was the same operation his grandfather Rangi McLeod had almost 20 years before, but he did not survive it.</p> <p>As the documentary reveals, Stan’s suffered many complications after surgery. He feared he would die but his greatest fear was that he would never sing again. For four months after the operation, he couldn’t do the thing he most loved in the world.</p> <p>“I freaked out. I would try to laugh it off and joke about everything but in my heart of hearts, if my voice was gone, I didn’t know if I could get through this,” he said.</p> <p>He booked a show in Rarotonga in December to give himself a goal, something to fight for.</p> <p>The day before at soundcheck, his voice was still hit and miss.</p> <p>“On the night of the gig, I started to sing Black Box and my voice came back and I turned around to the band with tears streaming down my face, saying ‘Thank you God, thank you,’” he said.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 658px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media"> <div style="padding: 8px;"> <div style="background: #F8F8F8; line-height: 0; margin-top: 40px; padding: 28.10185185185185% 0; text-align: center; width: 100%;"> <div style="background: url(data:image/png; base64,ivborw0kggoaaaansuheugaaacwaaaascamaaaapwqozaaaabgdbtueaalgpc/xhbqaaaafzukdcak7ohokaaaamuexurczmzpf399fx1+bm5mzy9amaaadisurbvdjlvzxbesmgces5/p8/t9furvcrmu73jwlzosgsiizurcjo/ad+eqjjb4hv8bft+idpqocx1wjosbfhh2xssxeiyn3uli/6mnree07uiwjev8ueowds88ly97kqytlijkktuybbruayvh5wohixmpi5we58ek028czwyuqdlkpg1bkb4nnm+veanfhqn1k4+gpt6ugqcvu2h2ovuif/gwufyy8owepdyzsa3avcqpvovvzzz2vtnn2wu8qzvjddeto90gsy9mvlqtgysy231mxry6i2ggqjrty0l8fxcxfcbbhwrsyyaaaaaelftksuqmcc); display: block; height: 44px; margin: 0 auto -44px; position: relative; top: -22px; width: 44px;"></div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BgiSFT9H3a0/" target="_blank">A post shared by Stan Walker (@stanwalker)</a> on Mar 19, 2018 at 11:54pm PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Stan is back to working on music and he hopes his documentary will help people on their own cancer journeys.</p> <p>“Doing the doco helped me process my own feelings and understand a lot more about myself but I wanted to do it to help other people and their families who are going through the same thing, who feel like they are alone and can’t talk about it,” he said.</p> <p>“People treat cancer like it’s Voldemort, like you can’t talk about it. Stuff that. Live your life now, don’t let a disease define who you are.</p>

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Australian Idol star confirms mystery health battle

<p>Stan Walker says he feels “healthy” and on the way to recovery after his stomach was removed as it was <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/entertainment/music/2018/03/concern-mounts-for-australian-idol-star/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>discovered to be cancerous.</strong></span></a></p> <p>The Australian Idol star’s heartbreakingly honest documentary – titled Stan – aired in New Zealand on Sunday night (no date has been confirmed for Australia yet) and revealed for the first time his battle with cancer for the past nine months.</p> <p>The Australian-Kiwi singer was diagnosed with early stages of cancer caused by a rare gene that runs in his family when he made the decision to remove his stomach.</p> <p>The doco explains how the cancer has claimed the lives of 25 members of Walker's family, including his grandfather, who died due to complications with his surgery.</p> <p>Walker received the same operation as his grandfather.</p> <p>"He had the gene, he had the cancer, and he died from the operation," says Walker in the documentary.</p> <p>"Last night was the first time I got emotional, because, oh my gosh, I'm getting the same operation that my koro did.</p> <p>"I didn't really think about it for a while, but he used himself like a guinea pig."</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 658px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media"> <div style="padding: 8px;"> <div style="background: #F8F8F8; line-height: 0; margin-top: 40px; padding: 28.10185185185185% 0; text-align: center; width: 100%;"> <div style="background: url(data:image/png; base64,ivborw0kggoaaaansuheugaaacwaaaascamaaaapwqozaaaabgdbtueaalgpc/xhbqaaaafzukdcak7ohokaaaamuexurczmzpf399fx1+bm5mzy9amaaadisurbvdjlvzxbesmgces5/p8/t9furvcrmu73jwlzosgsiizurcjo/ad+eqjjb4hv8bft+idpqocx1wjosbfhh2xssxeiyn3uli/6mnree07uiwjev8ueowds88ly97kqytlijkktuybbruayvh5wohixmpi5we58ek028czwyuqdlkpg1bkb4nnm+veanfhqn1k4+gpt6ugqcvu2h2ovuif/gwufyy8owepdyzsa3avcqpvovvzzz2vtnn2wu8qzvjddeto90gsy9mvlqtgysy231mxry6i2ggqjrty0l8fxcxfcbbhwrsyyaaaaaelftksuqmcc); display: block; height: 44px; margin: 0 auto -44px; position: relative; top: -22px; width: 44px;"></div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BgiSFT9H3a0/" target="_blank">A post shared by Stan Walker (@stanwalker)</a> on Mar 19, 2018 at 11:54pm PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Walker’s surgery was successful but he continues to battle health difficulties, explaining his drastic 30kg weight loss.</p> <p>Throughout the documentary, Walker describes his biggest fear of no longer being able to sing – and the utter joy he felt after performing his first gig since the operation earlier this year.</p> <p>"I felt alive just being on stage for the first time in a long time," he says. "I was back being me doing what I do."</p> <p>The 27-year-old remained optimistic, telling fans in an Instagram video on Sunday: “I had cancer. I'm alive b*****s!”</p> <p>“The doco is cool, it gets to show the whole journey of what's happening over the last nine months and what's still happening. I'm not there yet but I'm on my way and I'm healthy,” he adds</p>

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Concern mounts for Australian Idol star: "He has been seriously ill"

<p>There is mounting concern for Australian Idol star Stan Walker, who won the seventh and last season of Australian Idol in 2009, over his recent health struggles.</p> <p>Speaking on Thursday's The Morning Show, entertainment reporter Peter Ford said that that the 27-year-old had been battling a rare genetic mutation.</p> <p>“It turns out he's been really seriously ill,” Peter said. “It turned out he has a rare gene mutation that required his stomach to be removed.”</p> <p>Peter added: “If he hadn't got his stomach removed he would have almost certainly gotten cancer.”</p> <p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8ieCLzImvNk?rel=0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>A documentary about the Australian-New Zealand recording artists’ illness is set to air in New Zealand on Sunday night.</p> <p>On Tuesday, Stan shared a preview clip of the doco, which will cover the last nine months of his life and his battle with his ill-health.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 658px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media"> <div style="padding: 8px;"> <div style="background: #F8F8F8; line-height: 0; margin-top: 40px; padding: 28.10185185185185% 0; text-align: center; width: 100%;"> <div style="background: url(data:image/png; base64,ivborw0kggoaaaansuheugaaacwaaaascamaaaapwqozaaaabgdbtueaalgpc/xhbqaaaafzukdcak7ohokaaaamuexurczmzpf399fx1+bm5mzy9amaaadisurbvdjlvzxbesmgces5/p8/t9furvcrmu73jwlzosgsiizurcjo/ad+eqjjb4hv8bft+idpqocx1wjosbfhh2xssxeiyn3uli/6mnree07uiwjev8ueowds88ly97kqytlijkktuybbruayvh5wohixmpi5we58ek028czwyuqdlkpg1bkb4nnm+veanfhqn1k4+gpt6ugqcvu2h2ovuif/gwufyy8owepdyzsa3avcqpvovvzzz2vtnn2wu8qzvjddeto90gsy9mvlqtgysy231mxry6i2ggqjrty0l8fxcxfcbbhwrsyyaaaaaelftksuqmcc); display: block; height: 44px; margin: 0 auto -44px; position: relative; top: -22px; width: 44px;"></div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BgiSFT9H3a0/" target="_blank">A post shared by Stan Walker (@stanwalker)</a> on Mar 19, 2018 at 11:54pm PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>He is seen lying in a hospital bed, saying to the camera: “They're all expecting me to get up and walk around, but I'm scared.”</p> <p>His mum then speaks to camera: “I'd rather I go before my children – any mother and any parent would.”</p> <p>Stan goes on to say: “It's been hard for my mum, she cries every day and she blames herself too.”</p> <p>He adds: “What if there's complication and I die?”</p> <p>Alongside the video, Stan wrote on his Instagram: “This Sunday night 8.40 pm on @threenewzealand watch my documentary Stan.</p> <p>“I bet half the people thinking I was on crack or whatever y'all were saying are feeling pretty dumb right now.</p> <p><img width="468" height="282" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/03/20/14/4A5FD9F000000578-5522969-Staying_strong_Stan_goes_on_to_say_it_s_been_hard_for_my_mum_she-a-12_1521557941997.jpg" alt="Staying strong: Stan goes on to say: 'it's been hard for my mum, she cries every day and she blames herself too'" class="blkBorder img-share b-loaded" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" id="i-e1ed931e73423fb3"/></p> <p>“This is bigger than all the talkers talking. It's bigger than me. It's bigger than what's happened &amp; is happening to me.</p> <p>“There is always someone worse off going through a lot worse. All I’m going to say is that I'm blessed to be alive and well.”</p> <p>Referring to a native Maori term for family, he added: “God is good &amp; I've been blessed with a back bone of whanaua and friends that go through the highs and the lowest of lows with me.”</p>

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If you’re a walker, you should be doing these simple strength exercises

<p>If you love walking you might not think it’s necessary to switch your exercise focus to strength training, but these simple moves can be truly beneficial. Not only will they improve your metabolism and tone your lower body, they will actually help you to walk faster and protect your body from pain and injury.</p> <p><strong>1. Single-leg hip bridge</strong></p> <p>Strong glute muscles will help propel you forward as you walk. But did you know that often one side is stronger than the other? Over time this slight imbalance can put you at risk of lower back pain. Try this exercise to isolate each glute one at a time, so that you can make sure both sides are strong.</p> <p><strong>How to:</strong> lie down flat on your back with your hands facing down by your sides. Bend your left knee and place your left foot on the floor. Move your right leg straight up towards the ceiling. Lift your hips to form a straight line between your knee, your hips, and your shoulders. Slowly allow your hips to go back down to the ground. Repeat this side 12 times, and then switch legs. Do two to three sets of this.</p> <p><strong>2. Donkey kickbacks</strong></p> <p>A strained hamstring can feel like tightness in the back of your thigh. This often occurs when your hamstrings aren’t as strong as your quads, which is quite common for seasoned walkers. This exercise can help strengthen your hamstrings and tone your glutes at the same time.</p> <p><strong>How to:</strong> Take the handles of a long resistance band in your hands, and place your left foot in the centre of the band. Drop your knees down to the floor, bracing your forearms on a bench. Extend your left knee and hip to kick your leg straight back. Aim for 12 repetitions, and then repeat on the right side. Do two to three sets in total.</p> <p><strong>3. Overhead up-downs</strong></p> <p>If you’re a walker who slumps theirshoulders as they walk, you could be placing pressure on your spinal discs, which can eventually lead to back pain. This is especially true when walking hills as our centre of gravity has changed. This exercise helps to perfect your posture by targeting the shoulders and muscles of the mid-back.</p> <p><strong>How to:</strong> Take both of the handles of a long resistance band in one hand. Then take the centre of the band in your other hand. Raise both arms over your head you’re your palms facing out. Keep the tension in the tube while you keep your arms straight overhead, and then sit down onto a chair. Stand up again by firmly planting both feet onto the floor with a wide stance and pushing with your legs. Keep your knees pointing in the same direction as your toes. Try to keep your mid-back extended and your arms overhead for the entire exercise while you do two to three sets of 12 repetitions.</p> <p><strong>4. Plank hip abductor</strong></p> <p>Yourhips are a ball-and-socket joint, which means they can move in different directions. As walking is all about moving forward, your abductors (the muscles on the outside of your hips) don’t get to enjoy as much movement. This can cause stiffness in the hips, leading to potential lower back pain, pulled hamstrings, and glute soreness. By strengthening the abductors you can try to combat these issues head on.</p> <p><strong>How to:</strong> While resting your forearms on a bench, make a fist with both hands. Get into a plank position with the tips of your toes touching the ground, and your elbows underneath your shoulders on the bench. Lift your left leg off of the ground while flexing your foot. Push that leg out and away from your body. Pull that leg back in toward your body, and then place it back on the ground. Repeat with the right leg to make one rep. Perform two to three sets of 12 repetitions.</p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/finance/insurance/2015/04/benefits-of-me-time/">Why a little “me time” is the answer to a stress-free life</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/finance/insurance/2015/03/surfing-in-your-60s/">Surfing in your 60s – it can be life-changing</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/finance/insurance/2015/03/benefits-of-keeping-a-journal/">Keeping a journal can boost your health</a></strong></em></span></p>

Insurance

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5 key principles to stay mentally healthy after 60

<p><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.drrosswalker.com/" target="_blank">Dr Ross Walker</a></span> is a leading integrative cardiologist, endocrinologist and author, specialising in the field of preventative cardiology.</em></strong></p> <p>The 60s and beyond – it is often during this period of our life that we are slightly winding down and for the lucky ones, heading into retirement. One of the issues here is the "use it or lose it" principle. We need to keep our brain active for the rest of our lives and there are five key principles in doing so:</p> <p><strong>1. Keep working or maintain an interest in your profession</strong></p> <p>If you are able to do so, working in your current profession is one of the best ways to keep your brain sharp and active. Although the work may be overly familiar by now, you are at least tricking your brain into different tasks.</p> <p><strong>2.Challenge your brain</strong></p> <p>You can do this through the use of techniques such as crosswords, pseudo Q, and brain training. People who are learning new language or are bilingual have a less chance of experiencing Alzheimer's disease as they age. If you’ve always wanted to learn a musical instrument, pick it up if you have the time once you have hit 60! Do adult training courses, and read challenging books. There are number of ways to keep the brain active and as the Nike commercial says-just do it!</p> <p><strong>3. Change</strong></p> <p>They say that death and taxes are the two guarantees in life, but another constant is change! Open yourself up to the idea of change. Try something different, do different things using other methods, travel to new and exciting places, discuss issues with people who have opposing views. Never be afraid to challenge yourself.</p> <p><strong>4. Interact and spend time with optimistic people</strong></p> <p>Surround yourself with friends, families, and loved ones. Even if you don’t feel like it, interacting with these people will keep you happy and content, and it gives your brain a break from its normal routine. Volunteering to help kids and animals is also a sure-fire way to surround yourself with positivity.</p> <p><strong>5. Be optimistic yourself</strong></p> <p>Getting older might be scary, but there is also something incredibly rewarding about this achievement. Not only does it give you more time to do the things that you love, it gives you the opportunity to spend more time with grandchildren or loved ones, and do something you never thought you’d see yourself doing – like taking up a new hobby.</p> <p>Is there a hobby that you have always wanted to try, but have never had time to take up until now? Let us know what it is in the comments below.</p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="/health/body/2016/08/myths-of-modern-health/"><em><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Debunking 5 myths of modern health</span></strong></em></a></p> <p><a href="/health/body/2016/06/4-ways-to-reduce-stress-on-your-heart/"><em><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">4 ways to reduce stress on your heart</span></strong></em></a></p> <p><a href="/health/body/2016/01/cardiologist-tips-for-better-heart-health/"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">5 tips from a cardiologist for better heart health</span></em></strong></a></p>

Mind

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Debunking 5 myths of modern health

<p><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.drrosswalker.com/" target="_blank">Dr Ross Walker</a></span> is a leading integrative cardiologist, endocrinologist and author, specialising in the field of preventative cardiology.</em></strong></p> <p>There are many “myths” of modern health that gained so much traction at a time, they became fact. However, many of these are a result of misinformation, or even imaginative wife’s tales.</p> <p>Dr Ross Walker takes five myths of modern health and debunks these misunderstandings.</p> <p><strong>1. You should drink eight glasses of water per day</strong></p> <p>Although it is important to stay hydrated, there is no evidence that consuming eight glasses of water per day has any major health benefits. Most people I know who do this spend half the day in the bathroom. There is an important physiologic mechanism called thirst and when you are thirsty you should drink fluid.</p> <p>Although there is certainly nothing wrong with consuming water, there are other types of fluid that are quite good for your health. We have known for ages that consuming tea in all its forms has significant health benefits and evidence over the past decade has also shown two to three cups of good quality coffee per day has significant benefits as well. Low-dose alcohol, one to two standard glasses per day in combination with the Mediterranean diet has been shown to have significant health benefits. There are now many studies showing significant benefits of consuming A2 milk.</p> <p>Although consuming water should be an important part of our daily fluid intake, excessive consumption may lead to a drop in the blood sodium levels which may have disastrous health consequences.</p> <p><strong>2.  Everyone should take supplements</strong></p> <p>The common view from many conservative researchers in the scientific world is that supplements purely give you expensive urine. In this situation I take the opposite view in that I believe they also give you expensive blood which is exactly what you want.</p> <p>When you objectively examine the evidence on supplementation, those studies that were performed over a long period of time have shown significant benefits. To give one example, Harvard University have been conducting the nurse’s health study and the male physician’s trial for the past 30 years.</p> <p>The 15-year data from the nurse’s health study and the 20-year data the male physician’s trial have shown an overwhelming benefit from taking a daily multivitamin for a prolonged period. There is also increasing evidence that the regular consumption of fish oil, ubiquinol and a new supplement called Bergamet Pro plus all have significant benefits when added to healthy lifestyle principles.</p> <p><strong>3. You need to wait an hour after eating to swim</strong></p> <p>Although there are no major health consequences in swimming soon after eating, when a large meal is consumed, there is significant blood flow directed to the gastrointestinal tract. If you perform any form of exercise on a full stomach, there is only so much blood to go around and some will be directed away from your muscles where you clearly need a good blood supply for exercise. So, it is probably better to wait at least half an hour after you have eaten before you swim or perform any other significant exercise.</p> <p><strong>4.  Do not swallow gum because it will stay in your system for seven years</strong></p> <p>There is certainly no good evidence for this one. The stomach acid breaks down many foodstuffs and if most undigested food makes it to the colon, the gut bacteria then have a feast. What is left over is passed out in the faeces as undigested matter.</p> <p><strong>5. Cholesterol causes heart disease</strong></p> <p>Many experts in the field, including myself have disputed the importance of cholesterol and heart disease for a number of years. A recent study in the British Medical Journal looked at 68,000 people over the age of 60 and showed there was no link between the so-called bad cholesterol, LDL and cardiovascular disease. Surprisingly, the same study showed that the higher your LDL, the longer you lived. This does not mean that if you have had a prior heart attack, bypass operation or coronary stent that you should stop your cholesterol-lowering pills but purely suggests that those people who have high cholesterol over the age of 60 without proven heart disease should not be treated with medications.</p> <p>Can you think of any other modern healthy myths you would like to know the truth about? Let us know in the comments below.</p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="/health/body/2015/09/myths-about-allergies/"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">4 myths about allergies that will shock you</span></em></strong></a></p> <p><a href="/health/body/2016/06/4-ways-to-reduce-stress-on-your-heart/"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">4 ways to reduce stress on your heart</span></em></strong></a></p> <p><a href="/health/body/2016/01/cardiologist-tips-for-better-heart-health/"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">5 tips from a cardiologist for better heart health</span></em></strong></a></p>

Body