A 13-year-old boy in Somerville, Mass., extended his right arm last week and shook hands with a visitor. What made the event news was that exactly one year ago, red-haired Everett Knowles Jr. had his arm completely severed when a freight train threw him against a bridge abutment. Though several similar operations have been tried since then, the reimplantation of "Red"' Knowles's arm by a team of plastic surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital is still the most successful case involving a whole limb.
Young Knowles moves his arm cautiously, and wiggles his fingers slowly. But arm and fingers are sensitive...