We raised 250 kids in 15 years
ALAN and Pam had a happy life and a normal-sized family – but then something big happened, and they faced an ‘endless’ sacrifice.
True Stories
Payout for families swapped at birth
TWENTY years after being handed the wrong babies at a private hospital, the families of two girls swapped at birth have been awarded millions in compensation.
AFP unrepentant over Bali 9 role
ITS role in the Bali Nine case has been labelled shameful, but as an execution date looms for death row pair, the AFP says it would do it all again. And here’s why.
Solitary hell: Life inside a cell
HE SPENDS 22 hours a day locked up in a 5.5m square cell. For the last 10 years, his only interaction has been with guards and he has no access to natural light.
The actress, her husband and an 8-year nightmare
KIM Jong-un isn’t the first of his dynasty to be a movie buff. His father was so obsessed, he kidnapped a film star and her husband to realise his vision. This is their story.
Does the death penalty work?
THESE men will be taken to a field, strapped to a cross and shot to death. The death penalty is common throughout the world, but does it actually work?
The renovation that ruined their lives
JIM and Allison had just moved into their dream home. They couldn’t have been happier. But then the neighbours started to renovate next door – and the consequences were horrifying.
Woman steals $9k ring from ‘disabled baby boy’
THIS little boy suffers from cerebral palsy, and when his mother tried to sell a family heirloom to pay for his medical bills, a conwoman struck.
Renea’s the dopiest drug dealer
RENEA Lucero goes down as one of the dopiest drug dealers. She meant to call a buyer but instead mistakenly dialled the mobile of … you guessed it.
‘I live in fear’: The horror of being stalked
‘HE CLAIMED he loved me and that I loved him. He said everything I had done in my life, was to make him jealous.’
The most important Super Bowl ad today
AN AD featuring audio of a woman calling police during a domestic violence incident is set to air at today’s Super Bowl — and it’s already attracting attention.
Coma mum’s strange tale of survival
A MOTHER lay in a spiralling coma for 12 days before her family decided to pull the plug. Then something amazing happened.
‘Most intelligent fugitive’ caught
HE stole $64m worth of gold from a 19th century shipwreck and then went on the run with the loot. Here’s how this modern-day pirate was captured.
Kate’s plea to save Aussies on death row
FORMER heroin-addicted sex worker Kate Holden has spent plenty of time contemplating death. She knows what it’s like to hit rock bottom, and knows what it’s like to come back.
Hope fades for Bali Nine inmates
HOPES of Bali Nine drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran being spared death have taken a blow, with strong comments from the man who could decide their fate.
The woman who walked out of Auschwitz
IN their hundreds they were led naked into gas chambers with the certainty that they would never come out. Gena Turgel did. 70 years on, she tells her story.
‘We need to change the system’
IT was ‘the trifecta’ that got Tony Trimingham’s son when he died of a heroin overdose 18 years ago. Today, he has a message for the Bali 9 leaders about to be executed.
‘I had my dad’s baby, but I don’t regret it’
A WOMAN has revealed how she had her father’s baby when she was just 14 after suffering years of verbal, physical and sexual abuse. But hers is a story of hope.
‘I was at the bottom point of my life’
PACKING everything up and heading out to find yourself. It’s not necessarily a new concept — but no-one’s done it quite like Cheryl Strayed.
From boozer to marathon man
BY HIS own reckoning, Ted Jackson used to be a ‘terrible’ husband and father. But thanks to a new strategy that sounds insane, he’s now nothing less than a bare-chested Aussie hero.
Why these women deserve a medal
AFTER years of controversy surrounding the Australia Day honours, there’s not a single sports star or hint of sexism among those vying for the top gong.
‘His shirt dissolved, there was no skin’
CLINGING to life after being shocked by a 12,700 volt power line, Brett Coleman wasn’t expected to live. But he hasn’t just survived — what he has done since is incredible.
Home time forgot: Natalie’s unit
THE story of Natalie Wood, who lay dead in her home for eight years before she was discovered forced a city to do some soul-searching. For the first time, we now see inside her home.
‘Why I chose to stop wearing leggings’
WHEN Veronica Partridge decided to explain why she’d stopped wearing leggings, she had no idea about the backlash she was about to endure.
Chan: ‘My life is … an absolute waste’
BALI Nine drug smuggler Andrew Chan, awaiting execution by firing squad, has penned a powerful letter to his 15-year-old self.
‘The Reaper’: My life as a master sniper
NICK Irving has gone down in history after clocking up a record 33 kills in less than four months. This is his story of war, ambush and a crackshot.
‘I am so very sorry to each and every one of you’
THE only person to have been born in a North Korean gulag and to have escaped to tell his tale has revealed the truth is not what it seems.
‘Bonnie and Clyde’ fugitives captured
A TEEN couple who allegedly stole cars and robbed homes during a two-week ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ crime spree have been arrested.
Mum’s extraordinary fight against cancer
MIKE Leddin’s mother “created an oblivion” for him to live in, he says. He never really knew how bad she was until her final weeks.
The man who never broke
LAST year the world lost a legend. But when Louis Zamperini did pass away, it wasn’t the first time he had been declared dead.
Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/true-stories/page/93