Finally, some good news: Miraculous rescue for man lost at sea 67 days, Canadian coach makes NHL history and Gaza newborns bring hope amid devastation

Yahoo Canada editors highlight the most smile-worthy and inspiring stories this week

Good news roundup week of Oct. 18. (Image courtesy from left: ABC News, BBC, Canadian Press)
Good news roundup week of Oct. 18. (Image courtesy from left: ABC News, BBC, Canadian Press)

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 a miracle on an eastern Russia sea as a man who spent two months gets rescued, a heartwarming moment as a pilot adopts kitten after airlifting shelter cats to safety from hurricane and newborns in Gaza bring hope amid despair.

🚣🏻 'Some kind of miracle!': Man rescued after 67 days adrift

Man rescued after 67 days adrift. (Photo courtesy: Reuters)
Man rescued after 67 days adrift. (Photo courtesy: Reuters)

A Russian man has been rescued after spending more than two months adrift in a small inflatable boat in the Sea of Okhotsk in the far east of Russia.

Officials say a man, named by Russian media as Mikhail Pichugin, 46, was found by a fishing boat crew nearly 1,000km (620 miles) from where he set off in early August. The bodies of his brother and his 15-year-old nephew were reportedly found in the boat.

Mr Pichugin's wife said the trio had gone to sea to watch whales and taken food supplies for two weeks.

She told Russia's state-run Ria Novosti news agency his weight may have been a factor in his survival - he was 100kg (15st 10lb) when he left for the trip, and reports say only half that when he was rescued 67 days later.

"We don't know anything yet. We just know that he's alive... It's some kind of miracle!" she told the Russian agency as stated in a report by BBC News.

A bearded man in a life jacket is seen shouting at the fishermen: "I have no strength left," as he is taken to safety, in a video posted by the prosecutor's office.

He was named by Ria as 46-year-old Mikhail Pichugin. The bodies of his brother Sergei, 49, and nephew Ilya, were still on the boat.

As to how he was able to survive for so long in the Sea of Okhotsk - the coldest in East Asia - a representative from the far eastern branch of the Russian seafarers' union suggested a supply of fish may have played a part.

Mr Pichugin is now recovering in hospital, where he is described as being in a "more or less stable" condition by doctors.

🐈 Watch: Pilot adopts kitten after airlifting shelter pets to safety in wake of hurricanes

🏒 Saskatchewan's Jessica Campbell makes history as 1st female NHL coach

It wasn't your ordinary NHL opening night. This one was big.

Seattle may have lost its home opener to the St. Louis Blues as the league kicked off a new campaign on Tuesday, but a massive moment for hockey culture was created in the process with Jessica Campbell making her debut behind the Kraken bench — becoming the first full-time female coach to work in the NHL.

Jessica Campbell runs a drill during a Seattle Kraken rookie development camp on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, in Seattle. Campbell will become the first woman to work on the bench of an NHL franchise after the Seattle Kraken hired her as an assistant coach Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Nick Wagner/The Seattle Times via AP)
Jessica Campbell runs a drill during a Seattle Kraken rookie development camp on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, in Seattle. Campbell will become the first woman to work on the bench of an NHL franchise after the Seattle Kraken hired her as an assistant coach Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Nick Wagner/The Seattle Times via AP)

The league is the last out of the four major North American professional sports league to feature a full-time female coach, but the saying "better late than never" has never rang more true.

Following the historic night for the Kraken's assistant coach, Campbell played the "business as usual" card as professional coaches do, but the significance of the moment was far from lost from her as she chatted with media following the game.

“For me, it's just a normal day in terms of my work, in terms of my routine, in terms of all of those pieces,” Campbell said.

Despite the expected outpouring of negativity from a small minority of trolls and keyboard warriors, Campbell's history-making night is being celebrated by the vast majority of fans. They took to social media to celebrate Campbell's massive accomplishment in a sport that's proven extremely difficult for women coaches and executives to get their foot in the door — let alone kick through it.

Fans were in their feelings after Campbell's debut behind the bench, but the way Seattle's players talked about her after the game is maybe the most telling sign of the impact Campbell will make on the game and on the careers of those who actually suit up to go to battle every night in the best hockey league on Earth.

"It’s something that we’ve all been proud to be a part of," Seattle defenseman Vince Dunn told a gaggle of media following Tuesday's game. "It certainly makes a statement around the world for all women, so it’s a special moment for her tonight. It sucks we couldn’t get the win for her."

🎬 Watch: Indigenous-only stunt performance workshop aims to increase representation on film sets

👶🏽 At a time of despair in Gaza, a newborn brings hope

Islam Al-Qanou addressed her newborn son as she made her way back to the camp for displaced people in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis.

“Oh, Abdel Hadi, you came in a time of destruction and war,” she said. “There is no bed for the boy. We are staying in the open air and on the sand.”

Using wood to hold up blankets and other bits of cloth, some of it marked with the logo of the United Nations Children’s Fund, Abdel Hadi’s family had marked out a small plot of their own among thousands of people.

Abdel Hadi Al-Qanou lies in a makeshift crib made from a plastic crate hanging on string.
Abdel Hadi Al-Qanou lies in a makeshift crib made from a plastic crate hanging on string.

“It was an indescribable happiness especially amidst this sadness and destruction,” Islam’s husband, Mahmood Al-Qanou, told NBC News in an interview shortly after their arrival. “We hope this baby heals some of our wounds and suffering.”

Delivered by cesarean section at Nasser Hospital a few days earlier on Aug. 15, Abdel Hadi Al-Qanou was almost 7 pounds when he was born.

In Islam’s case, doctors admitted her almost straight away after realizing she was suffering from high blood pressure.

“We operated by giving her a partial anesthetic, not a full one so that her blood pressure would not rise,” Dr. Iyad Al-Dagga said shortly after the birth. “Thank God, as we see, the child is in good condition.”

Islam, 43, who became a mother of 10 with Abdel Hadi’s arrival, said she was hoping for a better future for all of her family.

“There will be a new happiness born, and God willing, it will be a happier time for us,” she said, adding, “We are happy. I will have a new baby, and he will bring us joy. I believe God will reward us for those who we lost, the shelling, the fear and the displacement. This is my message.”

Do you have an uplifting moment or story you would like to share with us? Email the Yahoo Canada team: canadatips@yahoonews.com.