The Will to Live: British parents Emily Ashurst and Pete Vincent expected their baby, Grace, to die when she was taken off life support at 6 weeks old after spending four days in intensive care for group B streptococcus meningitis. But the baby kept breathing on her own and has been released from the hospital, London's Daily Mail reported in June.
SWNS
Cosmetic Surgery Addiction: Alicia Douvall, a 29-year-old British model, said in February that she's lost count of how many plastic surgeries she's had, but that the number is at least 100. She suffers from a mental disorder that has made her obsessed with her looks, always thinking something is flawed. Here she is shown in 2003.
David Westing, Getty Images
Alternative Cancer Cure? In 2006, Connah Broom, of Gronant, Wales, developed a cancer of the nervous system that resulted in 11 tumors. Chemotherapy failed, and his grandparents tried a range of alternative therapies. In February, the Daily Mail reported 10 of the tumors shrunk and may be dead. Doctors cautioned that cancers can go into remission and return.
Barcroft Media / Fame Pictures
Saved By a Power Drill: Nicholas Rossi, 13, was moments from death when he arrived at a rural Australian hospital in May. He needed a hole drilled in his skull to relieve the dangerous swelling, but the hospital lacked such medical equipment. So the doctor used a power drill from a maintenance closet. Here, Nicholas and his parents appear in Melbourne after their close call.
Aaron Francis / Newspix / Rex USA
40-Pound Tumor: Surgeon Heinz R. Zurbruegg discusses the giant tumor removed from a Saudi Arabian woman in April in Berlin, Germany. The woman, 35, traveled to Germany after doctors in Riyadh said they would have to amputate her leg to remove the malignant bone tumor. Doctors reduced the growth with chemotherapy and then removed it in five operations.
Alina Novopashina, EPA
Baby Who Won't Grow: British baby Suraya Brown suffers from a mysterious condition that prevents her from growing, the Mirror reported Jan. 2. At 14 months, she is the size of a newborn, weighing 7 pounds and measuring only 19 inches long. "She has been a real conundrum," one doctor told the newspaper.
Daily Mirror / ZUMA Press
Post-Mortem Sperm Collection: This 21-year-old man died April 5 from injuries he sustained during an argument outside a Texas bar nine days earlier. But Nikolas Colton Evans could have his dream of becoming a father fulfilled in death. His mother received permission from a judge April 7 to have his sperm collected for a possible surrogate pregnancy.
Texas Department of Public Safety via the Austin American Statesman / AP
Teen Sex Change: A German boy who always wanted to be a girl underwent a sex-change operation in January. At 16, Kim Petras -- formerly Tim Petras -- is believed to be the world's youngest female transsexual. She has worked as a model and recorded a CD.
EuroPics / CEN
Amazing Awakening: Mike Connolly, of Vista, Calif., smiles at his wife, Loris, in a California hospital Feb. 16. Connolly spent nearly 100 hours in a coma after suffering a heart stoppage. Incredibly, he woke up just after a decision was made to take him off life support.
Bill Wechter, North County Times
Vision Restored: Beth Trubridge, 87, struggled with partial vision for more than 70 years but now sees the world clearly, The Herald newspaper in Plymouth, England, reported Feb. 2. She lost her vision in her right eye as a teen but now has 80 percent of it back after doctors treated her for a parasitic infection and removed deep-rooted cataracts.
Guy Channing, The Herald
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