From a tear-jerking reunion between a man and lion to a dying professor's inspiring
speech, these are 10 touching videos that will make you cry!
10.
"Christian the Lion - Reunited" The story about Christian the Lion and his
caretakers is definitely one of the most touching examples of the undeniable bond between humans
and animals.
Christian was born in a Devon zoo in August 1969 and sold to the prestigious London department
store Harrod's when he was just a few months old.
He was then bought by two Australian men, John Rendall and Ace Bourke, who were working
in London at an antique furniture shop.
John and Ace took the cub home to their flat in Chelsea and named him Christian, as an
irony of Christians being fed to the lions in Ancient Rome.
John and Ace looked after Christian and treated him as a giant pet, but the lion quickly grew
and became impossible to control in the city environment.
This is when the men decided to take Christian back into the wild and set him free.
They contacted the Kenyan Wildlife Services for help, and after a long bureaucratic battle
the lion finally arrived at the Kora Nature Reserve in 1971.
Since Christian was extremely inexperienced in this environment, his first year in Kenya
was anything but easy and he had a lot to learn.
Luckily, his natural instincts were intact and he soon grew accustomed to the life in
the wild.
This is where the story gets touching so get your tissues ready!
A year after leaving Christian in Kenya, Ace and John returned to visit the now wild lion
and decided to record their momentous trip.
As the video shows, Ace and John walked into what had then become Christian's territory.
Conservationist George Adamson who worked at the Kora appears on the top of the hill,
about 100 m away, with Christian right behind him.
Christian stops and takes a long hard stare at the two men.
Taking his time, he slowly walks down the hill towards them.
The men then call out his name and the lion comes running towards them and jumps into
their arms.
What makes this video so touching is the fact that Christian not only recognized Ace and
John, but appears to be genuinely happy to see them again!
9.
"Last Minutes with ODEN" Here's another story about the special relationship
between humans and animals that is bound to make you weep!
When Jason Wood allowed filmmaker Eliot Rausch to document the day he put his cancer-stricken
dog, Oden, to sleep, he may not have realized that the result would be viewed over six million
times.
But fortunately he did, because "Last Minutes with ODEN" is one of the most heart-wrenching
videos out there.
Spanning a short six minutes, this video story shares an emotional voiceover about the owner's
decision to end his canine companion's suffering.
Limping on only three legs, but still as loyal as ever to his owner, Oden's time had come
and his job of serving unconditionally was completed.
Not only does the subject matter of this short clip make anyone watching it cry their eyes
out, but the film is also an exceptional piece of art.
The movie uses gorgeous angles and composition to stay close in on the details of both the
man and the dog.
You can literally see the acceptance in the watery eyes of Oden and the heart-breaking
pain in Jason as he bicycles around the city, trying to clear his mind.
Whether or not you're a dog person, this video won't leave you indifferent.
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8.
"29 Years Old and Hearing Myself for the 1st Time!"
Sarah Churman is a Texas woman who at the age of 29 virtually overnight became the most
famous hearing healthcare patient in the world.
Her YouTube video has been watched over 27 million times!
On 27 September, 2011, the wife and mother of two young daughters had her recently implanted
Envoy Medical Esteem, a middle ear hearing system, activated for the first time.
Her husband, Sloan, videotaped the event, at his mother's suggestion.
After Sarah posted the video on YouTube, titled "29 years old and hearing myself for the
1st time!" millions of people around the world found themselves crying over their keyboards.
And it's not hard to see why this emotional video caught on.
It's pretty much the most heartwarming 90 seconds you'll ever see on the Internet.
When the technician turns on the hearing device and asks Sarah if she notices the difference,
she nods and then bursts into uncontrollable tears of joy.
For the rest of the video, she is alternately crying and laughing so hard that she can barely
get a word out, except at one point to exclaim, "My laughter sounds so loud!"
Sarah had been born deaf, and, despite wearing hearing aids from an early age, had never
been able to hear her own voice until getting her implant.
Talk about tears of joy!
7.
"Perseverance – Derek Redmond" The determination British runner Derek Redmond
showed at the 1992 Olympics is not only one of the best moments in sports history but
also one of the most touching videos you'll ever see.
A 400-metre record holder, in Britain, Redmond was at the peak of his athletic abilities
on the day he took his starting-line position during the Barcelona semi-finals in 1992.
His father was there to watch his Olympian son compete.
Everything seemed fine, during the run, until Redmond's hamstring snapped and fell to the
ground in excruciating pain.
Derek hobbled about 50m until he was at the 200m mark.
Then he realized it was all over.
He looked round and saw that everyone else had crossed the finishing line.
But Derek is not the one to give up easily, so he decided he was going to finish that
race if it was the last race he ever did.
All the doctors and officials rushed onto the track, trying to stop Derek but he was
having none of it.
Then, with about 100m to go, he became aware of someone else on the track.
At first, he didn't realize it was his dad, Jim, but then he heard a familiar voice telling
him, "Derek, it's me, you don't need to do this."
After Derek told his father he wanted to finish and get back in the semi-final, his father
simply replied, "OK.
We started this thing together and now we'll finish it together."
Derek's father managed to get him to stop trying to run and just walk and he kept repeating,
"You're a champion, you've got nothing to prove."
After Derek and his father hobbled over the finishing line, there was a standing ovation
by the 65,000 crowd and the heartwarming footage has since been used in adverts by Visa, Nike
and the International Olympic Committee as the ultimate symbol of perseverance and father's
love.
6.
"Dog Gets Best 'What The Fluff' Challenge Surprise Ever"
Soldiers know, the only thing that could make coming home from a long deployment better
is coming home to your dog.
In the heartwarming video, the dog is at first completely unamused with its owner's attempt
at the viral "What The Fluff Challenge" - in which dog owners try to confuse their
pets by doing a peek-a-boo trick.
But this adorable pup then goes completely berserk when the big reveal goes down.
This emotional reunion was filmed in Livermore, California, by Lisa Lord whose son, Private
1st Class Kevin, arrived home after nine months in Fort Bragg military base where he had been
training for the Special Forces Qualification course.
Kevin was granted to come home to see family and friends before he would return back to
his base to continue the 18-month long intense training hoping to become a Green Beret, and
Lisa and her younger son, Jacob, thought it would be fun to do the challenge with a bit
of an emotional twist.
While the whole family was very excited and emotional to have the soldier at home, no
one was happier than the four-year-old Golden Retriever, Zephyr.
The video showing the four-legged friend completely beside himself when he comes face-to-face
with his owner is enough to leave anyone sobbing.
5.
"Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"
Randy Pausch was an American professor of computer science, human–computer interaction,
and design at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
In September 2006, Pausch learned that he had pancreatic cancer, and in August 2007,
he was given a terminal diagnosis: "3 to 6 months of good health left".
Besides his stellar career, Professor Pausch is remembered for his upbeat lecture titled
"The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams".
The lecture quickly became a popular YouTube video and has so far been watched over 19
million times!
Pausch delivered his "Last Lecture", titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams",
at CMU on September 18, 2007.
The talk was modeled after an ongoing series of lectures where top academics are asked
to think deeply about what matters to them, and then give a hypothetical "final talk",
with a topic such as "what wisdom would you try to impart to the world if you knew it
was your last chance?"
Before speaking, Pausch received a long standing ovation from a large crowd of over 400 colleagues
and students.
When he motioned them to sit down, saying, "Make me earn it", someone in the audience
shouted back, "You did!"
Before beginning the lecture, Pausch explained his story of having pancreatic cancer and
only having 3 to 6 months to live, but still made a joke of it by saying that he was still
in the best shape of his life, proceeding to do a series of push-ups on stage while
still speaking.
To give you a taste of this incredibly emotional lecture, here's just one Professor Pausch's
quote to inspire you: "The brick walls are there for a reason.
The brick walls are not there to keep us out.
The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.
Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough.
They're there to stop the other people."
4.
"Inside a Dog Retirement Home" This tear-jerker of a video by National Geographic
let's you take a peek inside a pet's retirement home.
The House With A Heart Senior Pet Sanctuary houses nearly two dozen dogs in Gaithersburg,
Maryland.
The residents of this sanctuary are dogs and cats who have lost their families and because
of their advanced age and various medical conditions, they have little chance of being
adopted.
But thanks to Sher Polvinale and a team of volunteers, these senior dogs are spending
quite a comfortable life as they spend their golden years in the retirement home.
Sher and her team spare no expense as they cater to the dogs' every need.
Although the medical needs of some of the dogs are expensive, costs are covered by short
term care plans and donations from supporters.
Even for dogs with walking impairments, House With a Heart makes sure they have the room
and equipment to play and exercise.
Because of her devotion to the care and attention to the dogs, Sher hardly ever leaves her house.
To her, the ultimate fulfillment is being able to spend every moment with the dogs and
tend to their needs.
The resident dogs come from all walks of life—many of them come from shelters or from owners
who have retired to nursing homes or passed away.
They may have lost their previous families, but they find a new one at House With a Heart
with whom they can live out their last few years with.
3.
"Fred Rodgers Acceptance Speech - 1997" If you haven't seen it, Fred Rogers' acceptance
speech for a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1997 Emmys is a fascinating watch and
one of the most touching videos you can find on the Internet.
After being introduced as "the best neighbor any of us has ever had," by actor Tim Robbins,
Mr. Rogers takes the stage amidst loud applause.
In a crowd of snobbish celebs wearing expensive designer clothes, humble, gray Presbyterian
minister sticks out - not just by virtue of his age, but also by his shy demeanor.
There's nothing fake about Mr. Rodgers.
What happens next is one of the most memorable award show moments.
Mr. Rogers steps up to the microphone, and issues an order.
"Would you just take, along with me, 10 seconds to think of the people who have helped
you become who you are?
Those who have cared about you and wanted what was best for you in life.
I'll watch the time."
At first the audience chuckles a little – is this a joke?
But as Mr. Rodgers looks down at his watch, you can see that he's dead serious, and
the entire room falls silent.
And then, as the camera pans the hall, you see that Mr. Rodgers is once again working
that old magic of his.
People are biting their lips and wiping the corners of their eyes.
Makeup is running and you can hear faint sighs.
It took this gentle host of a children's program just 10 seconds to strip a television
award show of its pretentiousness and injecting a moment of real emotion into it.
If this doesn't make you cry, then nothing will!
2.
"Sports Illustrated Kids 2012 SportsKids of the Year: Conner and Cayden Long"
What if someone you loved couldn't play sports?
He or she couldn't feel what it's like to catch a ball, see a shot hit the back of
soccer net, or cross a finish line.
In 2012, Conner Long was nine years old.
His little brother Cayden was seven.
But Cayden couldn't do a lot of things his big brother could.
At four months old, Cayden was diagnosed with a condition called hypertonic cerebral palsy,
which left him unable to walk or talk on his own.
Playing sports is a great way for brothers to bond, but it seemed to be out of the question
for the Longs - until Conner had a brilliant idea.
In 2010, Conner and Cayden started participating in triathlons together.
Conner would swim while pulling Cayden in a raft, bike with his little brother, tow
behind him in a trailer, and push the trailer when they ran.
This inspiring pair of brothers from White House, Tennessee, traveled up and down the
East coast to compete in races.
Their amazing determination and spirit is why the Long brothers were chosen as the 2012
Sports Illustrated Kids SportsKids of the Year and the accompanying video on the Sports
Illustrated Kids YouTube channel will not only make you bawl your eyes out but will
also inspire you to take on any challenges you may be facing!
1.
"Carl Sagan - Pale Blue Dot" Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot is one of those
videos that can thaw the coldest of hearts.
Carl Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, author, and science popularizer whose PBS
television series Cosmos inspired generations across the world.
Pale Blue Dot is a photograph of planet Earth taken on February 14, 1990, by the Voyager
1 space probe from a record distance of about 6 billion kilometers.
In the photograph, Earth's apparent size is less than a pixel and our planet appears as
a tiny dot against the vastness of space, among bands of sunlight reflected by the camera.
Voyager 1, which had completed its primary mission, was leaving the Solar System, when
it was commanded by NASA to turn its camera around and take one last photograph of Earth
across a great expanse of space - at the request of none other than Carl Sagan.
During a public lecture at Cornell University in 1994, Carl Sagan presented the image to
the audience and shared his reflections on the deeper meaning behind the idea of the
Pale Blue Dot.
His speech was subsequently turned into this touching video.
In the video you can see the famous photograph of our planet while Sagan narrates, "Our
planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark.
In our obscurity – in all this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from
elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
It is up to us.
It's been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience.
To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant
image of our tiny world.
To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with
one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."
What other touching videos have made you cry?
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