Five Touching Facebook Stories

Today, Facebook launched a new microsite, www.facebookstories.com to commemorate people who are using Facebook in extraordinary ways. We've put together a list of five amazing Facebook Stories that may have inspired the social network giant to launch this initiative.

5. Mayank Sharma, A Meningitis Victim Uses Facebook To Get 17 Years of His Life Back

Mayank Sharma would probably tell you that going through meningitis is hell — if he could remember any of it. He uses Facebook's "People You May Know" feature to rebuild his memory.

4. The Kidnapped Kid Who Found His Family After 22 Years With Facebook's Help

Alex Anfuso, an Italian man kidnapped by his own father at the age of 5, has lived in Cairo, the Egyptian capital for the last 22 years using a different name. The man reappeared via the famous social networking site with the following posts: "My name is Alex. I am looking for my family. I am looking for my mother". In 1987, while Alex's mother was in Rome's Rebibbia prison jailed, his father took the little boy from Guidonia, Italy and brought him to Egypt, where he has since lived. Anfuso, who is now 28 years old, doesn't have an Egyptian birth certificate or even residency in Egypt.

After all these years, in a desperate attempt to get in touch with his Italian relatives, he sent messages to many people with the last name 'Anfuso'. He also contacted Pino Anfuso, a TV technician who works for state broadcaster RAI and in spite of not being his relative, he decided to share the story with the popular TV show "Chi l'ha visto" ("Who has seen them?"). Alex went on air to tell his story and unfortunately, he found out his mother had died.

3. Dad Finds A Kidney Donor On Facebook

When Seattle dad Damon Brown was in need of a kidney, he set up a Facebook page and asked his friends and family members to share the link. When he found a donor -- someone he knew but didn't consider a close friend -- she told him the good deed was for his kids, "because they deserve to have a dad around."

2. Reunited With My Old Boyfriend Through Facebook

When war broke out in Ethiopia, 16-year-old Sysay Tedros and her family fled to England, and Sysay lost track of her boyfriend Getu. Ten years later, she reconnected with old friends on Facebook who gave her Getu’s number—and they followed through with their plan to get married.

1. Facebook Reunites Mother, Daughter Given Up For Adoption

After 63 years, a mother who was forced to give up her firstborn daughter for adoption has found her through Facebook, inviting the single child into an instant family with four siblings and almost a dozen nieces and nephews.