Aimee Copeland, Zip-Line Accident Victim, Loses Leg to Flesh-Eating Bacteria

A woman from Georgia is clinging to her life following a zip-line accident that caused her to lose her leg because of a flesh-eating bacteria. The woman, Aimee Copeland, could lose her life if she gets so much as a scratch or a cut on her body. Copeland was completely healthy just one week ago and was enjoying the water on a kayaking trip with her friends in Carrollton, Georgia. Copeland was on a homemade zip-line on Tuesday when it snapped and cut through her calf.

Copeland saw a doctor, was given stitches and then was discharged. In the days that followed, Copeland went to a doctor multiple times but could not relieve the pain. She was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis by an ER doctor on Friday. This is a rare type of flesh-eating bacteria.

Copeland had to be taken via helicopter to a burn unit in Augusta to have her leg amputated immediately. Tissue from parts of her abdomen was also removed in order to prevent the bacteria from spreading to other parts of the body. On Tuesday, doctors said that Copeland’s chances of surviving the ordeal were slim to none. Copeland’s father, Andy, wrote the following on a Facebook page, “Believe and pray for a miracle to happen for Aimee Copeland.”

“As if [the surgery] wasn’t enough, Aimee arrested when they moved her from the operating table, but they were able to successfully resuscitate her,” Andy Copeland wrote. “Aimee’s probability of surviving the night is bleak. All we can do and all we have done is pray. It’s the most horrific situation that a parent can possibly imagine.”

According to family members, Aimee’s condition has begun to slightly improve. Andy Copeland wrote the following on the Facebook page: “Her lungs have moved from being totally dependent upon the respirator to being 40-percent self-respiration.”