HOURS OF GREAT READINGQ SPINE TINGLING TALESWEIRD COINCIDENCES IN REAL LIFE A HIDDEN CONDITION STEALING YOUR SLEEP ELVIS TEST YOUR TRIVIA IQ HEART EXPERTS’ HEALTH SECRETS LIVING THE EXOTIC SEACHANGE Hours of great reading Don’t miss out! Each issue packed HOURS OF with real-life GREAT READING | THE WORLD’S BEST LOVED MAGAZINE Q drama, laughs and SPINE inspiring stories. TINGLING SUBSCRIBE TALESWEIRD COINCIDENCES IN REAL LIFE AND SAVE A HIDDEN CONDITION STEALING | readersdigest.co.za YOUR SLEEP ON RETAIL ELVIS EXCLUSIVE EXTRA TEST YOUR TRIVIA IQ SUBSCRIBER PAGES HEART EXPERTS’ EVERY HEALTH SECRETS BONUS ISSUE LIVING THE EXOTIC FOR PRINT SUBSCRIBERS ONLY SEACHANGE For more details, head to: ASIA: rdasia.com/subscribe AUSTRALIA: readersdigest.com.au/subscribe NEW ZEALAND: readersdigest.co.nz/subscribe SOUTH AFRICA: readersdigest.co.za/subscribe Contents MARCH 2015 Extraordinary True Tales 32 WHAT ARE THE ODDS? Readers share their amazing real-life spine-tingling tales. Global View 40 COLOUR WHEELS The highly decorated rickshaws of Asia are works of art on the move – and a window into a different world. MOHAN SIVANAND AND GREG VORE 5-Minute Briefing 48 INSTANT ANSWERS: UKRAINE The regional conflict has roots P. centuries old. Our briefing will get | 40 you up to speed. HAZEL FLYNN Behind the News 50 REFUGEES IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY For three Ukrainian families, life in a country at war with itself is filled with heartbreak – and hope. ELEANOR ROSE Quiz 60 LONG LIVE THE KING In the year Elvis Presley would have turned 80, are you nothin’ but a hound dog or all shook up about the rock ’n’ roll legend? MICHAEL KALLINGER Health 66 WHAT’S STEALING YOUR GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP? Sleep apnoea is an under-diagnosed culprit for bleary mornings and ill health. Here’s how to P. | spot it and treat it. E.R. KING 60 Marchđ2015 | 3 Contents MARCH 2015 Living Language 74 THAT’S RESTRICTIVE! Our copy chief explains one grammatical rule everyone should know. DONYALE HARRISON Trade Secrets 78 CONFESSIONS OF A COURIER The inside story on what happens to your delivery, and how to get it safely to its destination. AS TOLD TO ROBERT EVANS FROM CRACKED.COM Advice P. | 82 WHAT DOCTORS DON’T LEARN 86 An expert cardiologist says some simple, low-cost tips could save you from ever having to see him. DR JOEL K. KAHN The Stranger Who Changed My Life 86 WHERE ARE YOU, BABY ROSEANN? One man’s 50-year search to find out the fate of the baby he found, and then lost. MELODY WARNICK P. | 92 Nature 92 RISE OF THE SEA URCHIN They’re small, spiky – and in huge demand at the world’s trendiest restaurants. FRANZ LIDZ FROM SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE Family 100 AS TEARS GO BY A mother’s tendency to well up prevents her from being the parent she wants to be. It’s time to stop the crying game. LISA FIELDS Real Lives 106 BEST EXOTIC SEACHANGE Two women swapped a staid future for a bold life adventure. AS TOLD TO HELEN SIGNY 4 | Marchđ2015 P. | 82 WANT TO UNLOCK OUR BONUS SECTION? SUBSCRIBE NOW TO THE PRINT EDITION! REGULARS HUMOUR 6 Letters 46 Laughter, the Best Medicine 9 Editor’s Note 72 Life’s Like That 10 Staff Picks 104 All in a Day’s Work 12 Kindness of Strangers 14 Unbelievable 16 My Story THE DIGEST 58 Points to Ponder 19 Health 65 That’s Outrageous 24 Food 81 Quotable Quotes 26 Money 114 Smart Animals 28 Pets 122 Puzzles, Trivia & Word Power 29 Travel 30 Etc CONTESTS 116 Movies & Books 7 Caption Competition 8 Jokes and Stories Marchđ2015 | 5 Letters READERS’ COMMENTS AND OPINIONS Sole Survivor REAL LIFE DRAMAS The odds of surviving even the most serious plane crash From the descriptions of the plane are 76%. The odds of being the only one left alive are infinitesimal. This is what it’s like to be the ... accident survivors’ lives afterward, it is clear that some, if not all, suffer SOLE Survivor BY JEFF WISE from post-traumatic stress disorder ON JUNE 30, 2009, French schoolgirl Bahia Bakari, 12, and her mother, Aziza Aboudou, 33, were aboard a packed Airbus A310 on their way to Comoros, a group of islands off the eastern coast of Africa, to visit (“Sole Survivor”, January). As family for the summer Minutes from touchdown, Yemenia Flight 626 shook violently in the swirling 65km/h winds; the lights flickered, the engine stalled, The illuminated area and the plane, holding 142 passengers represents where passenger George Lamson Jr was seated a PTSD sufferer, I felt my heart break and 11 crew members, plunged into the when Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 Indian Ocean, breaking apart on impact crashed, killing 70 people as I read of the challenges they faced ILLUSTRATION BRYAN CHR STIE DESIGN and the ways in which their lives were derailed. Please spread the word that while the love of family and friends is important, ongoing professional help is also essential in such extreme cases. THERESA ROGERS Across the Divide Memory Tricks I was amazed by the story “Postcard I’ll certainly use the “Three Tricks for From Pakistan” (January) about the a Better Memory” in the health Partition of India in 1947. This story column (January). I also have a tip really defined the true meaning for recalling where you’ve put of friendship between the two something. For each item, remember neighbours. UMAR KASHIF three things about where you’ve put it. For example, I put a box under Behind the Scenes the stairs, so I remember it’s cold I thought “Medical Pros on the Road” under there, it’s under the shoe (February, Subscriber Bonus) was an stand and the box is pink. When it eye-opening read. I’ve been an avid comes to finding it, I’ll recall at least theatregoer since I was a little girl. one of the facts. SHULAH CLARKSON I can now admire not only the talents of the performers, but also WRITE TO US their physical and mental endurance, If you are moved – or which is aided by the medical team provoked – by any item in the who accompany them on tour. While magazine, write to us. Refer to page 8 for the editorial enjoying any future shows, I’ll think contact details in your region. of those backstage. GABY BEYER 6 | Marchđ2015 Comments on Classic Reads I told my eldest son how fascinated I was reading “The Amazing Grace of John Newton” by Alex Haley (Classic Reads). After a short silence he said, “Dad, I think it’s time to open your Christmas gift early.” You can imagine my amazement on finding Haley’s book, Roots. What a coincidence! PETER PALMER Poor fore-sight WE ASKED YOU TO THINK UP A FUNNY Thanks for publishing “A Miracle of CAPTION FOR THIS PHOTO. Mermaids” (Classic Reads). Reading it bought me to tears. Every detail of I need new prescription glasses; what my family went through when I thought I was cooling a boiled egg. CHRISTINA HATZIS my father was sick until his death of pancreatic cancer in 2001 came Greg really regrets losing his putter. floodingbacktome.Inaway,crying BETHANY SKIPWORTH made me feel better. CINDY BAUER Now was not the time for Jeremy, Classic Reads was the best Christmas the tournament’s self-appointed golf present I could have got. ballologist. REUBEN OSBORNE LAUREEN MACKENZIE Blow, blow, blow your ball, Gently down the green… WIN! MARIE-ELISE ALLEN “I said use your putter, not your puffer.” RAY CLARKE “I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your ball in!” LYNDA BAIN Where’s that legendary Port Elizabeth wind when you need it?” GORDON BAIN CAPTION CONTEST Come up with the funniest Puff-putt. DR LAURENCE OLIVER caption for the above photo and you could win cash. To enter, see Congratulations to this month’s winner, details on page 8. Bethany Skipworth. PHOTOS: THINKSTOCK PHOTOS: Marchđ2015 | 7 Vol. 188 CONTRIBUTE No. 1116 FOR DIGITAL EXTRAS AND March 2015 SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS, SEE PAGE 31. Anecdotes and jokes EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief Sue Carney Send in your real-life laugh for Editor RD Asia Siti Rohani Design Director John Yates Managing Editor Louise Waterson Life’s Like That or All in a Day’s Chief Subeditor & Production Editor Donyale Work. Got a joke? Send it in for Harrison Deputy Chief Subeditor Melanie Egan Laughter is the Best Medicine! Designer Luke Temby Photo Editor Judith Love Smart Animals DigitalEditor&HumourEditorGreg Barton Share antics of unique pets or Subeditor Hannah Hempenstall Editorial wildlife in up to 300 words. Coordinator Sally McMullen Contributing Editors Hazel Flynn; Helen Signy Kindness of Strangers Share your moments of PRODUCTION & MARKETING generosity in 100–500 words. Production Manager Balaji Parthsarathy Marketing Director Jason Workman My Story Marketing Manager Gala Mechkauskayte Do you have an inspiring or life-changing tale to tell? ADVERTISING Group Advertising Director, Submissions must be true, Asia Pacific Sheron White Advertising Sales unpublished, original and Manager Darlene Delaney 800–1000 words – see website for more information. REGIONAL ADVERTISING CONTACTS Asia Kahchi Liew, [email protected] Australia Darlene Delaney, Letters to the editor, caption [email protected] competition and other New Zealand Debbie Bishop, reader submissions [email protected] Online South Africa Michéle de Chastelain, Follow the “Contribute” link at the [email protected] Reader’s Digest website in your region. PUBLISHEDBYREADER’SDIGEST Email (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD AU: [email protected] Managing Director/Publisher NZ: [email protected] Walter Beyleveldt South Africa: [email protected] Director Lance Christie Asia: [email protected] We may edit submissions and use them READER’S DIGEST ASSOCIATION, INC (USA) in all media.