Whether or not Ryo Ishikawa takes home the top prize at the Masters golf tournament, he is already a hero in his homeland of Japan.

The 19-year-old pro has decided to donate all of his 2011 earnings to disaster relief in Japan. The golfer has also offered 100,000 yen (about $1,200) for every birdie he makes.

Ishikawa has been on tour since the devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan last month, killing more than 12,000 people. But he wants his countrymen to know that he has not forgotten them.

"That's one of the reasons why I decided to donate the entire earnings this year," Ishikawa told the Los Angeles Times Monday, "so that I feel that I am with them and fighting with them side by side, although I will not be with them physically."

A seven-year-old boy has raised more than £85,000 by completing a sponsored bike ride to help victims of the Haiti earthquake.

Charlie Simpson burst into tears when he first saw TV footage of children being pulled from the rubble, and asked his mother Leonara how he could help.

He chose to cycle five miles around his local park in Fulham, west London, with the aim of raising £500 for Unicef's Haiti appeal, but smashed the target by more than 15,000% after internet users rallied behind him.

As word spread, Charlie's online sponsorship page gained more than £50,000 in donations on the very first day, rising to more than £85,000 on Monday.

He said: "I just think it was quite sad when I saw the pictures on the TV."

"We sent [the sponsorship form] out on to the web and it just went everywhere."

Mrs Simpson said: "He was really upset when he saw the pictures on the television and it was great to see him get motivated behind something as important as this and do something about it.

"He just sat on my lap, then we had about a chat about the things he could do, and how he could go about it. He decided to do the cycle ride and he made me do a sponsorship form for him and that was it. It suddenly took off."

Unicef will get all the money from his JustGiving.com page, including more than £20,000 in 'Gift Aid' tax relief to use for emergency water, sanitation, education and nutrition as well as supporting child protection in Haiti.

SIDEWAYS News for fresh perspectives

When a pygmy hippopotamus was rescued from the dry back yard of a California doctor, staffers at The Fund for Animals Wildlife Center were told the rare animal likely wouldn’t survive.

Hannah P. Motamus was found with adequate food and drinking water, but without the habitat—namely shade and a deep swimming pool—needed to sustain the water creature. Rejecting veterinarians’ claims she would have to be euthanized due to the severity of her dry, cracked skin, caregivers at the Ramona, Calif. rehabilitation facility fought for her life, rejuvenating her skin to a supple gray and building a mud pond in which she could finally bask.

Water, Water Everywhere

The relatively shallow pond, however, was only temporary, for staffers knew Hannah would be happiest submerged underwater. And on Tuesday, after several hot hours spent corralling the stubborn hippo into her brand new, 13,000-square foot enclosure—complete with a mud pond, shade trees and a 25-foot long, 3 ½-foot deep pool—Hannah showed everyone just how happy a hippo can get.

“She stepped in and immediately went down, deeper and deeper, and then—for the first time in her life—she disappeared underwater,” said Chuck Traisi, center manager. As a crowd of caregivers looked on, Hannah continued her disappearing act, wading from the shallow end to the deepest spot and then floating back up again.

“She put on a show. She kept rolling with her pink belly visible like a water ballerina. All of us swore she had a smile on her face,” Traisi said, adding that everyone around her had tears of joy rolling down theirs.

Hippos Don't Belong in Backyards

Pygmy hippos are rare creatures—and are even more rarely kept as pets. But Hannah’s case exemplifies the problems inherent in the exotic pet trade: People keeping wild animals as pets with little to no knowledge about their care needs, or about their temperament.

The property from which Hannah was confiscated had an extremely small enclosure, no shade whatsoever and no pond or any other water source within which she could even place one foot, Traisi said.

“Animals like this shouldn’t be private individuals’ pets. Their care is too demanding and they can be dangerous,” said Richard Farinato, senior director of animal care centers for The Humane Society of the United States, which operates the wildlife center in partnership with The Fund for Animals.

A loner by nature, the nocturnal pygmy hippo spends a majority of their time in water, which is where they do most of their sleeping and breeding, Farinato said. At night, the hippos graze and feed. Her new enclosure is as close to home as she can get: Since Hannah was raised in captivity she cannot be released back to the wild and must remain in sanctuary.

And sanctuary is exactly what Hannah has now.

In Her Element At Last

At dusk on Wednesday, Traisi said he looked over at Hannah’s enclosure and didn’t see her, which was odd since she normally begins feeding at that time. Concerned, Traisi walked into her new home, and looked for her under the shade of her new favorite tree, where she had been seen napping earlier. He planned to wake her up, and let her know her dinner had been served, but Hannah wasn’t there.

“I knew she wasn’t in the pool because there were no ripples,” he said. “And then suddenly, from the middle of the pool, her big gray head emerged and was looking at me. As I watched, she rested her head on the edge of the pool and just stared at me. It was so clear that she was so thoroughly enjoying herself.”

Traisi said he is thankful for the donors who fund projects to build and enhance animal habitats like Hannah’s new home, one of the many ongoing renovations supported by donors.

“From whatever source this money came--whoever was responsible for generating it--I thank them on behalf of a very lovely hippopotamus.”

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written."

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happine ss but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

BANGKOK (AFP) A Thai fireman turned superhero when he dressed up as comic-book character Spider-Man to coax a frightened eight-year-old from a balcony, police said Tuesday.

Teachers at a special needs school in Bangkok alerted authorities on Monday when an autistic pupil, scared of attending his first day at school, sat out on the third-floor ledge and refused to come inside, a police sergeant told AFP.

Despite teachers' efforts to beckon the boy inside, he refused to budge until his mother mentioned her son's love of superheroes, prompting fireman Sonchai Yoosabai to take a novel approach to the problem.

The rescuer dashed back to his fire station and made a quick change into a Spider-Man costume before returning to the boy, he said.

"I told him Spider-Man is here to rescue you, no monsters are going to attack you and I told him to walk slowly towards me as running could be dangerous," Somchai told local television.

The young boy immediately stood up and walked into his rescuer's arms, police said.

Somchai said he keeps the Spider-Man costume and an outfit of Japanese television character Ultraman at the station in order to liven up school fire drills.