Kidnapping survivor Amanda Berry has teamed up with U.S. Marshals to find over 50 missing children
The life of Amanda Berry is an amazing story of someone bravely turning tragedy into triumph. Berry was kidnapped in Cleveland, Ohio by Ariel Castro in 2003, right before her 17th birthday. She was taken after a job interview at a local Burger King.
Authorities originally thought she had run away until a few days later when Castro called her mother saying she'll be "coming home in a couple of days."
Those couple of days turned into 10 years.
In 2013, she bravely helped two other women and Berry's own six-year-old daughter escape. Her daughter was born in captivity.
Now, Berry has taken the pain she endured living in subhuman conditions and used it as inspiration to help rescue other kidnapping victims. In February 2017, she joined the Fox 8 Cleveland news team as an advocate for missing people.
Berry told Good Morning America that working to find missing individuals was a way for her to find her voice.
"In the beginning, I was so scared to do anything," she said. "I was really scared to leave the house and you know, being noticed. But now I just feel like I take it more as a blessing that I am on this side and that I am blessed enough to be able to help and I can finally use my voice for good."
Amanda Berry`s 3-year anniversary at FOX 8www.youtube.com
Her segment "Missing with Amanda Berry" has helped save countless missing individuals. "It's invaluable, it really is. I don't know if she really realizes the impact she does. I can't tell you the amount of calls and tips I've got from your segments," Cleveland Police detective Kevin Callahan told Berry on her third anniversary with the station.
Recently, Berry partnered with U.S. Marshals to help rescue missing children through Operation Safety Net. Working with state and local partners, Amanda has helped rescue 57 missing and endangered children between the ages of 13 and 18 in the northern Ohio area.
The success of the effort led to the creation of a permanent squad in the area.
"One of the biggest reasons Operation Safety net was a success was Amanda Berry," U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Ohio Pete Elliott told Good Morning America. "She is a great example for Cleveland, Ohio, where you fight and you never quit and that's what she does. We're doing this all over the country and we're gonna try to bring back every single kid that we can, together with Amanda Berry."
Berry credits her mother for her dedication to her work. Her mother was a tireless advocate for her while she was held captive; unfortunately, she died in 2006 and was never able to see her daughter return home safely.
"I push every day more and more for my mother. She fought so hard for me while I was gone, and I think now, I'm trying to finish kind of what she started for the missing," Berry said. "In the beginning, there was nobody to call, there wasn't someone there to help you print your missing posters of your child. So you know, a lot has changed since 2003 and I'm just glad that I can be here and continue my mom's work."
Berry's story is amazing, but far from being completely told. She's had so much success in such a short time helping rescue missing people that there's no telling how much of an impact she'll make on the lives of others going forward. But there's a beautiful thing we can be sure of at this point, through her dedication to finding others, she's been able to find herself. Which is miraculous given the trauma she's had to overcome to get to this place.
- Judge orders all detained immigrant children released. But only ... ›
- 669 Jewish children were saved from the Holocaust by a single man ... ›
- When 59 children died on Christmas Eve 1913, the world cried with ... ›
- 11-yr-old wiped blue slime on her attempted kidnapper's arm, helping police identify him - Upworthy ›
- When 59 children died on Christmas Eve 1913, the world cried with the town of Calumet, Michigan. - Upworthy ›
A Generation Jones teenager poses in her room.Image via Wikmedia Commons
An office kitchen.via 
An angry man eating spaghetti.via 
Gif of baby being baptized
Woman gives toddler a bath Canva
An Irish woman went to the doctor for a routine eye exam. She left with bright neon green eyes.
It's not easy seeing green.
Did she get superpowers?
Going to the eye doctor can be a hassle and a pain. It's not just the routine issues and inconveniences that come along when making a doctor appointment, but sometimes the various devices being used to check your eyes' health feel invasive and uncomfortable. But at least at the end of the appointment, most of us don't look like we're turning into The Incredible Hulk. That wasn't the case for one Irish woman.
Photographer Margerita B. Wargola was just going in for a routine eye exam at the hospital but ended up leaving with her eyes a shocking, bright neon green.
At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner was prepping Wargola for a test with a machine that Wargola had experienced before. Before the test started, Wargola presumed the nurse had dropped some saline into her eyes, as they were feeling dry. After she blinked, everything went yellow.
Wargola and the nurse initially panicked. Neither knew what was going on as Wargola suddenly had yellow vision and radioactive-looking green eyes. After the initial shock, both realized the issue: the nurse forgot to ask Wargola to remove her contact lenses before putting contrast drops in her eyes for the exam. Wargola and the nurse quickly removed the lenses from her eyes and washed them thoroughly with saline. Fortunately, Wargola's eyes were unharmed. Unfortunately, her contacts were permanently stained and she didn't bring a spare pair.
- YouTube youtube.com
Since she has poor vision, Wargola was forced to drive herself home after the eye exam wearing the neon-green contact lenses that make her look like a member of the Green Lantern Corps. She couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and recorded a video explaining it all on social media. Since then, her video has sparked a couple Reddit threads and collected a bunch of comments on Instagram:
“But the REAL question is: do you now have X-Ray vision?”
“You can just say you're a superhero.”
“I would make a few stops on the way home just to freak some people out!”
“I would have lived it up! Grab a coffee, do grocery shopping, walk around a shopping center.”
“This one would pair well with that girl who ate something with turmeric with her invisalign on and walked around Paris smiling at people with seemingly BRIGHT YELLOW TEETH.”
“I would save those for fancy special occasions! WOW!”
“Every time I'd stop I'd turn slowly and stare at the person in the car next to me.”
“Keep them. Tell people what to do. They’ll do your bidding.”
In a follow-up Instagram video, Wargola showed her followers that she was safe at home with normal eyes, showing that the damaged contact lenses were so stained that they turned the saline solution in her contacts case into a bright Gatorade yellow. She wasn't mad at the nurse and, in fact, plans on keeping the lenses to wear on St. Patrick's Day or some other special occasion.
While no harm was done and a good laugh was had, it's still best for doctors, nurses, and patients alike to double-check and ask or tell if contact lenses are being worn before each eye test. If not, there might be more than ultra-green eyes to worry about.