One man’s quick thinking meant he was able to have both of his arms reattached, after a horror accident on a farm in North Dakota.

In 1992, teenager John Thompson was by himself when he got into an accident with a tractor, causing him to lose both arms.

Despite the terrible odds against him, John managed to stagger 100 yards to the house to try and get help.

Unable to dial a phone the usual way after his limbs had been chopped off, the distraught teen miraculously had the presence of mind to get hold of a pencil in his mouth.

Using the pencil, he was able to call his cousin who lived nearby in an attempt to get help.

He then recalls going into the bathroom so he didn’t bleed all over his mother’s carpet.

Against all odds, Thompson survived and managed to have both arms reattached, during a painstaking six hours of surgery.

More than 30 years after the accident, he can still remember every detail of what happened.

He told a documentary about how his shirt tails got caught in the shaft of the machine, and he reached to free himself.

“It got wrapped in with the power shaft. The next thing I know, everything is dark and I’m feeling funny.”

He woke to his dog licking his face, and soon realised that he had lost both arms from just below the shoulder.

“I’m just lying there on the stretcher and thinking ‘Why don’t they have the sirens turned on.’ And so I was complaining about that because they didn’t want to excite me and I’m like ‘well just turn the siren on.’ And then I remember the one gal who was with me in the back looked and told the guy to slow down. And I’m like ‘Ok, I have no arms, don’t slow the ambulance down just get me there,’” said Thompson.

“That was probably the hardest thing I had to deal with, was the notoriety,” he said.

“I keep trying to get away from it, but I have nowhere else to go, so I just keep going back to it. I can’t find nothing else,” he said. “I try doing other things and they just haven’t worked out. It always comes back to people knowing me and wanting to use me.”

He told the Star Tribune: “I keep trying to get away from it, but I have nowhere else to go, so I just keep going back to it. I can’t find nothing else,” he said.

“I try doing other things and they just haven’t worked out. It always comes back to people knowing me and wanting to use me.”

Nowadays he can flex his arms, but his hands are stuck with clenched fists unless he manually opens them.

His surgeon has offered prosthetic hands to help with his mobility, but Thompson says he has adapted and doesn’t want to lose his sense of touch.

“They said, ‘This is Oprah Winfrey,’ ” he said. “Good, this is John Thompson. I’m not canceling. I gave these people my word.

“I’d like to see what would happen to you if you’re 18 and you get thrown into all this. I’m damned impressed with what I’ve done.”

I guess we all make mistakes, right? They’re just not usually multi-billion dollar ones. At least, not in my case.

But I suppose when you’re the first person in history to surpass a $400,000,000,000 net worth, they’re the kind of figures you’re playing with on a daily basis.

Musk’s inadvertent hit on Tesla took place in 2020, when Musk took to Twitter – back when it was still Twitter – with a complaint about the electric car company’s stock price.

All it took was six words, and Tesla share prices were started to dramatically sink, according to reports at the time.

CNBC reported that Tesla shares dropped as much as 12 percent before closing down to 10.3 after the tweet, while the BBC said that a staggering $14 billion was knocked off the carmaker’s value.

Not only that, but the tweet resulted in $3 billion being wiped from Musk’s own stake in Tesla.

So, what six words could do so much damage?

In his tweet, Musk wrote: “Tesla stock price too high imo.”

That’s it. He thought it was too high, and as a result chaos ensued.

Musk later admitted to the Wall Street Journal that his damaging post had not been looked over by the company before he posted it.

Tesla thankfully didn’t crumble as a result of the tweet (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

Following the message, Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, told Reuters: “We view these Musk comments as tongue in cheek and it’s Elon being Elon.

“It’s certainly a headache for investors for him to venture into this area as his tweeting remains a hot button issue and [Wall] Street clearly is frustrated.”

Though the tweet did result in a big loss for Tesla, the car company clearly managed to survive the incident and has a market capitalization of $1.31 trillion at the time of writing (December 13).

Meanwhile, Musk surpassed the heady milestone of a $400,000,000,000 net worth earlier this week, when he was declared $198 billion richer than the second richest person in the world, Jeff Bezos, who has a net worth of $249 billion.

The news comes as Musk prepares to take on a new role in the White House, as President-Elect Donald Trump announced him as his pick to lead the Department of Government Efficiency.

Trump went on to explain that the pair would ‘pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies – Essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement’.

IQ – short for intelligence quotient – is a standardized measure of a person’s mental ability.

Healthline reports that taking an IQ test helps you and medical professionals understand your reasoning ability, spatial visualization, memory capabilities and overall cognitive intelligence.

The tests can be flawed, as they do not measure creativity well, nor can they gain an accurate representation of a person’s critical thinking levels.

Therefore, it’s worth taking your test results with a pinch of salt.

According to a report by Human Rights Watch, the vast majority of United States residents have an IQ between 80 and 120. The average however is more around the 100 mark.

Those who hit between 80-89 are deemed to have a Low Average IQ classification while a 70-79 puts you in the ‘Well Below Average’ category.

If your IQ is below 70, you are considered to have an Extremely Low level of intelligence. Healthline states only a small fraction of people have an Extremely Low IQ level.

How has living with a ‘lower’ intelligence level affected the lives of others?

Over on Reddit, people with lower-than-average intelligence levels have been discussing how it has impacted their lives.

The conversation was started by a user, known as IronFires, who typed: “People with confirmed below-average intelligence, how has your intelligence affected your life experience, and what would you want the world to know about what it’s like to be you?

One Redditor has recalled the time they were asked to complete a school admission IQ test. “I knew it was a test and thought there must be some kind of secret bonus answers like the cube might fit in the triangle hole somehow since the sides of the cube are smaller than the long side of the triangle… I’m not smart.

“There’s quite a few times I miss what might seem like obvious details,” they continued. “Overall, I’ve done ok, though a lot of things have been more stressful that they should be because I’m constantly second-guessing myself.”

Another commented: “Not technically below average, but my Neurologist/Psychologist (not sure which) said I had the biggest disparity between cognitive functioning she had ever seen.

“I was in the 90th percentile for things like reasoning, and in the 10th percentile for speed. My entire life has been that feeling of after a conversation, you realize what you should have said.”

However, a third said that having a low intelligence level hasn’t held them back from achieving major career goals.

“So I was placed in learning disability programs from grade 1 to grade 7 because of my level of intelligence. I had to repeat a year of middle school as well. I am now a resident doctor at the top university program in Canada,” they gushed.

Meanwhile, another wanted readers to understand what it feels like to be snubbed for not ‘functioning relatively normally’.

“Talking slowly or, getting annoyed because I’ve asked you to repeat something, or pushing me out of the way when I don’t react fast enough…that’s just rubbing it in,” they confessed.

“I can’t change how well I process information — believe me, I’ve asked my doctor about it, and other people have tried before me. I’m stuck where I’m at in this regard, and it’s hard to ‘try harder’ when I’m already running at 110 [percent] just to keep up with the rest of the world.”

Can having a lower IQ level affect your overall happiness?

According to Dr Angela Hassiotis, of the University College London’s Mental Health Sciences Unit, those with lower IQs are likely to have lower happiness levels.

Her study, published in the journal Psychological Medicine, saw 6,870 participants answering honestly about their education, health, income and social life.

Their happiness levels were then measured ‘on a three-point scale and verbal IQ estimated using the National Adult Reading Test (NART).’

Results showed that people in the lower IQ range (70-89) were more likely to be ‘socially disadvantaged and less happy compared to people with higher IQ’

“When looking at the data we saw that people with a lower IQ were less likely to be happier because of higher levels of socio-economic disadvantage such as lower income,” added Dr Hassiotis.

“They are also less likely to be happy because they need more help with skills of daily living, have poorer health and report more symptoms of psychological distress.”

How to increase your IQ levels

According to Healthline, there are a multitude of ways you can boost your IQ level.

These include completing memory activities, including crossword puzzles and pages of sudoku.

Larry Mullen Jr has been speaking about his recent dyscalculia diagnosis, a medical condition that is often linked to dyslexia.

According to the British Dyslexia Association, dyscalculia is a ‘a specific and persistent difficulty in understanding numbers which can lead to a diverse range of difficulties with mathematics’.

Unlike dyslexia, the health condition can occur at any age, and is also not linked to any one ability. It’s also extremely rare; only about six percent of people suffer with the condition.

“I had to find ways of doing this, and counting bars is like climbing Everest. And when people watch me play sometimes, they say, ‘You look pained’. I am pained because I’m trying to count the bars.”

Mullen Jr has since written and produced Left Behind, a new movie that focuses on the topic of dyslexia.

Essentially, the film follows five mothers who are determined to establish a state-run school that is specifically for children with dyslexia.

The film, which is set to be released in 2025, will hopefully raise awareness for the condition over the coming months and years.

“Making the music through the eyes of my dyslexic son felt personal and visceral,” the U2 drummer said.

Research into dyscalculia remain at a premium, and is said to be around 30 years behind that of work looking into dyslexia.

The U2 drummer is raising awareness of the condition (Simon Russell/Getty Images for Left Behind Film)

The Dyslexia Association continues: “It is thought that the lack of number sense that is often common to people with dyscalculia is connected to the function of the left intraparietal sulcus which deals with numbers, and the front lobe, which deals with reasoning. It can therefore be hereditary but also connected to certain developmental conditions like Foetal Alcohol Syndrome.

“An estimated 25 percent of people have maths learning difficulties which can be caused either by other neurodiverse conditions such as dyslexia or external issues such as a traumatic learning experience related to maths or school absence etc.”

The website went on to state 60 percent of individuals with dyslexia will have some kind of difficulties with maths.

26-year-old Mangione is currently being held in his own maximum security cell at Huntingdon State Correctional Institution in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, as per CBS News.

The suspected shooter is awaiting extradition to New York, where he faces multiple charges related to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50.

Following a nationwide manhunt for the alleged killer, Mangione was arrested in connection to the fatal shooting, which took place in front of a hotel in New York City on December 4.

He was reprimanded at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania on December 9.

The suspect has since been denied bail and is currently fighting extradition to the Empire State.

As per Forbes and the official arrest warrant filed in New York state count, Magione faces five felony counts, including: a second-degree murder charge in connection to the father-of-two’s death; two counts criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree; criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree; and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree.

On Wednesday (December 11), NewsNation reporter Alex Caprariello was broadcasting live outside of the Huntingdon State Correctional Institution to discuss the latest on Mangione’s case.

During the segment, he and anchor Ashleigh Banfield began interacting with prison inmates through the fence. It appeared they were watching the live broadcast from inside the facility.

“Luigi’s conditions suck!,” commented another inmate in a video shown during the show.

This was followed up with the two-word sentiment: “Free Luigi!”

Later in the broadcast, Banfield read out Mangione’s alleged food menu for the day, including macaroni cheese for dinner and porcupine meatballs for lunch.

“I’m going to ask the guys if it was any good the dinner tonight,” she announced to NewsNation viewers.

In the background, the inmates could be heard shouting, with Caprariello quickly translating: “They’re saying ‘heck no’, they’re saying ‘BS’, they’re saying ‘terrible’. They’re saying that that’s not what they are eating.”

Since the broadcast was uploaded to YouTube on December 12, it has amassed over 200,000 views and has wracked up more than 1,800 comments from users.

One viewer typed: “Un. F****ng. Believable. One of the craziest things I’ve ever seen in my life. What a time to be alive. This broadcast will go down in history lol.”

The NewsNation reports have been praised by YouTube users (NewsNation)

“This is insane!!! This reporter on location, if he’s the one that thought of this, he deserves a raise. Seriously. Whoever thought of this… this is really outta the box,” said someone else.

A third remarked: “I’ve never seen NewsNation before but if this level of journalism is their norm, I’m in! This was engaging, fascinating and has the human element all of our mainstream media now lacks. Love to see it!”

O’Neal is best known from playing basketball for teams like the LA Lakers, Orlando Magic, and Miami Heat and has a net worth of around $500 million.

While he made some of his money from his sports career, he’s managed to keep the cash rolling in since his retirement in 2011 by investing in businesses.

O’Neal’s said to have invested in several different companies; from Apple and Papa John’s to Krispy Kreme and Five Guys.

Shaq O’Neal has invested in multiple companies over the years (Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images)

But it’s one of O’Neal’s earliest investments that he’s benefitted greatly from – and it all happened after a chance encounter.

Discussing why he started investing his money, O’Neal explained that he was inspired by Amazon creator Jeff Bezos.

“I went to a conference in ‘97 or ‘98 and I heard a beautiful bald-headed man by the name of Jeff Bezos say if you invest in things, it’s going to change people’s lives,” he said, as per TechCrunch.

And one of his best investments to date? Google.

O’Neal played for the LA Lakers for eight seasons (MICHEL GAGNE/AFP via Getty Images)

Explaining how he happened to learn of the then-start up, O’Neal said: “I was at Four Seasons, I was eating lunch and there were four distinguished gentleman sitting there playing with their kids and the kids recognize me and they’re playing with me.

“Basically, I’m doing a babysitting job and one gentleman says ‘I want to talk about this company called Google’ and just talking about search engines and ‘you’ll be able to type in anything,’ and I was like, ‘That sounds good.'”

The pair then set up a meeting and O’Neal decided to invest.

But it wasn’t until Google blew up that he remembered he’d put money into the firm.

The former basketball star was an early investor in Google (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)

“The newspaper told me how much I made and I couldn’t believe how much I made,” he said.

It’s thought that O’Neal put in £250,000 in 1999. Now, it’s not totally clear how much money he made from the decades-old investment, but had the retired sports star invested in Google in 2004 and contributed $10,000, that money was worth over $300,000 (in 2019), reported The Motley Fool.

As to how much he makes on a early basis, O’Neal reportedly rakes in $60 million a year from his business investments, as well as endorsements.

It’s thought that he earns more now than he did at the peak of his basketball career, says talkSPORT.