'Heaven Hears': Pat Boone's grandson still recovering 12 years after tragic plunge

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Nearly 12 years ago, 24-year-old Ryan Corbin, grandson of Pat Boone, accidently stepped through a skylight and plunged three stories onto a concrete floor. Weeks later his mother Lindy and Pat decided to appear on Larry King’s show and asked for people’s prayers. 

The remarkable and inspiring story of Ryan, and how Lindy got through the ordeal, is recounted in ‘Heaven Hears.’ Lindy spoke to FOX411 about it all.

FOX411: First of all how is Ryan doing?

Lindy Boone Michaelis: He’s progressing kind of faster than expected which is wonderful. He’s reading, he’s walking, he converses. It’s all stepping up. He’s doing well.

FOX411: His injuries were catastrophic.

Michaelis: He would have died if his roommate hadn’t have been there to witness it and call 911. They did not expect him to live. When my mother arrived at the emergency room area she saw the paramedics coming out after delivering Ryan to the E.R. and they told her not to get her hopes up. 

My mother heard those words but louder than that she heard in her spirit the words of the Bible, a verse of scripture, ‘He will live and not die and declare the glory of God.’ She said those words were much much louder to her than what the paramedics said. The doctors came to tell them about his condition and people in that condition don’t usually make it and she just kept hearing those other words. She had no fear. Her or my Dad, it was a stance they took.

FOX411: Tell me about going on TV.

Michaelis: We went on fiveweeks after the accident. It allowed us to give an update and ask for prayer.

FOX411: Do you think the prayers helped save Ryan?

Michaelis: I believe prayer helps. I don’t want to give a misrepresentation that if you get on TV and get people all over the world praying for you... Was I grateful for it? I absolutely was. Prayer does matter but I don’t want you to think it’s the number of prayers because I believe everyone has the same opportunity to go to the same source of healing and be bold in our requests.

FOX411: Were you ever angry at God or did it make you question your faith?

Michaelis: I honestly can say it never occurred to me to be angry at God. I was stunned, shocked, nobody wants to go through something this painful. I was 45 years old and up until that point my life was pretty charmed. I watched other people go through suffering. I don’t think I’m special. In this world we encounter hard things. I felt like I had been so fortunate to go 45 years without a great loss.

FOX411: But what about Ryan’s loss?

Michaelis: None of us are immune. I don’t get angry at God for what happens in this life. This was a huge heartache for me but I also see a bigger picture. I live believing that this life is not all there is. The bad things that happen to us in our lives are either going to break us or strengthen us. When we turn towards God we become stronger. When we turn away I think we can become bitter. 

I just wanted to stay as close as possible to every potential variant to be healed and I felt the closer I am to God, the more potential there was to see Ryan restored. So I didn’t have a stance of anger or bitterness. I drew closer to God. I felt like I was a little child in a storm that was scaring me and I wanted to be in his presence.

FOX411: Still doesn’t it make you sad how Ryan’s life has been permanently changed?

Michaelis: I don’t live with that kind of outlook because I think Ryan is still getting better. Do I wish this had never happened? Sure, but I look at Ryan and he’s happy. I almost envy him sometimes. He lives in the moment so he doesn’t feel that loss that everyone feels for him. He doesn’t worry about the future. He lives in the moment and that’s something I’ve learned from him. Being grateful for each day. To him his life is great so that makes it easier. I think often about a saying, ‘We are human beings, not human doings.’ Ryan is this wonderful being. 

Ryan has accomplished things through the accident and the foundation. We started Ryan’s Reach to bring attention to brain injuries and to show that it isn’t hopeless. Ryan is still making gains, he’s leading the way.

FOX411: Ryan takes medical marijuana.

Michaelis: Yes that was an interesting irony. He needs it for his behavior. We tried regular kinds of meds but they just sedated him. Someone suggested marijuana and I was scared at first. I thought, ‘Oh it’s a gateway drug.’ But what I have found is if he ingests a little bit in a brownie that works really well for him to be really calm for a long time. I give it to him twice a week and am very grateful to have found it. 

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Schwarzer still waiting on new deal

Off contract ... Mark Schwarzer says he's yet to be offered a Fulham extension. Source: Glyn Kirk / AFP

Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer says he's yet to be offered a new contract at Fulham but isn't worried about his future beyond this season.

Schwarzer, 40, is off contract at the end of the current Barclays Premier League campaign, but will play on as he hopes to reach a third successive World Cup with Australia next year.

Fulham manager Martin Jol reportedly said last month the club had offered Schwarzer a new one-year contract and was waiting to hear back from him.

But while Schwarzer confirmed he's been in talks with the club as recently as last week, he said there was so far no formal offer of an extension and won't rule out playing elsewhere next season.

"There's been a discussion but there's no actual offer on the table at the moment," Schwarzer told AAP.

"Basically we're in a position where we're going to wait until the end of the season and see where we go from there.

"I'm just concentrating on playing football and playing as well as I possibly can and one way or another it will be sorted out.

"I've got no concerns about that, whether it's at Fulham or elsewhere."

Schwarzer added another milestone in his remarkable career last month when he became the first foreigner player to reach 500 Premier League appearances.

With 502 games to his name, he is ninth on the league's all-time appearance list.

Asked whether his preference was to remain in England or if he would even consider playing in the A-League, Schwarzer said he was keeping all his options open.

"Nothing's been ruled out but, to be fair, I've not even considered anything yet because it's all been just about playing the last couple of games of the season and doing my best for Fulham," he said.

"If I can do that, one way or the other something will come of it."

Retirement is certainly not an option for Australia's most capped Socceroo.

"I want to help Australia qualify for the World Cup and then look forward to hopefully a good season and then hopefully go to a World Cup. That's the plan," Schwarzer said.

At the forefront of Schwarzer's mind at the moment are Fulham's two remaining league games.

Five losses from their past six games means they aren't yet mathematically safe from relegation as they head into Sunday's match against Liverpool.

"It's been a little disappointing with how we've gone over the last few games and we need to make sure we, at the very least, pick up something and make sure we're mathematically safe," he said.

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Added sugar in American diets down, but still not enough, study says

Published May 03, 2013

FoxNews.com

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Overall, Americans are consuming less sugar than before, but we’re still getting about 13 percent of our daily calories from added sugars, Medical Daily reported.  

A study from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey revealed that two-thirds of that added sugar comes from foods, and the other third comes from beverages, like regular soda.

Based on interviews with 15,700 adults over the age of 20, conducted between 2005 and 2010, researchers found that men are consuming 335 calories of added sugar and women are consuming 239 calories of added sugar each day.

"These results may underestimate the actual sugar intake because people may add sugar to cereal in the morning and to beverages such as coffee and tea," said Bethene Ervin, the study's lead author and a nutritional epidemiologist with the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The American Heart Association recommends that men get no more than 150 calories each day from added sugars, and women no more than 100 calories. High sugar intake can lead to serious health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and other conditions,  Medical Daily reported.

"Most of us don't have room in our diets for this many calories from added sugars," said Rachel Johnson, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association and professor of nutrition at the University of Vermont. "There is a small glimmer of hope that added sugar consumption is declining modestly due to the reduction in full-calorie soft drinks, but the amount people are consuming is still substantially higher than it should be."

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GOLD RUSH REVIVAL? Mining Firm Bets There's Still Treasure in Calif. Hills

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More than 150 years ago, John Sutter touched off the fabled Gold Rush when he found gold near his mill in 1849. But the prospectors who flocked to the Sierra foothills left plenty of gold in the ground.

At least that's what a mining company setting up shop in the same area southeast of Sacramento believes. Geologists for Sutter Gold Mining Co., estimate there are some 650,000 ounces remaining in the area that sparked an epidemic of gold fever. At today's prices, that could amount to just shy of $1 billion.

"We're building on new mine but we're really building on the history that's been here for a 160 years."

- Leanne Baker, president and CEO of Sutter Gold Mining

"We're building on new mine but we're really building on the history that's been here for a 160 years," said Leanne Baker, president and CEO of Sutter Gold Mining.

The company plans to launch full scale mining operation in the next few months at Lincoln Mine, a 10-mile stretch of California's famous mother lode. The mother lode itself is a 120-mile stretch from El Dorado County south to Mariposa County. Baker said all major permits are in place and the project, which will employ at least 100 workers at the outset, is set for full production later this year.

"This 10-mile segment is extremely important because it produced the bulk of the mother lode production," said David Cochrane, Sutter's vice president of environmental health and safety. "Mother lode produced 13 billion ounces of gold historically, and 60 percent of the production came out of this segment."

The gold will be a bit harder to get to, but modern technology provides many advantages the old-time prospectors couldn't fathom.

"Those first pieces of gold were discovered, [and they] simply jumped into the creeks with our pans and our buckets and what we had we were cooping it up," said Dennis Price of Sutter Creek Visitors Center. 

Deep in the new mine, thousands of feet below the surface, modern day miners will work hard for the precious metal. But Sutter plans to use gravity floatation to recover the gold out and will not use toxic chemicals on site. 

"It's basically drilling, blasting, mucking, starting and doing it over," said Baker.

For now, geologists are doing "confirmation drilling" to find the richest deposits. That will help the mining engineers develop the mine plan that will produce maximum profits. 

Although full-scale mining has not started, when FoxNews.com visited the mine, drillers were already starting to pull visible gold out of the ground. 

"It's very exciting to be doing it in a state that hasn't had a lot of recent gold production certainly in the mother lode," Baker said. "To bring it back to the area where so many people in the country and around the world associate with the exciting part of gold production it definitely makes you feel like you're a part of history."

Michelle Macaluso is part of the Junior Reporter program at Fox News. Get more information on the program here.

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VA still prescribing tranquilizers to veterans with PTSD, despite warnings

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Veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are still being prescribed tranquilizers – such as Valium and Xanax – by doctors from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Stars and Stripes reported.  

This practice, however, is in direct contrast to VA guidelines, which advise against tranquilizer use for this purpose. According to Dr. Nancy Bernardy, a psychologist for the VA’s National Center for PTSD, the number of veterans being treated by the VA for PTSD has increased three-fold over the past decade, up to around 500,000 patients in 2009.

Bernardy and her colleagues have co-authored a soon-to-be-published study, which analyzed the VA prescription records of veterans with PTSD from 2009 to 2012.

The findings revealed that nearly a third of these veterans with PTSD are being given benzodiazepines – sedatives most often used to treat insomnia, anxiety, seizures and other disorders.  While benzodiazepine prescriptions for veteran PTSD patients have declined from 37 percent to 30 percent up until 2009, prescriptions have remained at 30 percent through 2012.

Current clinical guidelines, co-authored by the VA and Department of Defense, advise physicians against using benzodiazepines, citing a lack of efficacy data and growing concern for risk of harm, Stars and Stripes said.

Benzodiazepines replaced barbiturates in the 1960s as the sedative of choice for PTSD treatment, because it was they were shown to help control anxiety and insomnia.  However, there is a lack of evidence that these sedatives actually treat “core” symptoms of PTSD – such as avoidance, hyperarousal, numbing and dissociation, and many feel that the drugs actually hinder other effective PTSD treatments.

The DOD/VA guidelines also caution against prescribing benzodiazepines to veterans with substance abuse problems or mild traumatic brain injuries

“Once initiated, benzodiazepines can be very difficult, if not impossible, to discontinue due to significant withdrawal symptoms compounded by the underlying PTSD symptoms,” the VA/DOD guidelines state.

Most of the benzodiazepines being prescribed for PTSD veterans are coming from mental health providers – not primary care physicians, Stars and Stripes reported.  Bernardy and researchers hope to do more researcher to determine whether the discrepancy has to do with ignorance of VA guidelines.

Click for more from Stars and Stripes.

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SCAM UNCOVERED: Fla. Voter Fraud Plot Foiled, But Schemers Still At Large

A Florida case could signal the wave of the future in voter fraud. 

South Florida election officials have reportedly foiled a plot to fraudulently apply online for thousands of absentee ballots in three 2012 primaries, but the masterminds remain at large amid concern that they could be successful the next time around by making minor adjustments.

Officials in the state’s Miami-Dade region said they blocked the effort to get 2,552 absentee ballots in three August primaries because the requests rolled in just minutes apart on July 7, 2012, according to The Miami Herald, which conducted its own investigation.

A six-month grand jury probe found the requests were made under the cover of international Internet provider addresses and were limited to three races --- a congressional race in which the hackers tried to request absentee ballots for Democratic voters and two state legislative races in which they tried to get ballots for Republican voters.

But the newspaper found at least two of the requests originated in Miami and could have been further traced, which purported has prompted State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle to review at least some parts of the case.

The absentee ballots still would have gone to the rightful voters. So short of stealing ballots from mailbox, the hackers’ only way to have swayed or flipped the voters would likely have been to inundate them with calls and mailers.  

Officials say the ballots would not have changed the outcome of the races. But there is a concern that another attempt, with hackers slowing the pace of the requests, could go undetected.

Steven Rambam, a New York-based private investigator with experience in computer database and privacy issues, told the newspaper that the hackers -- with a little more skill -- could have included computer code to keep the program from triggering the elections department’s safeguard.

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Century of Scandal: Why Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction still matters

It was the nipple seen ’round the world — and the birth of the now-overused term “wardrobe malfunction.”

Nine years ago this month, on Feb. 1, 2004, Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson’s right breast during their performance of “Rock Your Body” at the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show. Makes Beyoncé’s racy leather Super Bowl outfit seem tame by comparison, doesn’t it?

In the now-infamous reach-for-the-chicken-wings-and-you-missed-it moment, Timberlake tore open Jackson’s top, exposing Jackson’s right breast and some kind of nipple jewelry. Both Jackson and Timberlake insisted that the incident was a mistake — with Timberlake famously referring to it as a “wardrobe malfunction.” But FCC watchdogs were skeptical, and rightfully so: Timberlake grabbed Jackson’s bustier and caused the “malfunction” while singing the lyric “Gonna have you naked by the end of this song.” Coincidence? We don’t really think so.

The FCC didn’t think so either, and sought to levy a $550,000 fine against Super Bowl broadcaster CBS. However, after an eight-year legal battle, the fine was dropped last June after the Supreme Court refused to consider the case. Yes, folks . . . this case (almost) made it all the way to the Supreme Court.

In 2004 the incident was the most replayed moment in TiVo history, and it continues to have repercussions today: Why do you think CBS warned performers to make sure female breasts were “adequately covered” at the Grammy Awards? And at this year’s Super Bowl, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco used the term, “F------ awesome” at the end of the live broadcast, leading the Parents Television Council to call on the FCC to fine CBS yet again.

“Nine years after the infamous Janet Jackson incident, the broadcast networks continue to have ‘malfunctions’ during the most watched television event of the year, and enough is enough,” PTC president Tim Winter said in a statement.

You have to hand it to Janet and Justin: Nine years later, people are still talking about their halftime performance. And, for better or worse, Timberlake certainly lived up to his promise, “Gonna have you naked by the end of this song.”

Do you think it was a wardrobe malfunction? Click here to vote.

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Dr. Manny: Yes, some medical tests are unnecessary, but doctors will still do them

The professional societies of 17 medical specialties have recently released a list of 135 medical tests, treatments and procedures they have deemed almost always unnecessary and potentially harmful for patients.  The initiative is part of a campaign called Choosing Wisely and is meant to encourage doctors to either avoid or seriously question performing the tests on the list.

I do agree there are dozens upon dozens of tests that are unnecessary.  After years of being utilized, many of these extraneous procedures have failed to alter the outcome of treatments for conditions that either tend to resolve themselves or can be monitored less expensively.

For many patients, the first question they ask is, “Why were these tests used in the first place?” Well, as these tests were developed, they were implemented in clinical protocols and became the standard medical practices during their times. However, what many patients fail to remember is that science is a living entity.  It is constantly changing and adapting. Unfortunately, it’s also difficult to break old habits, and that’s why today, many physicians continue to use numerous old practices and procedures simply because they have gotten used to them.

One of the problems we currently face is that this type of behavior by the health care system has become extremely expensive, and now the common routine for many doctors is no longer to ‘see patient first, do tests later’ – but instead ‘do tests first, see patient after.’

Now, I have to count myself among the many who has relied on the latter behavior for years.  To me, one of the biggest motivating factors has never been about the money, but instead protecting myself from litigation.  Malpractice lawsuits have prompted many physicians in this country to depend on excessive testing, because they know perfectly well that if they miss a problem, there will be 20 lawyers looking to charge them with negligence. The way these malpractice lawyers operate is by locating paid medical experts – in other words, pitting doctor against doctor – who are more than happy to point out that the reason there was a bad medical outcome was because that doctor failed to do the appropriate test.  

One of the more provocative suggestions from the Choosing Wisely initiative concerns Pap smears.  According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), doctors should treat women whose cervical cancer Pap tests found dysplasia – unless the abnormalities persist two years later. However, if cervical cancer is present and the gynecologist fails to identify it, I am sure that in less than a minute, a lawyer would find an expert to say this patient should have been treated earlier.  

This is how it goes for many of the ‘unnecessary’ tests listed by the 17 professional societies.  At the end of the day, if we want to change the habits of doctors after so many years, then these academies should be more proactive in protecting physicians against litigation instead of simply making broad statements that leave patients and physicians hanging out to dry.

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