A step forward for Boston bombing victim, and more

A step forward for Boston bombing victim

Boston Marathon bombing victim Celeste Corcoran took a big step toward full recovery last week when she ran for the first time after losing her legs in the April terrorist attack. Corcoran and her daughter, Sydney, were near the finish line when the bombs detonated. Sydney suffered leg injuries, while her mother had both legs amputated below the knee. Corcoran has been working hard since then to return to a normal life, recently regaining her driver’s license. “This is not the end,” she said. “This is just a different beginning.”

Puzzle pioneer celebrates 100th birthday

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After celebrating her 100th birthday last week, veteran crossword constructor Bernice Gordon became the first centenarian to have a puzzle published in The New York Times. Nearly as old as crossword puzzles themselves—the first known “word cross” appeared in The New York Sunday World in 1913—Gordon is widely credited with pioneering the rebus puzzle, which replaces letters with numbers or symbols in certain answers. An artist and mother of three, Gordon began constructing grids in her 30s and has contributed hundreds to the Times and other publications. “They make my life,” Gordon said. “I couldn’t live without them.”

Strangers rescue 2-year-old

2-year-oldA 2-year-old Arizona girl was rescued by a group of fast-acting strangers after she fell into a septic tank. The tank’s plastic lid flipped open when the child stepped on it, sending her tumbling into raw sewage. Her mother’s screams drew several bystanders, including Henry Ricketts, who leaped headfirst into the tank to extract the child. The girl appeared lifeless when she was yanked out but was revived by a nurse who happened to be on the scene. “I have a son, too,” said Ricketts, who had been released from prison just two weeks earlier. “I would do that for anybody.”