ICYMI: An infectious toddler laugh, a helicopter rescue, and a soldier's homecoming
This week on Humankind, a little girl was in fits of laughter thanks to an unlikely best friend, firefighters plucked a stranded kitten from disaster, there was a suspenseful rescue of a man who'd fallen off a cliff edge, an emotional homecoming from a soldier in disguise, and an MLB slugger helped a close friend with autism build a wellness center.
In Twin Falls, Idaho, Amber Lineberry captured her pet goat's "parkour" routine on the deck of the family's home. And no one was more appreciative than her little girl, who couldn't stop laughing.
Firefighters in Capannori, Italy, went into action after receiving a call that a kitten was trapped in a pipe behind the concrete wall of a building. The firefighters used a probe to locate the frightened animal, then prized it out through a hole in a painstaking operation that took around five hours to complete.
Watch this week's Best of Humankind, featuring an infectious toddler laugh, a kitten pulled from a pipe, a helicopter rescue, and more!
A man on a San Francisco hiking trail fell 30 yards down a cliff face but was still able to call for help on his cell phone. First responders included members of the San Francisco Fire Department and a California Highway Patrol helicopter crew. In a delicate operation, the man was winched to safety and flown to hospital in serious but stable condition.
In Ohio, Sgt. Perry Chronister, a member of the Ohio Army National Guard, had been deployed in the Middle East for almost a year. So when the school mascot strolled into Eli's second-grade classroom, the young boy had no idea it was his dad hiding inside the costume.
Reece Blankenship, who has non-verbal autism, has been a close friend of Major League baseball star Matt Olson since high school. Reece doesn't speak or sign, but as his 20th birthday approached, he stunned Matt and the Blankenship family when he began spelling out his thoughts on a letter board. With Matt's help, he's since gone on to design a fitness and wellness center for other people with autism.
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