A secret tore apart their teenage love. Four decades later, they got a second chance.In 1970s Nottingham, two teenagers fell head-over-heels in love when Mark Bethel arrived from the Bahamas to study. For Penny Umbers, it felt like the beginning of everything: young, certain, full of promise - until, without warning, Mark broke things off and disappeared from her life. Devastated and searching for answers, Penny spent decades believing she was to blame, carrying that loss into the rest of her life and never quite finding the happiness she once imagined. Nearly 40 years later, a message out of the blue from Mark brought them back into contact, and with it, revealed the sad truth about what drove them apart: a quiet intervention shaped by prejudice. What followed was both a reckoning and a reunion, as they confronted the years they lost and returned to a love that, despite everything, never truly left them.This programme contains references to suicide. If you’ve been affected by any of the issues raised in this episode, you can find support at befrienders.orgPresenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Edgar MaddicottLives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode, a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected. Got a story to tell? Send an email to [email protected] or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784 You can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice

In 2016 Janay was a journalist in London and needed footage of the conflict in Syria, so contacted camera operator Habak in Aleppo. What followed was a love story neither saw coming. When Lebanese journalist Janay Boulos first started messaging Abd Al-Kader Habak in the besieged city of Aleppo, one of her first questions was “are you okay?”. Janay needed images and footage for her reporting and Habak would film what he could, often in extremely dangerous situations. Janay, from the comfort of her news desk, began to worry about Habak’s safety. Their messages and voice notes became more personal, too. They began learning more about one another; what their families were like, and how they shared experiences of war and displacement. Quietly, they began falling for each other, but with no way of getting in and out of Syria they couldn't meet. Until Habak’s security situation took a sudden turn and he decided to flee Syria and was smuggled into Turkey. What followed was a romantic and professional partnership neither thought possible when they first began messaging while thousands of miles apart. They’re now married, living in London, and recently released a documentary called Birds of War. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: May CameronLives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected. Got a story to tell? Send an email to [email protected] or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784 You can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice

Introducing a new season of five remarkable true stories in which love rises above prejudice, waits decades, crosses oceans and survives war. From India to Italy, Syria to the Bahamas, and the UK to the US, these are unforgettable stories that reveal how love can survive against the odds, heal old wounds and transform lives forever.Lives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected. Got a story to tell? Send an email to [email protected] or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784 You can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice

Chris Duddy survived 28 hours in Hawaii's Kīlauea volcano after his helicopter crashed.Cinematographer Chris Duddy has worked on some of Hollywood’s biggest movies like Titanic and Terminator 2. Filming in extreme conditions is part of his job, and he loves it, but nothing could prepare him for the day the helicopter he was in crashed inside the crater of an active volcano. It was November 1992 and he was flying over the Big Island of Hawaii shooting footage for the end of the Hollywood thriller Sliver. The shot involved flying over the active Kīlauea volcano, but during filming the helicopter suffered total engine failure and crash-landed inside the Puʻu ʻŌʻō vent of the volcano. Chris, along with his director of photography Mike Benson and the pilot Craig Hosking, were trapped there – 300 feet down and perilously close to a lava pool. Choking on toxic fumes and enduring bizarrely freezing temperatures when the weather closed in, Chris had to spend an entire night in the volcano, and the next day decided his only option was to climb out of the crater to escape. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: June Christie Lives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected.   Got a story to tell? Send an email to [email protected] or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784   You can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice

In July 2011 Bjorn Ihler was a 20-year-old performing arts student and a member of the youth division of the Norwegian Labour Party. He participated in the Party's summer camp on Utøya island, about 35km from Norway's capital Oslo, when Norway suffered its worst terror attacks in recent history. Anders Breivik was a far-right extremist who launched a bomb attack on government offices in Oslo. Two hours later he attacked the summer camp that Bjorn was attending. 77 people were killed that day – the majority on the island. Bjorn survived and helped save two young boys who were also on Utøya. Just days after the incident Bjorn threw himself into trying to understand how someone could behave this way; he read Breivik's far-right manifesto, attended the trial and as many court sessions as he could, and spoke to countless former extremists. Today, Bjorn is an expert in preventing radicalisation and extremism and alongside his wife co-founded the Khalifa Ihler Institute which promotes peace, human rights, and community.Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: May CameronLives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected.   Got a story to tell? Send an email to [email protected] or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784   You can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice

Miriam Lewin was never much interested in football. Growing up in Buenos Aires, she cared far more about politics than the team her family supported. But in 1978, when Argentina won the World Cup, she found herself among the celebrating fans, hidden in plain sight as a political prisoner.A year earlier, aged 19, Miriam had been abducted by Argentina's military dictatorship and became one of the country's desaparecidos – the "disappeared." Detained in secret and tortured because of her political activism, she was later forced to work for the regime, translating foreign news reports and helping produce propaganda aimed at improving its image abroad. From inside the prison system, she also learned of the dictatorship's notorious "death flights." When Argentina hosted – and won – the World Cup, the military government used the tournament to project an image of national pride and unity. Miriam and other prisoners were taken onto the streets to join the jubilant crowds. Decades later, after becoming a journalist, she helped uncover the regime's crimes and bring former members of the military junta to justice.This interview contains references to suicide and descriptions of torture.Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producers: Marcia Veiga and Harry Graham Lives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected.   Got a story to tell? Send an email to [email protected] or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784   You can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice

Serena Kutchinsky was 10 years old when her jeweller father Paul unveiled his masterpiece to the world: a giant, golden, diamond-encrusted egg. Paul had recently taken over the family business, the celebrated London jewellers House of Kutchinsky, and wanted to make his mark, commissioning the production of a spectacular jewelled object like no other. The egg was crafted from 15kg of solid gold, decorated with over 20,000 rare pink diamonds, and put on sale for £7m – today’s equivalent of around $30m. After it was completed, the egg was finally unveiled to the public at Basel Art Fair in April 1990 before heading on a ‘world tour’ to find a buyer. But it soon became apparent that there was a problem: no one wanted to buy it. Paul had gambled his century-old family business on the egg, but within a year of its making the firm had crumbled and Serena’s family had fallen apart. The egg itself would be repossessed by the company that had supplied its dazzling pink diamonds. No one in the Kutchinsky family would speak of the egg for years – until decades later, Serena went looking for it. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Zoe GelberLives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected. Got a story to tell? Send an email to [email protected] or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784 You can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice

After an undiagnosed case of pre-eclampsia caused catastrophic brain damage and amnesia, Samina Ali returned home from hospital to begin a long recovery.At 29, she found herself relearning the basics of daily life – how to walk, speak and make sense of the world around her. She could still communicate in Urdu, the language of her childhood partly spent in India, but much of her recent life in California felt unreachable. Her husband was a stranger, and her newborn son Ishmael someone she struggled to recognise. The part of her that had once been a writer also seemed out of reach.In those early months, Samina and Ishmael’s lives unfolded in parallel, each navigating the same early milestones in very different ways. At first, she felt disconnected from him, even in competition for care. But over time, as she rebuilt her understanding of the world, a bond began to form – shaped by the fact that they were, in many ways, learning side by side.Gradually, fragments of Samina’s memory began to return but the process was uneven and with it came a growing awareness that the life she was returning to no longer felt entirely her own. Her sense of self had shifted, and her relationship with her husband had changed in ways neither of them could undo.Against this backdrop, Samina began working again on the novel she had started during her pregnancy. At first, the words didn’t hold together. But soon, writing became central to her recovery – helping her rebuild language and imagination, and slowly re-establish a sense of coherence and confidence.In this second episode, Samina traces her recovery: the return of memory, the changing dynamics within her family, and the challenge of rebuilding a life after profound loss.Samina has written about her experience in her memoir, Pieces You’ll Never Get Back.Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Maryam Maruf Editor: Munazza Khan Research: Hetal BapodraLives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected.   Got a story to tell? Send an email to [email protected] or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784   You can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice

When Samina Ali gave birth to her first child in California in 1999, what should have been a joyful moment quickly turned into a medical emergency.An undiagnosed case of the pregnancy disorder pre-eclampsia led to multiple organ failure, strokes, a brain haemorrhage and grand mal seizure. Within hours of delivering her son, Samina fell into a coma. When she woke five days later, she had no memory of what had happened – or of large parts of her life.She didn’t recognise her husband, and she had no idea she had just become a mother.Samina, who grew up between India and the United States, had built a life around language. A budding novelist, she had always turned to writing as a way to navigate a sense of dislocation between cultures. But now her ability to communicate was also affected – her English fractured, her memories gone, her sense of self profoundly altered.As doctors tried to understand the extent of the damage, her newborn son was being treated in intensive care nearby. Meanwhile, her family responded in different ways – placing their faith in both medical treatment and long-held spiritual beliefs.In the first part of her story, Samina describes the events surrounding the birth of her son, the severity of her illness, and what it meant to wake up without recognising her own life. In part two, she begins the long process of recovery – relearning how to live, and reconnecting with the child she could barely recognise.Samina has written about her experience in her memoir, Pieces You’ll Never Get Back.Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Maryam Maruf Editor: Munazza Khan Research: Hetal BapodraLives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected.   Got a story to tell? Send an email to [email protected] or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784   You can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice

Juan Catalan was facing the death penalty for a murder he didn’t commit. There was one man he thought could save him: US comedian Larry David. On 12 May 2003, Juan attended a baseball game that he would later say saved his life. It was his local team, the LA Dodgers, versus the Atlanta Braves. The game was exciting, but unremarkable for Juan – apart from a television crew that was filming in his section.Three months later, Juan arrived at work only to be surrounded by undercover police and arrested in front of his girlfriend and daughter. It was several hours before Juan found out he had been charged with the murder of a 16-year-old girl called Martha Puebla. It was a crime that carried the death penalty. Juan protested his innocence, and later realised he had been at the baseball game the night of her murder. Perhaps, he thought, he could prove his alibi if he had been caught on camera by that TV production.Eventually, Juan's lawyer Todd Melnik figured out that the show in question was Curb Your Enthusiasm, created by comedian Larry David. The network HBO finally let Todd view the tapes, which contained a direct shot of Juan. But the footage was filmed well before the murder was committed, so Todd had to keep searching for evidence to exonerate Juan. In the end, it was cell tower records that proved Juan could not have killed Martha Puebla.Since his case was dismissed, Juan has gone on to write a memoir called Played and Todd and Juan's relationship has also blossomed into a friendship. They have even attended Dodgers games together.Credits: Curb Your Enthusiasm/Whyaduck Productions in association with HBO Entertainment/Jeff Schaffer and Robert B. WeidePresenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Saskia ColletteLives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected.   Got a story to tell? Send an email to [email protected] or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784   You can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice