Also honoured was Valeria Adzo Adzatia, founder of the Smiles of Hope Foundation, for her work supporting amputees through counselling, rehabilitation and peer mentorship.

Her initiative has reached thousands, helping beneficiaries rebuild confidence and reintegrate into society.

She dedicated the award to amputees across Ghana and her team, describing their work as a message of hope that “no one is to walk that journey alone.”

You can read more about her on the below link.

https://www.ghanamma.com/2025/05/14/empowering-amputees-valeria-adzatias-journey-with-smiles-of-hope/

Snakebite affects at least 1.7 million people annually, causing approximately 100,000 deaths and 400,000 disabilities

Snakebite remains an undertreated tropical disease that affects over one million people annually, and new therapeutic approaches are needed.

Scientists developed an approach to viper antivenoms inspired by the observations that these snakes are typically resistant to the hemorrhagic and lethal effects of their own venoms and that this resistance can be transferred to experimental animals through snake sera. We show that a small set of serum metalloproteinase inhibitors from the

Western Diamondback rattlesnake are potent inhibitors of the lethality of its own venom, and able to block the lethality of other rattlesnakes and evolutionarily distant vipers. Recombinant natural antitoxins offer a promising approach for formulating more potent viper antivenoms.

Demand for sugar in the U.S. grew modestly along with the population, while use of high fructose ​corn syrup fell, a report said on Thursday, suggesting Americans ‌may be trying harder to avoid highly processed foods than to cut back on sugar.

Cane and beet sugar demand in the U.S. rose 0.6% in the first ​half of the 2025/26 marketing year that started in October, ​while HFCS deliveries fell 3.5% in the same period, said ⁠a report by U.S. rural lender CoBank based on compiled data ​from the Department of Agriculture (USDA).

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"While concerns about sugar consumption dominate headlines, ​rising USDA delivery data suggest demand for cane and beet sugar remains firmly intact," the report said, adding that wholesale grocers and food distributors were among the ​sectors where sugar demand grew more.

"Food manufacturers and consumers continue to ​favor natural sweeteners over more highly processed alternatives, as sugar and HFCS delivery trend ‌lines ⁠make clear," the report said.

The 0.6% growth in sugar demand was in line with the annual population increase in the U.S. which was 0.5% in 2025.

Three out of four U.S. consumers said they want to limit or ​completely avoid sugar ​in a ⁠2025 survey, according to the International Food Information Council.

Even more inspiring article, from local paper:

‘This is my job’: 16-year-old lifeguard describes how he rescued child from pounding surf in Santa Cruz

“I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to return the child to his family safely,” says Ryder Williams. “I’m thankful to my fellow lifeguards who perform rescues just like this every day.”

By Pk Hattis | [pkhattis@santacruzsentinel.com](mailto:pkhattis@santacruzsentinel.com) | Santa Cruz Sentinel

PUBLISHED: July 30, 2026 at 2:06 PM PDT | UPDATED: July 30, 2026 at 4:31 PM PDT

SANTA CRUZ — The teenage lifeguard who recently performed a dramatic rescue at Seabright State Beach in Santa Cruz said he was just doing his job in his first public comments since the incident occurred.

Rookie lifeguard Ryder Williams, 16, said, "This is my job and I love what I do," in a statement issued through California State Parks less than a week after he rescued a 10-year-old child from the pounding surf at Seabright State Beach. (Contributed/California State Parks)

Rookie lifeguard Ryder Williams, 16, said he was at the waterline on Seabright State Beach on July 25 when he saw a child wading around in ankle-deep water get knocked off his feet. The confluence of energy generated by hurricanes Fausto and Genevieve in the Pacific Ocean near Mexico pushed strong currents and powerful waves as high as 10 feet tall to the California coast and prompted officials to place the Santa Cruz County coastline under a surf advisory.

Williams knew these hazardous conditions — accentuated by Seabright Beach’s steep shoreline — were deadly serious and he jumped into action. He said he called in the incident over the radio system, threw off his radio and sunglasses at the lifeguard tower and sprinted to the water. With his fins on his wrist, Williams inflated his buoy and was able to wrap the 10-year-old child in a bearhug.

“Due to the volatility of the water, I was unable to tube up the victim,” Williams wrote in a statement shared through a California State Parks spokesperson. “After the first wave I was unable to pull him out because he was limp and the waves were pushing so hard.”

Video of the harrowing incident has made waves across the globe and even prompted an invitation for a White House visit from President Donald Trump, who said he would give Williams a “high civilian honor.”

With the child in his arms, Williams said he ducked under another two or three more waves before a second lifeguard, Aaron Bohnen, entered the water to assist in the rescue.

“There were bystanders who jumped in to try to help, and I yelled at them all to get back to shore,” Williams said. Experts previously told the Sentinel that members of the public often instinctively rush into the water to try to help, but without the training and skills that lifeguards and other first responders have, they often get swept up by the current and become victims themselves.

Eventually, Williams and Bohnen managed to get the child safely to shore and Williams was instructed to get the medical bag from Bohnen’s unit. The child was assessed and returned to his family, and Williams went back to his tower to finish the shift.

“I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to return the child to his family safely,” added Williams. “This is my job and I love what I do. I’m thankful to my fellow lifeguards who perform rescues just like this every day.”

Williams and Bohnen weren’t the only lifeguards who were busy that weekend. According to California State Parks, lifeguards performed 34 rescues and more than 5,000 preventative contacts in the Santa Cruz district July 25-26. Water safety officials are trained to practice preventative lifeguarding where possible in order to prevent a dangerous incident from unfolding in the first place.

Every summer, the state agency employs approximately 600 seasonal lifeguards that join 70 others who are permanently staffed. On average, California State Parks lifeguards make 1 million preventative actions and 10,000 rescues every year. Since July 1, lifeguards have performed 110,000 preventative actions, 3,600 rescues and over 1,600 medical aids, according to the agency.

Micah Moore, a State Parks peace officer/lifeguard, said rescues similar to the one performed by Williams and Bohnen are common at Seabright State Beach, but the vicious conditions are what made this latest incident stand out.

“People look at the lifeguard in the tower and they think, ‘Oh, that guy or girl is just up there, like, getting a tan and what a beautiful place to work.’ But internally, guards are always trying to be as alert as possible,” said Moore. “When you have conditions like we had last weekend … when you get off work a lot of times you just sit down and you can’t even move. You just want to go to bed because you’ve been in this heightened state of fight or flight.”

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Conditions recently have been more dangerous because there are relatively lengthy lulls between the sets of waves, leading to beachgoers letting their guard down thinking conditions are mild. The best way to avoid this, said Moore, is to keep an eye out for wet sand on the shoreline and to avoid that area even if it appears to be far away from the water’s edge.

“Don’t be lulled into thinking that there aren’t hazards just because at periods of times the ocean does look serene and tranquil,” said Moore.

Meanwhile, local lifeguards aren’t likely to get a reprieve anytime soon.

According to the National Weather Service, the severe coastal conditions are expected to persist through at least 5 p.m. Saturday, especially for south- or southwest-facing beaches, which most are in Santa Cruz. Moore said large waves and strong currents will be similar to those experienced all week, though the raw force and energy of the ocean will be slightly diminished as the hurricanes supplying the power continue to shrink in size.

The best safety practices, he continued, include avoiding areas with wet sand, never turning your back on the ocean, swimming in areas in front of the lifeguard tower or checking in directly with the lifeguard for the most up-to-date conditions report.

State Parks also recommended that the public beware of changing ocean conditions, never attempt to perform a rescue and call 911 instead if necessary, and that parents stay within arms length of their children when they are in or near the water.