A neurosurgeon's six-mile trek, and more

A neurosurgeon's six-mile trek

Last week’s punishing snowstorm in Birmingham, Ala., wasn’t enough to keep Dr. Zenko Hrynkiw from his duties. The 62-year-old neurosurgeon was working six miles away when Trinity Medical Center called to say that a patient there needed emergency brain surgery. Hrynkiw jumped in his car, but snarled traffic immobilized him. “I’m not getting anywhere in this,” he told a Trinity nurse. “I’m walking.” He trudged through the snow for two hours, then performed a successful operation. The patient was bound to die without surgery, Hrynkiw said, “and that’s not going to happen on my shift.”

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Minneapolis eighth-grader Maria Keller is determined to share her love of reading as widely as possible. She’s been collecting used books since she was only 8 and founded the nonprofit organization Read Indeed to promote literacy among schoolchildren. With the help of thousands of volunteers working at book drives across the country, Read Indeed recently passed the 1 million mark of books donated and distributed to schools, hospitals, and community centers in 30 U.S. states and 13 foreign countries. “If things like this were happening in more places,” said Keller, “I think we could change the world.”