6:46 a.m. - Dr. Ayman Mohamed injects a local anesthesia into Tim's scalp at the point where the screws for the halo will attach to his skull.

This was the photo I knew I had to have, and the moment Tim dreaded. Whenever he talked about it, you could see that he was terribly afraid of the halo: a device which holds surgical instruments in precise positions and is screwed directly into the skull. It does what it was designed to do but looks like a holdover from the Inquisition. As I was editing the photos and trying to decide the layout, reporters kept coming by to see how I was progressing and this photo always got a very strong reaction. I made a point to ask each which photo they thought should be the lead and most said anything but this one...which only confirmed my decision to use it as the centerpiece. We ran it huge; almost 14" across a double-truck.