Boy With New Hands: Best Part is Hugging Mom | Weekend Read

Each weekend, Patch shares stories that are sparking conversations beyond one town.

Boy with New Hands Says Best Part is Being Able to Hug Mom

Zion Harvey said he just wanted new hands so he could pick up his sister and swing on monkey bars. The 9-year-old was the first child to undergo a double hand transplant, making medical history last summer.

"Now, I can get myself dressed without anybody helping me," said Harvey, whose hands were amputated when he was 2 years old due to sepsis, an infection in the bloodstream.

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia released a video this week documenting the year since the surgery.

"Here we've had weeks of hospitalization, a daily request for him to interact, to do therapy, to do testing ... and there's never been one iota of resistance or 'I don't want to today' or things we might hear from an adult, let alone a child," Dr. L. Scott Levin, director of the hand transplant program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. >>> Read more.

Georgia Cop Saves Man From Burning Vehicle in Dramatic Body Cam Footage

A dramatic new video shot by an Athens, Ga., police officer's body camera captures the terrifying moments as he works to save a trapped passenger from a burning vehicle.

In the video, Senior Police Officer Dan Whitney responds to a 3 a.m. accident report to find flames billowing from an SUV that has crashed into a large tree.

He finds a man yelling for help and stuck in a small, rear driver-side window of the vehicle. >>> Read more.

Fisherman Hugs Live Shark in Controversial Video

A Maryland fisherman has made waves online with a video of his catch. Zane Rutt, 21, of Bel Air, Md., caught a shark, picked it up out of the water, released it and picked it up again for a photo op. His friend captured it on video, which Rutt posted Aug. 8 to Instagram.

Since then, more than 34,000 people have viewed the video, and the reaction has not always been positive.

"I'm very surprised that so many people have viewed this," Rutt told Patch. "I never would have guessed it would have received this much attention and hate." >>> Read more.

Adults Jump in After Ride Collapses With Children on Board

A ride at the Bartow County Fair nearly collapses Thursday evening in Cartersville, Ga. Several adults in the area swiftly came together and held up the roller coaster while crews repaired the damage, according to a Facebook post made by resident Whitney Castro.

"If it wasn't for some (thinking) quick adults, this would have ended a lot worse," she added. >>> Read more.

Image of Zion Harvey from YouTube video by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Image from body cam video, courtesy Athens-Clarke County Police Department.

Image from Instagram video used with permission of Zane Rutt.

Image via video from Whitney Castro.