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Irish politician Richard Boyd Barrett shares throat cancer diagnosis

1 hour ago Kevin Sharkey BBC News NI Dublin reporter PA A well-known member of the Dáil (Irish Parliament) has revealed he has been diagnosed with throat cancer. Richard Boyd Barrett, 58, who is a TD for Ireland’s People Before Profit party, said he was preparing for an “intense period” of cancer treatment. Speaking to […]

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Irish politician Richard Boyd Barrett shares throat cancer diagnosis

Kevin Sharkey

BBC News NI Dublin reporter

PA People Before Profit's Richard Boyd Barrett speaking to media at Leinster House, DublinPA

A well-known member of the Dáil (Irish Parliament) has revealed he has been diagnosed with throat cancer.

Richard Boyd Barrett, 58, who is a TD for Ireland’s People Before Profit party, said he was preparing for an “intense period” of cancer treatment.

Speaking to Irish broadcaster RTÉ, Mr Boyd Barrett said: “All in all, we could be talking three or four months.”

He told the Today with Claire Byrne programme that he will be stepping back from politics while he is receiving treatment.

“I wanted to explain it because if I just disappeared, people, the constituents who elected me, would be wondering where I’d gone, so I wanted to do them the service of telling them”, he said.

Mr Boyd Barrett added: “The people who voted for People Before Profit deserve to know if I’m not around and I just want to stress I plan to be back as soon as possible”.

The TD also explained that he initially noticed swelling in his neck while shaving during the Irish General Election campaign last November.

He said: “They suspected that it was cancer – they had to do an operation, a biopsy, I ended up having to get my tonsils taken out and they found that I had throat cancer that was prompted by the HPV virus”.

He also explained that a doctor told him he probably picked up the virus years ago, and that it can be activated because of age, stress, or a weakened immune system.

“According to the doctors, when it’s virus-induced, it does improve your chances of recovery”, Mr Boyd Barrett added.

“The doctors have said that it is very curable – so I have a good chance.

“It’s been caught relatively early because it was in my tonsils. It’s gone to my lymph nodes but no further, so I have to get radio[therapy] and chemotherapy, and they say the chances of that working are about eight or nine out of 10, which is good,” he said.

Richard Boyd Barrett is one of the most recognisable faces in Irish politics.

He has been an ardent left-wing voice in the Irish Parliament since he was first elected to the Dáil in 2011, representing the constituency of Dún Laoghaire in Dublin.

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Why Personal Growth Drives Business Success

About Icebug Icebug is a Swedish footwear brand on a mission to empower people to get outside — regardless of the season. Founded in 2001, the company is best known for its innovative traction technologies, making it a go-to for runners, hikers, and outdoor lovers facing slippery or challenging terrain. As the first outdoor footwear […]

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May 17, 2025

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Why Personal Growth Drives Business Success

About Icebug

Icebug is a Swedish footwear brand on a mission to empower people to get outside — regardless of the season. Founded in 2001, the company is best known for its innovative traction technologies, making it a go-to for runners, hikers, and outdoor lovers facing slippery or challenging terrain. As the first outdoor footwear brand to become climate positive, Icebug leads with bold sustainability actions, transparency, and a commitment to doing business differently. Headquartered in Jonsered, just outside Gothenburg, Icebug combines nature-first values with cutting-edge design and a deep respect for the planet.

Directly to the Questions

CEO David Ekelund believes this connection to nature is essential for both mental health and in-novative thinking. With mandatory “Wellness Hours” three times a week, all employees spend at least an hour outside — whether walking, running, or simply breathing fresh forest air. It’s part of a bigger shift: a commitment to inner development and new ways of working in a changing world. As Ekelund shares on a walk through the forests of Västra Götaland, breaking with business-as-usual has helped Icebug thrive — from the inside out.

David, you want to increase mental health in your company with the help of mandatory „Wellness Hours“. How does that work?

It’s quite difficult to isolate where mental issues are coming from. Is it really because of work? Or can it be a parent who is ill or a child having problems at school? But it’s for sure, that you’re not one person at work and then you’re another person in your private life. We are basically one person. 

The underlying assumption is, that people get more dusk worn down at work. They need the weekend or a vacation to rest. I think it’s not a really good way of having it. What if instead, we can make the workplace the place where actual health and well-being are increased? Where people can develop towards their full potential.

ISPO Talk
David Ekelund gave valuable insights about his vision for the sports industry.
Image credit:

Thomas Plettenberg/Messe München

And three free working hours per week are the right way?

We know that physical activity also gives mental well-being, but that’s only one part of it. About 3 years ago, we decided that we wanted to work on inner development. This was really a departure from business as usual.

Sounds like it’s way more than just doing sports together…

The core idea of business as usual being professional at work. But we all have strong sides and weak sides. And if we go to work, spending a lot of time trying to hide our weak side and always show our strong side, our “better side”, we lose a lot of opportunities to learn. Instead spending a lot of energy doing that, we could use it to develop together.

Verschneide Berge mit einer Wandergruppe in der Ferne

More business opportunities. More visibility. More influence.

Position your brand, ideas and innovations in a holistic context. ISPO 2025 is designed to increase your success and at the same time provide an overview and outlook of the entire sports market. Thanks to the new retail initiative and the increase in media presence, you and your brand will receive the attention you deserve.

What led you to the idea, what was the turning point?

It happened during the spring of Covid, when me and a few others in leading positions were confronted with the weekly thrown up of the situation. It became clear to me, that I had an image for myself as a CEO, that I was trying to kind of execute to others. Like that only if I come up with the best plan and we just follow my plan, we’re going to have a good outcome.  

But during this time, I felt that if I would have tried to hang on to this, it would have broken me completely. So instead, I embraced vulnerability. Saying that I don’t know what will happen, because things will likely keep changing a lot. But that I think we have the capacity to work on this together. This didn’t make me weaker, but stronger. And I also noticed that it unlocked the participating in joy at work for me and being able to express gratitude.

Pretty unusual for a CEO, isn’t it?

Yes, until then I had this kind of underlying assumption that if things would be too joyful at work or if I would say thank you that maybe people would get lazy. But the effect is the contrary: People want to contribute more, if you show gratitude and approach things in a joyful manner, even pretty heavy things. 

About David Ekelund

David Ekelund is the CEO and co-founder of Icebug, the Swedish outdoor brand leading the way in climate-positive footwear. At Icebug, he’s championed a workplace culture rooted in well-being, purpose, and bold sustainability goals. A regular speaker at ISPO, David shares his insights on transforming sustainable business through supply chain management for a massive reduce of emissions on the one hand and on the other how inner development and reconnecting with nature can help companies and people thrive.

Was there something that helped you during this process and inspired you to change?

I had some coaching during this time and read a book which was very, very helpful to me. It’s called “You are your best Thing”, written by Brené Brown. It led me to the conclusion, that I couldn’t change the situation, but I could try to change myself.

How did you integrate that awareness into the company?

We started thinking about how we can set up an environment that people get the chance to grow personally. There was this newly established framework called inner development codes, which is kind of a response to having global sustainable development goals: we basically know what to do, but in many cases, we’re moving in the wrong direction. It’s not that we lack knowledge, but we lack in the capabilities as humanity to move in the right direction and know what’s actually good for us.  

We had this framework with a definition of inner development goals, grouped in different themes like being, thinking, relating, collaborating and acting. Nobody had worked with it before, but we don’t mind pioneering old trail blasting. So, we decided that we want to work through this framework with all the employees and basically kicked off in our teams for 100 days each.  

How did these 100 days look like?

We already worked with an external facilitator for team development. She helped us working through those skills and capabilities to link them to some evidence. The most successful way of using the framework was finding something at work that you want to get better at. We have this principle at Icebug that nobody should only work with things in their workflows that they already know how to do. Everybody should always have something that they need to learn and stretch to.  

That’s why we often have some situation where we would like to work better or feel better. And then you can try to link that to some helpful skill and a situation where you can practice this. We’ve established a one-hour reflection group every two weeks, where people across the company meet to share what they have tried, how it worked out und what they’ve learned or what has been useful or difficult. 

How did your employees react on the change?

This development program is designed for people to find their own inner motivation. It was no surprise that there were some concerns and skepticism. But with the participation of everyone in the company, it was very helpful and good to question several parts of the program to grow together.

Have you ever had doubts or feared the risks of failing with this program?

I struggled a little bit with changing things, because I felt we were in a good state. I needed some logical motivation and asked the opposite of a positive outcome: What if people in the organization don’t grow and develop their inner compass, their integrity and authenticity? If they get worse at perspective taking, critical thinking, and sense making and lose their optimism in action? To me it’s pretty obvious that the organization would be a worse place to work. But if we get better at these things, we will also work better and increase the capabilities of the organization. That’s why I think it’s a much bigger risk to not try it, as the world around is changing, too.  

What is your resume after three years in the program?

Today, almost all of our employees reached the recommended physical activity level from the World Health Organization. But my thing here is also the dare trusting in what I experienced. The trust that I feel in the organization. People are feeling much more secure at work and it became easier to address more difficult issues. We are much faster in collaborating around real problems that matter. That saves us a lot of time and energy at Icebug. And I also noticed that I became a more enjoyable partner and Dad.  

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Would you say this was one of the boldest decisions you made in the past years?

Maybe, yeah. I never really framed it that way for me personally. I think the boldest talk was when I did it myself first, I started opening up. And I didn’t see that much risk in trying to do it for the company because we also were clear that, we wanted to try this. 

It’s a complex program and we didn’t plan everything ahead. But we’re still finding our way and I think in that sense you decrease a lot of risk in decisions if you stay agile. If it doesn’t work, we’ll just abandon it and try to find a way forward. 

Do you think it’s adaptable even for bigger companies?

Sure, maybe not exactly how we do, but I think it’s doable and beneficial. There are big companies already working with inner development goals. IKEA is working quit a lot with it on leadership levels. But you can do it in smaller departments as well.  

I know that there is some skepticism and worry, that this cannot spill into performance reviews and salary discussions. Whatever I share here or in the book we recently published about our journey, I think that you need this trust that learning and development is a good thing. You will see that people get less stressed and they are fine with sharing difficulties as well.  

Could you maybe share an example where you really failed hard once?

We had our biggest problems with Cash flow issues that were kind of self-inflicted first time I think that we were we were growing. We had like 3 years when we grew an average of 35% and took for granted that we would keep growing. When that didn’t happen, we ran into real cash flow problems. We had a similar scenario when we wanted to hit it up in North America and gave too much leeway to somebody leading that operation.  

But profitability and growth somehow got missed. So we just had the growth and that was also. Quite and took some restructuring. I think a lot of that is is. I think our biggest failures has been when we have been too locked into growth earlier. So you do things to grow. Broader than growth as a result of doing the right things. 

What was your learning from that?

I think as a company you have to stay very agile and have a high degree of resilience. You need cash reserves for not being too stretched. That’s one part.  

And then the other more philosophical part we want to promote is the return of the virtue. Contribution and seeing what you can contribute, not looking at, just us getting what we could get. It’s not that if somebody else wins that I automatically lose. A lot of people can win at the same time through collaboration.  

Our role models are companies that do something for the common good. We want to do so, too, because I think that we’ll also benefit. If we all do a little bit more, the world will be a better place.  

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Are you really that optimistic? How do you see the future?

We haven’t maybe been as collaborative lately as we were before. But the outdoor industry has always been a strong community. We are trying to move the same things: to increase participation in sports or outdoor activity. The future we are looking for is where people can thrive on a planet in balance.  

Being physically active and doing it together with others while connecting with nature increases people’s well-being. And that is where we have a real chance to be part of the solution. Also because we’re not such a big part of the problem. Yes, our industry does pollute and we need to take care of reducing our emissions. But the real imact we have is in moving people’s awareness for a sustainable future. Which is actually what to strive for because it will lead to more flourishing lives.  

It’s the wrong direction to just pick up pages from fashion playbooks and try to create trends and sell as much stuff as possible. The challenge for most CEOs is finding a plausible hypothesis and set business targets to prove that the company reaches them. But that triggers overconsumption and is not good for us. The challenge is to find a viable business model that contributes to people’s well-being. And flourishing life or nature on the planet as well.   

With that in mind, how this can look in practice and how brands can implement it meaningfully is at the heart of ISPO 2025. Here, brands come together to exchange knowledge, build partnerships, and discover fresh ideas. Through focused talks, workshops, and networking events, you gain valuable tools to drive your business forward. Be part of it – 30. NOV. – 02. DEC. in Munich.

Conclusion: Leading with Well-Being, Growing with Purpose

  • Workplace as a Source of Health: Icebug envisions work not as a burden, but as a source of physical and mental well-being – with mandatory “Wellness Hours” outdoors.
  • Fostering Inner Development: Instead of traditional performance metrics, Icebug focuses on personal growth within teams, guided by the “Inner Development Goals” framework.
  • Leadership through Vulnerability: During the pandemic, Ekelund chose openness and collaborative problem-solving – a turning point in his role as CEO.
  • Positive Company Culture: Trust, gratitude, and room for growth help employees feel more secure and work more effectively together.
  • A Learning Organization: Regular reflection sessions and the principle of always learning something new enhance ownership and innovation.
  • Sustainable Business Mindset: Icebug doesn’t chase growth for its own sake – it aims to contribute meaningfully to its team, the industry, and the planet.
  • Outlook: Ekelund advocates for more collaboration and a business model that centers on human well-being and planetary health.
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Metea's first

Gino Colasanti Metea’s 1st Annual ESPY’s are coming in full effect For the first time in school history, Metea Valley is rolling out the red carpet for its athletes. The Metea ESPY Awards, set for Monday, May 19, will be a night dedicated to honoring the school’s top varsity athletes, coaches, and contributors. Modeled after […]

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Metea's first

Metea's 1st Annual ESPY's are coming in full effect
Gino Colasanti

Metea’s 1st Annual ESPY’s are coming in full effect

For the first time in school history, Metea Valley is rolling out the red carpet for its athletes. The Metea ESPY Awards, set for Monday, May 19, will be a night dedicated to honoring the school’s top varsity athletes, coaches, and contributors. Modeled after ESPN’s iconic ESPYs, the event is entirely student-led and aims to shine a spotlight on athletic achievement, leadership, and community impact; something Metea’s student-athletes haven’t experienced before.

Set to take place in the auditorium, the exclusive event will be open only to varsity athletes and their families, giving the space a formal and intimate atmosphere. But this isn’t just another awards night. According to those behind the idea, it’s about something bigger: legacy.

“This was all driven by our amazing leaders in Captains Council,” Joshua Robinson, one of the staff advisors to the group, said. “We preach leaving a legacy, and these students have taken that idea and are trying to create something that will last at MV long after they leave.”

The idea for the ESPYs began back in November 2024 during a Captains Council meeting. Seniors Jack Kusumpa and Cameron Leys, both multi-sport athletes, proposed the concept after seeing similar events at other schools.

“Seeing other schools and their communities come together for something like this made us realize what Metea has been missing,” Kusumpa said. “Especially for our athletic department, this is a chance to rally everyone for one night.”

Once the idea was greenlit by school leaders, the planning began. Kusumpa, Leys, and other Captains Council members created timelines, coordinated with coaches, designed promotional materials, and organized a multi-step nomination and voting process. First, varsity coaches nominated athletes from their teams for each award. Then, a selection committee narrowed each category down to three to five finalists. Finally, the entire school was invited to vote; the response was overwhelming.

“With almost 700 votes cast, we exceeded our expectations,” Kusumpa said. “It showed us how much students and faculty care about recognizing those who’ve really earned it.”

One of the biggest challenges, according to Leys, was making sure the event was inclusive.

“The most challenging part was ensuring every sport was represented so no one felt excluded,” Leys said. “We struggled with deciding who could vote and who could attend. While we wanted to include as many people as possible, we also wanted the night to feel earned—something people look forward to being a part of.”

Nominees will be honored in over 20 different categories, including headline awards like Male and Female Athlete of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, and Moment of the Year. Standout nominees include Ian French, Cameron Leys, and Dominic Smith for Male Athlete of the Year, and Katie Schuele, Bridget Anderson, and Pragya Iyer for Female Athlete of the Year.

Other categories like Play of the Year, Leadership Award, and Community Outreach Athlete of the Year showcase the full range of accomplishments, both on and off the field, by Metea athletes. Even roles often overlooked, such as Sports Photographer of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year, will be honored.

“Too often, students receive awards and their peers never even know,” Robinson said. “This event changes that. We want to highlight the best that Metea has to offer.”

From the beginning, the Metea ESPYs have been 100% student-driven, a fact that organizers say sets the event apart from more traditional, staff-run ceremonies.

“Ours is student-led,” Leys said. “While staff and coaches assist, the event is organized and run by students and the Captains Council, which is what makes it so special.”

Kusumpa echoed that sentiment, emphasizing the amount of effort and passion poured into the process.

“We’ve been working on this since November, crunching every number, refining every detail,” he said. “This isn’t just an awards show: this is a night people will remember, and hopefully something that becomes a Metea tradition.”

Even with the event just days away, organizers say that promotion is still one of their biggest challenges.

“Spreading the word out there has been the most daunting task, and still is as of now,” Kusumpa said. “But we’re committed to finishing strong.”

As Metea’s varsity athletes prepare to walk the black and gold carpet on May 19, more than just trophies and applause will be waiting at the end of the night. There’s the beginning of a new legacy, one that’s built not just by winning, but by celebrating the people who make those wins possible.

“We want this to become an annual tradition,” Leys said. “Years from now, we hope future athletes look forward to this night, and future Captains Council members make it even better.”

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A Coach's Mission to End the Silence Around Teen Mental Health

Jeff Olson spent nearly four decades coaching high school football and basketball in Ishpeming, Michigan. The coach’s mission during that time helped mold countless young athletes and brought home three state titles. But sports couldn’t prepare him for the most devastating loss of his life—the death of his son, Daniel. He died by suicide just […]

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A Coach's Mission to End the Silence Around Teen Mental Health

Jeff Olson spent nearly four decades coaching high school football and basketball in Ishpeming, Michigan. The coach’s mission during that time helped mold countless young athletes and brought home three state titles. But sports couldn’t prepare him for the most devastating loss of his life—the death of his son, Daniel. He died by suicide just weeks before his 20th birthday. Jeff’s mission now is to end the silence around teen mental health. He joined Maino and the Mayor to share the story.

It’s a medical illness of the brain. Just like you’d get help for a torn meniscus or diabetes, people need to get help for depression and anxiety.

Jeff Olson, Founder of “Do It for Daniel”

Jeff describes Daniel as an “All-American kid.” A standout athlete, a state finalist quarterback, and a defensive MVP on the basketball court. He was a leader, a friend, a brother, and a son who inspired those around him with his drive and spirit. But beneath the surface, Daniel was silently battling a storm that too many young people face alone. He was anxious and depressed.

Listen to the entire episode here:

“He was good at everything,” Jeff says. “Tons of friends, girlfriends, great in school—everything looked perfect from the outside. But he started feeling different as early as sixth grade.”

Jeff and his wife began to notice subtle changes—mood swings, irritability, emotional withdrawal—but Daniel, like many teenagers, kept his pain to himself. It wasn’t until his junior year of high school that he admitted he was struggling and asked for help. By then, he had already survived one suicide attempt.

But Daniel continued to struggle. Jeff says therapy, medication, even unwavering love wasn’t enough. And after two years of college football at St. Norbert in De Pere, the pressure became too much. He returned home and took his life in 2012.

The family made a courageous decision. Just two days after Daniel’s death, while sitting in a funeral home, they vowed not to stay silent. They would instead speak out—not only to honor Daniel’s life, but to prevent other families from going through this same pain.

Their promise is the foundation of the Do It for Daniel movement. It’s a mental health awareness campaign centered around a powerful documentary featuring Daniel’s life and his struggles. Jeff’s raw, honest presentation accompanies it.

He has since traveled to hundreds of schools and communities across the Midwest, using his story to dismantle the stigma surrounding mental illness.

“This isn’t about weakness,” he explains. “It’s a medical illness of the brain. Just like you’d get help for a torn meniscus or diabetes, people need to get help for depression and anxiety. But too often, they feel like they can’t.”

Jeff also stresses that mental illness is not something you just “snap out of.” It’s complex, deeply personal, and different for everyone. His goal is to help both teens and adults recognize the symptoms, find the language to describe what they’re feeling, and give them the courage to come forward.

The documentary—shown in full or through powerful 14-minute clips—has moved thousands to tears, and more importantly, to action. Jeff says he often receives messages from students, teachers, and parents who credit the presentation for changing or even saving lives.

And for Jeff, that’s the point.

“I feel like I’m Daniel’s voice now,” he says. “Helping others understand what he couldn’t explain.”

And as Mental Health Awareness Month brings renewed attention to suicide prevention, Jeff’s message is more urgent than ever: listen, talk, support, and never assume someone is okay just because they seem fine.

Learn more about the movement at doitfordaniel.com or follow Do It for Daniel on Facebook.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

988 Crisis Lifeline Information here

Mental Health in Crisis Mode: How to Reclaim What You Can Control

National Alliance on Mental Illness – Wisconsin Help Page here

State Action Plan to Address Mental Health Crisis – Take the Survey here

Mental Health – America Wellness Page here

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Catholic Athletic Assn. meeting ends in dispute over Mission League proposal

The Catholic Athletic Assn., made up of 25 high schools, voted for new leagues as part of a four-year cycle on Wednesday, but the meeting ended in disagreement, disputes and a threat that Mission League schools might leave the organization. Terry Barnum, head of athletics at Harvard-Westlake, submitted two re-leaguing plans as proposals but asked […]

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Catholic Athletic Assn. meeting ends in dispute over Mission League proposal

The Catholic Athletic Assn., made up of 25 high schools, voted for new leagues as part of a four-year cycle on Wednesday, but the meeting ended in disagreement, disputes and a threat that Mission League schools might leave the organization.

Terry Barnum, head of athletics at Harvard-Westlake, submitted two re-leaguing plans as proposals but asked they be withdrawn in favor of others as had been done in the past. It was refused. One of the plans was adopted by a 14-11 vote for football only, and now Barnum vows to appeal on procedural grounds and believes his fellow Mission League members will look to leave the CAA and form their own area.

Barnum and other Mission League representatives wanted the football-only proposal pulled. The fact it wasn’t could cause Mission League schools to pull out of the CAA, Barnum said.

He said that eight years ago in the last CAA meeting on reconfiguring league members, proposals were allowed to be withdrawn, setting a precedent. “We believe precedent and procedures were not followed,” Barnum said.

“What today showed is that there’s an ideological difference and divide in parochial schools and the Mission League,” he said. “We will never be in position to control our own destiny and rules will be bent and circumvented in order for the Mission League not to control our destiny.”

Barnum is well-respected within the CIF hierarchy as a member of the Southern Section executive committee and CAA executive committee. He said he plans to appeal the decision to the Southern Section but first must receive support from fellow Mission League members. His philosophy is to keep Mission League schools together for almost all sports. They are Harvard-Westlake, Crespi, Sierra Canyon, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Loyola, St. Francis, Bishop Alemany and Chaminade.

The CAA meeting was originally scheduled for last Wednesday, then changed after supposedly not enough time had been given as notice to satisfy the Brown Act. Barnum said he believes the delay was designed to “allow a group of schools to rally themselves around a plan” they wanted.

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Dedicated to Mental Health

COURTESY PHOTOSUNAPEE SOFTBALL PLAYED Woodsville at home and both teams dedicated the game toward mental health awareness through Morgan’s Message. Taylor Goodspeed is the student-athlete ambassador. Morgan’s Message amplifies stories, resources and expertise to confront student-athlete mental health, builds a community by and for athletes, and provides a platform for advocacy.  5

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Dedicated to Mental Health

COURTESY PHOTO
SUNAPEE SOFTBALL PLAYED Woodsville at home and both teams dedicated the game toward mental health awareness through Morgan’s Message. Taylor Goodspeed is the student-athlete ambassador. Morgan’s Message amplifies stories, resources and expertise to confront student-athlete mental health, builds a community by and for athletes, and provides a platform for advocacy. 


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Wild chimpanzees give first aid to each other

For wounded chimpanzees, help sometimes comes in the form of first aid — care rendered not by humans but by other chimps. New research reveals the nature and prevalence of these rarely witnessed events. Thirty years of observations in Uganda’s Budongo Forest reveal that chimp-administered health care — both ape-to-ape care and self-care — happens […]

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May 14, 2025

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Wild chimpanzees give first aid to each other

For wounded chimpanzees, help sometimes comes in the form of first aid — care rendered not by humans but by other chimps.

New research reveals the nature and prevalence of these rarely witnessed events. Thirty years of observations in Uganda’s Budongo Forest reveal that chimp-administered health care — both ape-to-ape care and self-care — happens frequently there, say primatologist Elodie Freymann of the University of Oxford and colleagues. She suspects these behaviors, occasionally glimpsed outside of Budongo, are widespread among chimps.

Chimps’ healing ways also hint at the possible origins of a similar impulse in humans.

Concern for other apes’ well-being “offers evidence that some of the foundations of human medicine — recognizing suffering, applying treatments and caring for others — are not uniquely human, but part of our deep evolutionary heritage,” says Christine Webb, a primatologist at Harvard University who was not involved in the research.

From the 1990s through 2022, 34 incidents of self-care were recorded at Budongo, Freymann and colleagues report May 14 in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. Some were hygienic acts, like wiping with leaves after bowel movements or mating. Several others resembled first aid applied after attacks by other chimps, or being caught in human-laid snares. Licking wounds and dabbing them with leaves were the most observed acts of self-care. Some saliva and plants contain antimicrobial compounds that might prevent infection, the researchers say.

In seven other instances, a chimp helped another chimp. And the helping hand wasn’t extended just to kin but also to unrelated individuals in need.

In one extraordinary display, a male freed an unrelated female from a snare set for game, probably saving her life. Snares frequently entangle chimps in Budongo and elsewhere in Africa, Freymann says, and it’s well-documented that the apes help free each other.

“The fact that chimpanzees treat not only themselves but also others suggests a level of social awareness that is too often underestimated,” Webb says. “It hints at an empathic sensitivity that we typically reserve for our own species.”

Freymann saw that sensitivity in two young unrelated males — one pressing his lips to and licking the other’s wound — behavior that wasn’t without risk. “I thought, wow, that’s potentially dangerous for them, that’s potentially exposing him to pathogens or contagious diseases,” Freymann says. “But he’s doing it anyway. You see camaraderie … maybe they will one day be rivals, and they’re literally licking each other’s wounds,” she says.

The origins of this apparent altruism is unclear, but Freymann saw firsthand how health care behaviors might spread from ape to ape. In 2021, a chimp named Kirabo put chewed-up bark on his wounded knee, while a youngster looked on attentively. It was “an indication that the chimp is trying to socially learn something,” Freymann says. She also found an incident recorded from 2008, in which a young female named Night, observing her mother Nambi nurse a vaginal injury after a violent attack, copied the technique — applying a chewed and folded leaf to Nambi’s swollen area.

For most injured chimps in Budongo, however, a helping hand doesn’t come, Freymann says — and she doesn’t yet understand why. “If chimps sometimes know how to help others get out of snares, for example, why aren’t they helping all chimps get out?” she asks. “Why are they being selective about this care, and why do some chimps seem to warrant it, while others don’t?”

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