Lyndsey McLaughlin (right), 28, from New York, met Diana Rodriguez (left) after receiving her son, Adrian's lungs during life-saving transplant surgery. Ms McLaughlin has cystic fibrosis and would not have lived for much longer without the transplant. Adrian (inset) was just 18 when he slipped on the station platform on his way to school and was hit by a train.

Three-year-old Kaydence Theriault and her fellow triplets Taylor and Kaylin, of Indianapolis, were all born with Crouzon Syndrome, which causes a misshapen head. Their mother Bobbi Jo and brotehr Jayden (pictured with father Jason) also suffer a milder form of the condition. Kaydence had the most severe form doctors had ever seen because her skull was shaped like a cloverleaf (left, and MRI scan, bottom left). Crouzon Syndrome is a genetic condition that causes the plates of a baby's skull to lock in position too early, before the brain has had chance to grow. Most children born with the condition have surgery before they are 18 months old to separate the skull before it fuses. But Kaydence's condition was so severe the bones were already joining together, pushing her head into an odd shape at the top and sides, like a three-leaved clover.

Sarah O'Neill (with fiancee, Tina) was once dubbed 'Mac3' due to having an excess of facial hair as a result of suffering from polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). One of the most common symptoms is a high level of male hormones, which leads to hair growth, meaning she would spend hours shaving and waxing her face. Now, having not touched her facial hair for 30 days, she said: 'I decided that it's part of me, so why should I hide it to please other people? I wanted people to know that I'm not lazy or unclean, it's just a medical condition.'

Gabriel Granados had both limbs amputated below the elbow after receiving a severe electrical shock. Nearly 20 medics, including five plastic surgeons, five nurses and three anaesthetists, performed a marathon 17-hour operation to attach two arms donated by the family of a 34-year-old shooting victim. Now, a year on, he has spoken about the 'new lease of life' the operation has given him - and says he is extremely grateful to the donor's family. Thanks to extensive rehabilitation he has also recovered the majority of movement in his arms.

Users have their tongue pierced with a magnetic stud that resembles jewelry and acts like a joystick, in the hope that it will offer them more mobility and independence. Researchers reported on Wednesday that 11 people paralyzed from the neck down rapidly learned to use the tongue device to pilot their wheelchairs through an obstacle course full of twists and turns, and also to operate a computer.

Dr. Ted Rummel, an orthopedic surgeon in O'Fallon, Missouri, was suddenly paralyzed in 2010 when a blood-filled cyst burst in his spine. A grueling year of rehabilitation later and Rummel was back at work seeing patients and performing knee, foot, ankle and elbow surgeries from a traditional wheelchair. ‘When I’m able to do this, and I can get a piece of my life back, it’s huge,’ he said. ‘It’s so special.’

Evelyn Kealy (left, with her mother, Lisa, and bottom right), 22-months, from Leicestershire, has West syndrome which is a rare and serious form of epilepsy in infants which is diagnosed with an EEG (top right). Every time she has a seizure she forgets all of the skills she has learnt - including how to laugh and smile. Her mother said: 'After each episode, it feels like we have lost a daughter and gained a new one.' Evelyn was only expected to reach 14 months but a new drug has dramatically improved her condition.

Amy Wild was leading a normal life after undergoing a heart transplant, but she suddenly deteriorated and died, an inquest in Manchester heard. She had started walking again after suffering complications and had plans to open her own beauty treatment business. But after complaining of chest pains and difficulties with her breathing, Amy was taken to Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester on Sunday August 11, where she was prescribed medication to combat an unusually fast heart rate. She died two days later.