In a world often dominated by challenging headlines, Yahoo News Canada aims to spotlight uplifting news stories both local and beyond. This week’s roundup includes an teen armless archer from India who went viral for Paralympic bullseye, a shell shocked lioness’s heart-warming reaction to touching grass for the first time in her life after being airlifted from Ukraine and Indigenous fashion designers from Manitoba making waves at Paris Fashion Week.
🏹 ‘Truly inspirational’: Armless archer goes mega-viral after Paralympics bullseye
Indian archer Sheetal Devi has made a big splash in her Paralympic debut, going super viral for a bullseye in her first competition last week and then securing bronze in Monday’s mixed team compound final.
Devi is the only woman without arms competing in archery at the Paris Paralympics, according to a report published by Huffington Post.
The 17-year-old went viral for firing a bullseye during the 1/8 elimination round of the women’s individual compound open competition. A clip of the moment posted over the weekend was viewed more than 60 million times before it was taken down for copyright reasons.
“Oh, what a start for Devi,” the announcer says after her shot, as the crowd erupts, in another post of the clip.
Commenters praised her as a “great talent,” “beyond impressive” and “a force to be reckoned with.”
Devi was born with phocomelia, a rare congenital disorder leading to underdeveloped limbs which resulted in her arms not fully forming, according to Olympics.com.
At 17, she had already made a name for herself on the world stage before heading to Paris. She won silver at the 2023 World Archery Para Championships, becoming the first female armless archer ever to medal at the tournament. She also bagged two golds and a silver at last year’s Asian Para Games.
She was named 2023’s best woman para archer of the year by World Archery.
🦁 Watch: Shell-shocked lioness rescued from Ukraine war zone touches grass for 1st time
👗 ‘Indigenous fashion is blowing up’: First Nation designer from Man. heads to Paris Fashion Week
A Manitoba designer is getting ready to see a collection of her designs on a Paris runway.
Alyssia Sutherland, owner and designer of Ally’s Ribbons, is heading to the city known as one of the world’s fashion capitals later this month for Paris Fashion Week.
“It’s a very overwhelming feeling because having the opportunity to go, I never thought I would even get to these global stages,” said Sutherland in an interview with CBC News.
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“I really truly believe that my ancestors and my grandmothers, my grandfathers and all my relatives on the other side, the spiritual side … they’re moving mountains and paving that road for us, and it’s just so crazy that that road is clear and we’re on it and we’re running and we’re taking over, and it’s really emotional. I don’t know how to describe it, because Indigenous fashion is blowing up, and it’s overwhelming that I’m a part of it.”
Sutherland didn’t give too much away about the collection she’ll be showing in Paris, but said it includes gowns and some men’s pieces. She describes her designs as featuring intense ribbon work, with a lot of colour and texture.
Sutherland wanted an all Indigenous showcase and asked four models from Winnipeg to make the trip, including longtime friend Ocean Bruyere.
Bruyere got emotional when asked what it means to her to model for and represent an Indigenous designer — in this case, one who also happens to be a best friend.
“It’s a privilege to watch her be who she is today and to come from a place that she has and just to be a powerhouse and not just a powerhouse but, like, a lighthouse,” Bruyere said.
🌽 Watch: Police drone locates 3-year-old lost in corn field
👞 Gaza carpenter crafts shoes for community as war rages
Twelve-year-old Heba Dawas lost her footwear in the chaos while fleeing Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.
So her carpenter father made wooden-soled sandals for her so she can tread more safely through the tonnes of rubble, hot sand and twisted metal of the besieged Palestinian enclave.
“When we were displaced, we started running and the sandals broke,” said Heba in a report published by Reuters. Heba lives in a tent camp with her family in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
“I threw them off and started running. Our feet became very hot. So, we had to make sandals from wood,” she said, walking on hot sand with her new footwear.
Her father Saber Dawas, 39, came up with the idea after finding the price of sandals too expensive. Now his daughter does not have to go barefoot amid the ruins of Gaza.
Soon enough, his neighbours noticed him making the sandals and started asking him to make some for their children.
Using basic carpentry tools, he makes them for “a symbolic price,” he says.
The sandals have a wooden sole and a strap made of a rubber strip or fabric. But there was a challenge in finding more wood because Palestinians needed it for cooking and fires.
“Everything here in Gaza is difficult to find,” Dawas said, rubbing the base of a sandal with one of his young daughters watching by his side.
Making wooden sandals may ease the pressure of the war but life is still fraught with challenges in Gaza.
Do you have an uplifting moment or story you would like to share with us? Email the Yahoo Canada team: canadatips@yahoonews.com.