Limbs

BEIJING -- Chen Zhongwei, a Chinese surgeon who was a pioneer in the process of reattaching severed limbs, died Tuesday in an accidental fall. He was 74. Mr. Chen was born in 1929 in the southeastern province of Zhejiang. In 1963, he and a team of doctors at the Shanghai No. 6 Hospital successfully reattached the severed right hand of an injured factory worker -- the first operation of its kind in China, state media said. He developed several techniques for reattaching severed fingers.

ATLANTA - Faced with the prospect of losing both hands and her one remaining foot, a young Georgia woman battling to survive a case of flesh-eating bacteria that has already claimed one leg mouthed the words "Let's do this. " Aimee Copeland, 24, "shed no tears, she never batted an eyelash," her father, Andy Copeland, wrote on Facebook on Friday about the conversation he and his wife had with their daughter the day before. "I was crying because I am a proud father of an incredibly courageous young lady," Copeland wrote.

A neighborhood block party has been held for a 9-year-old girl who returned home to Londonderry after becoming ill last Easter and losing her arms and legs to an infection. Bella Tucker was welcomed yesterday by about 300 people. Active in gymnastics and cheerleading, she was rushed to a Boston hospital with a high fever earlier this year. She was diagnosed with streptococcus pneumonia sepsis and fell into a coma. Her home has been rebuilt and expanded to make it more accessible for a quadruple amputee.

PORTLAND, Maine — Frank Knight's decades-long battle to save New England's tallest elm served as an inspiring tale of devotion, so it is fitting that he will be laid to rest in a coffin made from the tree he made famous. Mr. Knight, who died Monday at 103, had affectionately referred to the 217-year-old elm nicknamed Herbie as "an old friend. " The massive tree succumbed to Dutch elm disease and was cut down two years ago. Wood from the tree was made into a casket, a secret that was kept from Mr. Knight.

Tree experts say the late October storm that pummeled the Northeast has left two historic Connecticut trees in peril. A huge white oak in Granby believed to be about 500 years old sustained major damage in the Oct. 29 storm, which coated the region with heavy snow and brought down limbs and power lines. The Hartford Courant reports ( http://bit.ly/uI0IZq) that cables already hold parts of the tree together and that many large limbs have been damaged. The Granby Land Trust, which maintains the tree, says it will try to preserve it. Another historic tree, the Pinchot Sycamore...

Officials at Western Massachusetts Electric Co. say they are working to restore service to more than 600 customers whose power has been off since last weekend's rare October snowstorm. The company says the remaining outages are in the Springfield area and are expected to be restored by midnight Sunday. The number is down from 4,400 earlier Sunday. Springfield officials say schools will remain closed Monday as crews clear tree limbs, power lines and debris left on streets and sidewalks.

It's too early to plant, but this is a great time to begin planning lawn and landscaping projects. Inventory of your property and determine the health of trees, shrubs, and lawn. Clean up any debris left over from winter storms. Prune broken limbs. Make a clean cut that will make it harder for insects and diseases to enter the stressed plant. Don't paint pruning cuts. It's an old wive's tale that tar on cuts prevents disease and rot. Remove fallen debris and limbs from around your plants, so insects and diseases won't be attracted to that area.

(Sara Brown for boston.com) Pieces of the fallen willow, as well as limbs from another tree, spilled into garden plots and blocked a path. By Sara Brown, Town Correspondent At the Fenway Victory Garden, Irene felled a large willow tree, with the tree trunk and limbs from another willow tree blocking one of the garden's paths. "As you may know by now, we lost one of our great willows along Row A to Irene," said Mike Mennonno, president of the Fenway Garden Society, in an e-mail.

NEW YORK -- During the age of dinosaurs, tiny squirrel-like creatures climbed trees and jumped into the darkness. Then they spread their limbs and glided away -- the first known mammals to take to the air, a new report says. The species is revealed by a fossil find in northeastern China, which pushes the known history of mammalian gliding or flying back by more than 75 million years. The creature may have even beaten birds into the air. Like today's flying squirrels, it stretched a furry membrane between its limbs to provide an...

By Justin A. Rice, Town Correspondent Crews in Peabody are picking up after Saturday night's snowstorm that left one neighborhood without power and downed tree limbs and branches across town. Mayor Michael Bonfanti said his neighborhood on the west side of the city was the only part of town that lost power after getting hit with about five inches of snow. He said power was out for about three and a half hours.  "We have our own municipal light plant, so they were on it pretty quickly," he said, adding that crews are cleaning up downed...

A player has made an octuple-bogey for the second straight week on the PGA Tour. Charlie Wi had three straight shots carom off a tree and go behind him and onto the practice range at Innisbrook during the Transitions Championship on Sunday. It led to a 13 on the par-5 fifth hole. His troubles began with a tee shot into the right rough. There was a wood chip next to the ball, and his 6-iron came out to the right into the trees. From there, Wi had a tree in front of him with a trunk about 3 feet high until it split into two limbs, leaving a 4-foot gap. Wi tried to hit 5-iron through the...

The head physician at a Turkish hospital says his team has performed the world's first quadruple limb transplant, attaching two arms and two legs to a young man. Murat Tuncer on Saturday appealed for blood donations to overcome possible complications following the 20-hour operation, performed by more than 50 doctors at Hacettepe University Hospital in Ankara. He did not provide any details about the patient. The operation comes after a failed triple limb transplant two months ago at another hospital in the southern city of Antalya.

Much of Massachusetts will be raked Saturday by strong winds, the National Weather Service said today. The service issued high wind warnings for much of the state, effective early Saturday. In most of Eastern and Central Massachusetts, forecasters said, winds are expected to blow 20 to 30 miles per hour, with gusts up to 55 miles per hour. "Strong gusty winds will easily blow about lighter items such as trash cans. These strong winds can also knock down small tree limbs and branches," forecasters said in one warning.

It's too early to plant, but this is a great time to begin planning lawn and landscaping projects. Inventory of your property and determine the health of trees, shrubs, and lawn. Clean up any debris left over from winter storms. Prune broken limbs. Make a clean cut that will make it harder for insects and diseases to enter the stressed plant. Don't paint pruning cuts. It's an old wive's tale that tar on cuts prevents disease and rot. Remove fallen debris and limbs from around your plants, so insects and diseases won't be attracted to that area.

Braintree will hold its final yard-waste collection day for the year next Saturday. Residents are encouraged to leave yard waste in paper bags or barrels curbside by 7 a.m. that day. Collection will be for grass and leaves only - no branches or tree limbs - and is meant to help the community address cleanup efforts of late-falling leaves. Although this will be the last pickup day for yard waste for the year, the compost facility at 225 Plain St. will remain open through January. Hours of operation are Wednesday through Sunday, 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and 1 to 3 p.m. - ...

In the late evening hours of Oct. 29, Paul Sialatis, a grounds worker at Phillips Academy in Andover, was among those called in to clear walkways and streets blocked by large tree limbs felled by the heavy, wet snow from a rare fall nor'easter. As Sialatis tried to make quick work of the downed trees and limbs with a chainsaw, he realized the situation was getting grimmer by the second. "[Tree debris] was coming down on the road, walkways, everywhere. You hear the crack, and then the poof," Sialatis said recently, as he took a break from feeding broken tree limbs into a...

Braintree will hold its final yard-waste collection day for the year next Saturday. Residents are encouraged to leave yard waste in paper bags or barrels curbside by 7 a.m. that day. Collection will be for grass and leaves only - no branches or tree limbs - and is meant to help the community address cleanup efforts of late-falling leaves. Although this will be the last pickup day for yard waste for the year, the compost facility at 225 Plain St. will remain open through January. Hours of operation are Wednesday through Sunday, 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and 1 to 3 p.m. - Jessica Bartlett

A player has made an octuple-bogey for the second straight week on the PGA Tour. Charlie Wi had three straight shots carom off a tree and go behind him and onto the practice range at Innisbrook during the Transitions Championship on Sunday. It led to a 13 on the par-5 fifth hole. His troubles began with a tee shot into the right rough. There was a wood chip next to the ball, and his 6-iron came out to the right into the trees. From there, Wi had a tree in front of him with a trunk about 3 feet high until it split into two limbs, leaving a 4-foot gap. Wi tried to hit 5-iron through the...

Tree experts say the late October storm that pummeled the Northeast has left two historic Connecticut trees in peril. A huge white oak in Granby believed to be about 500 years old sustained major damage in the Oct. 29 storm, which coated the region with heavy snow and brought down limbs and power lines. The Hartford Courant reports ( http://bit.ly/uI0IZq) that cables already hold parts of the tree together and that many large limbs have been damaged. The Granby Land Trust, which maintains the tree, says it will try to preserve it. Another historic tree, the Pinchot Sycamore...