Christan Zaccagnino awoke at Xishan Hospital near Beijing with a roaring headache.

The 24-year-old Port Chester woman had just endured two hours of spinal cord surgery. Doctors transplanted cells above and below the spot in her spinal cord that was injured 14 years earlier in a diving accident. They hoped to restore movement and feeling to her paralyzed body.

Zaccagnino is among hundreds of people with spinal cord injuries and other debilitating afflictions who have placed their faith in Dr. Hongyun Huang, a Chinese neurosurgeon who has transplanted fetal brain tissue into the lesions of more than 400 such patients from across the world. Continue Reading »

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston Texans defensive tackle Cedric Killings surprised his teammates by walking into practice Friday, just five days after fracturing a vertebra in his neck.

Killings wore a neck brace and had a black eye from the headfirst collision with Indianapolis receiver Roy Hall on Sunday, but couldn’t keep a huge smile off his face.

As he walked in, someone yelled “Oh God,” before players began clapping and screaming. Continue Reading »