Last year we were amazed by the story of Aimee Copeland, the woman who was diagnosed with a horrible case of necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh eating bacteria. Copeland lost her left leg, right foot, both of her hands, but managed to survive a disease that claims more than 60 percent of its victims. Well it seems the flesh-eating bacteria has struck again, costing Las Vegas high school dean and father-of-two Eddie Garcia his hands and feet.

Garcia was infected with the illness back in January, causing his lungs and kidneys to fail and other organs to shut down. Today, Garcia is alive with an inspiring attitude and positive outlook on life. Telling a local news outlet that he's at the beginning of his journey, not the end, he's looking forward to his second chance with his family.

Heck, me -- I miss the early bus on my way to work and I'm in a bad mood. This man brushed death and he's so .. optimistic.

A pregnant woman's abdomen caught fire during what was supposed to be a routine C-section in one of the craziest hospital horror stories I've ever heard. And recently a New York jury ruled that obstetrician Dr. Stephen Brown is not liable for the surgery accident involving former patient Kira Reed.

The fire was the result of a surgical tool igniting an alcohol-based antiseptic applied to the patient's skin. The terrifying incident left Reed with third-degree burns.

Kind of makes you trust hospitals even less, doesn't it?

Mending a metaphorical heart is hard enough -- but healing a beating human heart? No easy task. Particularly not in the case of 23-year-old Michael Crowe, whose ticker went from top-notch to toxic (literally) in just a matter of days.

The Nebraska student thought he had a plain old run-of-the-mill flu bug -- fever, chills, vomiting. After taking a blood sample, his doctor thought the same thing. Except bed rest and fluids didn't make Crowe's "bug" disappear; in fact, two days later his mother found him sitting on the couch "frozen" stiff as a statue but sweating profusely.

It's hard to find any silver lining at all when you're talking about a 16-year-old boy who had two strokes and eventually died of a congenital circulatory malformation. On Christmas Day, no less. But miraculously, the death of teen Caleb Beaver meant life to another human being. Caleb's tremendous gift of organ donation meant that Chuck Shelton, a psychiatrist, now has Caleb's heart. And what happened next is one of the most inspiring and heartbreaking and uplifting things you'll ever hear ...

When I first read about Aimee Copeland, the 24-year-old college student who was struck down with a terrible case of necrotizing fasciitis -- more commonly known as "flesh-eating bacteria" -- I was terrified for her.

I'm a nurse and come from a medical family, so I know how deadly that bacteria is and how recovery from such a condition is nearly always impossible. Necrotizing fasciitis -- caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes -- while very rare, can develop through cuts in the skin (even minor ones) and begin to kill off the normal, healthy tissue quickly.

So when I heard about Copeland's miraculous recovery, I admit, I watched to see how it would play out.

And now? Aimee Copeland is my hero.

When is a brain defect a good thing? When it miraculously deflects the stray bullet of a madman, apparently. Twenty-two-year-old Petra Anderson was shot four times at the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado. Three of those bullets hit Anderson in the arm; the last went through her nose and into her brain.

In "critical" condition, Anderson underwent surgery to remove the bullet in her brain. Before operating, doctors were "concerned" (I bet!) about the extent of her injuries -- would Anderson ever walk or talk again?

Back to that miraculous bullet-deflecting defect ...

When Jared Lee Loughner shot a bullet through the left side of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Gifford's head in January, it damaged parts of her brain. She lost the ability to speak or move the right side of her body. But through intensive physical therapy, she is regaining both abilities -- and music is playing a big role in her recovery.

Who would have thought? It makes sense that music would help Gabrielle recover her speech. Her doctors have been gently helping her to sing, which is helping her re-learn how to talk. But even more surprising is the way music is helping her move and even walk! It's amazing to watch. Doctors are just beginning to explore how music can help people recover -- there's a lot they don't even know yet. I hope Gabrielle's case inspires more people to look into it, though, because it sounds like there's a lot of exciting potential.