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Necrotizing fasciitis or flesh eating bacteria victim (Aimee Copeland) is set to breathe on her own as her condition improves. But she may still lose more parts of her body
Just less than a fortnight ago, she was one of very healthy, young women with stars in her eyes looking to begin her career after completion of her education. She was a scholar at a leading university and no one would have thought that her life will take a turn for worse so suddenly.
The 24 year old girl got infected with Aeromonas hydrophila on the first day of this month and so far has lost her left leg besides some parts of her stomach. There are still fears that the girl may lose more limbs and other parts of her body as doctors seek to save her life. Though, she has been on ventilator for much of this past fortnight, seeing certain improvements in her condition, doctors are hopeful that in coming few days she would be able to breathe on her own.
Her ordeal began on May 1st when she got a huge cut after she fell from a homemade zip line. At that time, no one thought that the wound may turn out to be so much life threatening. It was after days of treatment it became clear she was infected with flesh-eating disease.
Her father Andy Copeland, who has shown remarkable self control despite seeing his daughter lose her foot and other body-parts says: “I couldn’t conceive of what it would be like for my daughter to lose her hands and the only other foot she has, as well, and that appears to be what is going to happen… The most important thing is my daughter is still alive.”

Aimee Copeland.

Copeland said his daughter was frustrated by being unable to speak and therefore communicate with him and other family members.
“I tell her not to worry, I tell her to concentrate on breathing, I ask her to pray and meditate on healing. I hold her and pray while she prays” – he wrote. “This is all we can do now and I can honestly say it works quite well.”
Meanwhile, a post on the website of the University of West Georgia psychology department, where Copeland is a masters student, read – “Aimee will suffer the loss of her fingers, however physicians have hope of bringing life back to the palms of her hands, which could allow her the muscle control to use helpful prosthetics.”
“They are awaiting a safe time before embarking on surgery for this” – the post read, according to NewsCore.
Necrotizing fasciitis infects the deep layers of the skin and spreads quickly.
When Aimee Copeland initially presented at the emergency room at Tanner Medical Center in Carrollton, doctors closed her wound with 22 staples and gave her pain medication.
However, days later a friend drove the “pale and weak” student to the hospital, where an emergency room doctor diagnosed her with necrotizing fasciitis.
She was airlifted to JMS Burn Center in Augusta, where doctors amputation of her left leg at the hip.
She also suffered cardiac arrest, but the doctors were able to resuscitate her.

Aimee’s mother is more cautious about her daughter’s future.
‘We want to think that way, but it can just change’ – she said. ‘It’s like a rollercoaster every day.’
Miss Copeland was kayaking along the Little Tallapoosa River in Carrollton, Georgia, when she stopped to ride a home-made zipline. The line snapped, and she suffered a gash to her left calf, which required two dozen staples to close.
After initially being turned away several times from medics with nothing more than pain killers and antibiotics, horrified doctors realised an aggressive flesh-eating bacteria (aeromonas hydrophila) had invaded the increasingly agonising wound.
Medics were forced to amputate the young woman’s leg on Friday night, and she remains in a critical condition at the JMS Burn Center in Augusta.
Andy Copeland told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that his daughter, who is a graduate psychology student at the University of West Georgia, attended the emergency room at Tanner Medical Center in Carrollton after cutting her leg.
Doctors there closed the wound with 22 staples, and told her to take Motrin and Tylenol for the pain.
The next day, she returned complaining of severe pain and was given a prescription for painkillers.
Her father said this alleviated her symptoms, but the pain continued to build on Thursday.
‘Aimee went to the doctor and received a prescription for antibiotics and posted a clean MRI report’ – he said. ‘Again, she was treated and released.’
On Friday morning the student was driven to the emergency room by a concerned friend. Pale and weak, she received a shocking diagnosis – She was suffering from necrotizing fasciitis, a rare flesh-eating bacteria that can destroy skin, fat and muscle.
Physicians told the young woman the infection had already spread to her thigh and hip, and that her whole leg would have to be amputated.
Miss Copeland was flown to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, where doctors performed a high-hip amputation of her left leg and removed further infected tissue from her abdomen.
‘The surgeons advised me that they wanted to try to save her leg, but at this point saving her life took precedence’ – Mr Copeland said on Facebook.
‘They removed all of the infected tissue and advised that she would have limited, if any use of her leg.’
‘Aimee [cardiac] arrested when they moved her from the operating table, but they were able to successfully resuscitate her’ – he added.