Tangentially related, the article mentioned the first re-attachment of a limb from a 12-year old boy whose limb was preserved with ice prior to surgery at MGH. That jogged my memory, as my AP Chemistry teacher told us that story one day in class. Turns out he grew up in Somerville and knew the kid from the neighborhood, and all the kids used to hop the freight trains to catch a lift to various places around Somerville and the surrounding areas. He may have even said that he was there when it happened. He said that the kid was fairly new to hopping the trains like that, as you learn to pull yourself in between cars or very close to the train so that you don't hit a wall and, well, lose an arm. [1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_A._Malt#First_Successfu...