Vanessa Cantu considers herself an incredibly optimistic person. When she was a freshman in high school she was involved in a serious car accident. She says her seat belt didn’t work and without its support her spine broke and she suffered severe, internal injuries. She was kept in an induced coma for weeks. When she woke up she wanted to know why she couldn’t feel her legs.

“My family didn’t want to tell me anything,” said Cantu. “Nobody wanted to tell me anything. Finally I asked the doctor what’s wrong and he says you’re paralyzed and you’re never going to walk again.”

From that point on Cantu’s life became fixated on finding a way out of her wheelchair and back on her feet. She went to countless physical therapy sessions and endured a number of surgeries. She found herself able to use crutches but that didn’t mean the trials and tribulations stopped.

“I’ll never forget the first time I fell at school and I thought it was just the end of the world,” said Cantu. “I just sat on the floor and I cried. At that point it’s like you can either stay down or get up. Brush it off. Move forward. Learn how to deal with it. That’s just going to be a part of the process.”

Cantu started seeing Mary Tanner, a Physical Therapist at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. She and Tanner focused on things like balance and strengthening her lower body.

“We were just basically trying to get her ankles and feet to work better with the walking stages and her ultimate goal was to really kind of get out of the scooter,” said Tanner.

Tanner says that in less than two years with hard work and determination Cantu made her way out of the scooter.

“She is so motivated and it’s rare that we have that kind of transition especially when it’s an older spinal cord injury,” said Tanner.

Cantu hopes to encourage other accident victims facing her same struggles and pass on some of her positivity.

“Find something positive out of it because it’s a life altering event,” said Cantu. “Use it to help other people. Use it to find new hobbies, new goals and you’ll be surprised at yourself and what you’re able to do. Don’t hold back.”

Watch the video in HD above produced by our News Without The Blues team – the only news team in Texas that only reports on positive news! The video was reported by Journalist Katherine Lane and shot by Videographer Chris Ghanbari.

Sam Davis is a happy and outgoing 9-year-old boy. He’s also extremely brave.

“I prick myself in my finger ten times or more a day and I have to take four shots before every meal,” said Sam.

Three years ago, Sam was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.

“It’s a disease in your body that your body can’t make insulin so you need to give your body insulin,” said Sam.

The American Diabetes Association says about one in every four hundred children and adolescents has diabetes. The diagnosis shocked his parents, but they wasted no time getting involved with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and brainstorming ways to help find a cure.

“We just wanted to see what else we could do,” said Sam’s father Chris Davis. “We decided to do a golf tournament.”

Sam’s Search 4 a Cure is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity organization. One of their biggest fundraisers is the Eli Daniel Swing to Cure Sam Golf Tournament, now in it’s third year. The first year the tournament had a field of one hundred and twenty players, and the second it was completely full. This year people lined up to help.

“This tournament sold out in eighteen days which we’re really proud of,” said Chris. “This is our third year to do this golf tournament.”

“Next year the plan is sell it out in forty six seconds like Garth Brooks,” said Chris Lawson, CEO of Eli Daniel Group.

Proceeds from the tournament go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and treatment for Sam. It’s clear Sam’s bright personality helps everyone at the tournament remember to always keep a smile on their face and have fun while raising awareness for this disease.

“I think it’s really awesome that everyone is hear to support people with diabetes,” said Sam.

For such a small boy, Sam has a big heart. He’s already spread his love to so many around him, and he hopes his tournament is just the start of helping the over two hundred thousand children in America with diabetes.

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When Lori Stevens began training dogs over twenty years ago, she never imagined her work and her dogs would help America’s heroes.

“The veterans are asking for this,” said Stevens. “There’s an amazing need for this when they’re all coming back with post-traumatic stress or physical disabilities.”

After a group of veterans told Stevens the need for service dogs was growing, she started Patriot PAWS in 2006.

“They asked for my help and when I met them I couldn’t resist,” said Stevens. “The next thing I knew I had my own non-profit training for veterans.”

Most Patriot PAWS dogs begin the program as puppies, and continue their training for eight to twenty four months.

“Each one of our dogs is customized for each individual soldier and their special needs,” said Stevens.

The dogs are trained to assist with daily tasks like picking up dropped items, doing laundry, opening and closing doors and retrieving. Veteran Richard Heath struggles with his balance but his dog, Wendy, is there to help.

“She actually has jumped up and blocked my fall and eased me down on her or to the floor on several occasions now,” said Heath.

Patriot PAWS studied Heath’s personal needs before any dogs were introduced to him. But Stevens says the final decision isn’t up to her.

“I believe that if the dogs pick their owners then they’re more likely to pick up on their post-traumatic stress and the physical disabilities or chemistry changes in their body and able to help them in that way,” said Ste

And in July of 2011, Wendy could sense something was wrong. Heath had suffered a stroke, and Wendy helped save his life.

“I couldn’t tell her to get the phone because I couldn’t speak I couldn’t move,” said Heath. “She went and got the telephone and put it in my hand. She is my life saver. She is my best friend.”

Heath is just one of many veterans the Patriot PAWS program and others like it has helped. Stevens says she wants people to understand we can’t forget our soldiers when they come home.

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Since she was just a baby, six year old Reagan has been seeing therapists like Erin Belleu a Speech Pathologist who has worked for THERAPY 2000 for over ten years. Young Reagan would spit out her food, struggling to chew and swallow her bites. Now, Reagan is working on her speech, and her therapist has found lots of fun ways to help Reagen master her words like playing Go Fish on an iPad. Reagan’s mother, Suzanne Hollman has nine children. Four of them are excelling thanks to THERAPY 2000. It’s a program that offers therapy to those in need. Specialists offer occupational, speech, or physical therapy. Some, like Reagan, needed help eating solid foods. Others have soared above reading levels in school thanks to speech therapy.

“It’s completely changed their lives, and for the better,” said Hollman. “They are able to cope, understand, have social skills, where before we never knew they were going to be able to get passed that hump.”

Hollman says it’s not just the strides her children have made that encourage her to recommend THERAPY 2000 to her friends.

“They do come to the home so that they work around our schedule,” said Hollman. “That is also an appealing aspect that THERAPY 2000 can offer.”

Hollman credits Reagen’s therapy session for bringing her up to speed, while making learning fun. Reagan now enjoys sharing all of her words with everyone she knows

“It’s not about making more money,” said Belinda Williams, Occupational Therapist for THERAPY 2000. “It’s not about you having notariety, or somebody just giving you an extra pat on the back. It’s knowing that you’re really going to make a difference.”

Making a difference in many lives, just like Reagan’s.

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After a ribbon cutting Operation Kindness officially opened an expansion to its facility that will allow it to save more, large dogs.

“It’s amazing,” said Sherwin Daryani, Executive Director of Operation Kindness. “It’s something that I was hoping for a few years down the road and for Norma to come and make it happen so quickly for us was incredible.”

Norma is Norma Carney who wanted to do something to help Operation Kindness after she and her husband found Bear their dog.

“We took him home to take care of him until he could find a home and we fell in love with him,” said Carney. “We couldn’t give him up and he’s been the joy of our lives for eight and a half years.”

And in honor of her Great Pyrenees, Carney asked that the expansion be called Bear’s Den.

“He has meant so much to us,” said Carney. “I wanted to make it possible to save more, large dogs and Operation Kindness wanted to expand their dog area so it was meant to happen.”

Carney donated the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars needed for the expansion and Daryani was literally floored.

“Once I got up off the floor, I told her thank you so much and we’ll do it,” said Daryani.

Bear’s Den will double the shelter’s capacity for big dogs and increase small dog capacity by fifty percent. Daryani estimates that the increased space will allow Operation Kindness to save an additional eight hundred animals a year. The oldest and largest no kill shelter in North Texas hopes Carney’s donations will help it continue to do that for years to come.

Watch the video in HD above produced by our News Without The Blues team – the only news team in Texas that only reports on positive news! The video was reported by Journalist Chris Blake.

Videographer Chris Ghanbari and Producer Angela Hamann profile Figure Competitor Jennifer Baker and Bodybuilder Luis Moreira at Metroflex Gym in Plano. Both have just returned from overseas and are engaged to be married. Take a moment to watch the video above produced by dfwreporting.com – the only news team in the United States that only reports on positive news!

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