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Uplift

At 17 years old, he was paralyzed from the waist down. 3 years later, he competed in a marathon.

Mason Branstrator has always been an athlete, but three years ago, at just 17 years old, his active lifestyle changed forever. “I was going for an ordinary day of downhill skiing, but this time, it was a lot different,” Mason, an experienced skier who frequented the slopes in his home state of Minnesota, told CBS News. “I remember thinking right …

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A surfing accident left him paralyzed and unable to breathe on his own. A few words from a police officer changed his life.

For former teacher Billy Keenan, life had always been about action. He had served in the Army. He mastered musical instruments including the flute, guitar, bass guitar and piano. As a competitive triathlete and surfer, he completed numerous 5K, 10K and half-marathon runs. “I was at the peak of my powers,” he said. But on Sept. 14, 2013, his life …

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She knew her son and other people with disabilities have so much to give. So, she opened a cafe to employ them.

Maureen Stanko always felt her son, Nick, had so much to give. Nick is 20 and is on the autism spectrum and despite her knowing he had so much to give, what he would do after graduation kept his mom up at night. “I was lying in bed one night at 3 a.m. I was thinking about, ‘Oh man, what’s …

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This NBA star always dreamed of being a teacher. So students in Brooklyn got the substitute teacher of a lifetime.

For most basketball players, making it to the NBA is the ultimate dream. But Brooklyn Nets star Mikal Bridges has another dream as well. “My other dream was being a second grade teacher,” the small forward told CBS News. “I think just helping kids has always been a big thing of mine.” Why second grade? “Because I loved second grade …

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She wanted a space for her son, who has autism, to explore nature. So, she created a whimsical fairy forest.

If you walk around the Rahway Trail in the South Mountain Reservation of Millburn, New Jersey, you might spot more than leaves, trees and chipmunks. Fairies live among the foliage. Small whimsical cottages are hidden in the tree trunks and branches – a surprisingly sweet sight in an otherwise normal-looking forest. The fairy homes were not built by mythical creatures, …

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Kids can benefit from having access to nature. This photographer is bringing trees into classrooms – on the ceiling.

Some of the classrooms at Taft Elementary in Santa Clara, California, have one flaw in common: They don’t have windows. That’s true for Logan Earnest’s fifth grade classroom, and he felt it was affecting his students. “Most of the day, 7/8 of the day, they’re inside,” Earnest told CBS News. “And they don’t really get to see any trees, they …

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