Welcome to the Good News Roundup for August 24, 2026
Teenager saves young girl from fatal fire
A 16-year-old boy has been hailed a hero, saving a young girl from a house fire in New South Wales that tragically claimed the life of her twin sister.
Mace Jefferson says he acted on instinct when he smashed a window to get into the burning home – pulling one of the five-year-old girls to safety.
The little girls twin sister tragically was unable to be saved from the blaze, while her 87 year old grandmother suffered serious burns.
Mace too was also injured while rescuing the little girl, damaging his Achilles tendon.
Read more about this heroic story, here.
Not for profit group assisting people with disability along the US Mexico border nears significant milestone
A non-for-profit group is nearing a significant milestone along the US-Mexico border, assisting almost 3500 people with disabilities.
The Arizona Sonora Border Projects for Inclusion – or ARSOBO – was co-founded by paediatrician Dr Burris ‘Duke’ Duncan and industrial engineer Francisco ‘Kiko’ Trujillo.
Together, the pair work to provide wheelchairs, prosthetics, hearing devices and rehab programs to low-income families.
The group also employees people with disability to send a powerful message of inclusion and empathy to those they’re assisting.
Read more here.
The wood waste that could replace plastic packaging
Researchers at Canada’s University of British Columbia have developed a potential replacement for plastic packaging, made out of wood waste from the forestry sector.
The product – nicknamed ‘wood foam’ – is developed from pulp, wood fibres and forestry residues that would otherwise remain unused.
Work is now underway to produce the wood foam at scale, with the aim of using it to replace packaging foam.
Read more about the research, and what’s next, here.
World’s oldest person turns 117
And happy birthday to the world’s oldest person, UK woman Ethel Caterham, who turned 117 over the weekend.
Mrs Caterham spent the day with family and friends, reflecting on the events of the past 12 months, including meeting King Charles, and patting a llama for the first time.
Mrs Caterham has been the oldest living person since April 2025, and it seems longevity runs in her family as one of her sisters lived to be 104.
Read more about her remarkable life here.
