IT has been a week, as we observed in this column just one day ago, in which there has been precious little to lift anyone's spirits.

The opening of the Olympic Games, yesterday, provided the start of a two-week escape route from the traumas of early 21st Century life.

Today, instead of a happy beginning, we're relieved to provide you with a happy middle and a happy ending to sweep away some of the gloom.

After five days of 'every men for himself', the biggest reason to smile today comes with the news that Hannah Jones finally has the electric wheelchair which her family believes will transform her young life.

Few people can have failed to be captivated by her sunny smile, let alone the enormous strength and courage she's summoned to survive against incredible odds after being struck down with acute myeloid leukaemia.

Very few people did fail to be captivated after the Evening News launched its campaign to raise the money to buy the chair - and then watched as readers and well-wishers achieved it in just one week.

The result is there for all to see on the morning's Front Page. Hannah faces a long battle still to lead the kind of life most of us take for granted and we're sure everyone will be with her all the way.

Likewise Dorothy and Jack Minton. The Worcester couple watched their world crumble after her car was stolen from a city centre car park.

Coping with a theft would have been bad enough, for most of us. But Jack's serious health problems meant that the couple were, effectively, marooned.

While good, simple police work ended with the car being recovered and returned relatively intact, the Mintons' neighbours rallied round to keep life ticking over.

Now the relieved couple can look forward to renewed independence - once they've been able to fill the car's tank, of course.