Zip-lining disaster effects increase as flesh-eating disorder kills Aimee Copeland’s arteries
After flesh-eating bacteria overtook her gash from falling off a home-made zip line last month, Aimee Copeland, 24, speaks of her continuing pain. Doctors in Georgia amputated both Copeland’s hands and feet, according to CNN.
Aimee Copeland’s father, Andy Copeland, blogged that the 24-year-old now suffers her worst pain yet. The pain began to escalate further when she began taking medication and since her most recent skin graft operation Friday. Before accepting the medication, Copeland refused it during bandage changes.
Ken Lewis, Andy Copeland’s friend and psychology classmate said, “Aimee’s fingers and remaining foot will have to be amputated because of dead blood vessels, not because of necrotizing fasciitis.”
Doctors in Augusta, Georgia previously amputated one of Aimee Copeland’s legs after the accident. The series of operations and amputations followed Aimee Copeland’s diagnosis of necrotizing fasciitis. They began with Copeland receiving 22 staples in the gash that welcomed the flesh-eating disease.
Aimee Copeland will receive prosthetic limbs to replace the losses she has experienced thus far.
On Andy Copeland’s Facebook page, dedicated to Aimee Copeland’s recovery, he wrote, “The hands were endangering Aimee’s progress,” adding, “As always, my decision was simple. Do whatever it takes to give us the best chance to save Aimee’s life.”
Throughout the efforts to keep Aimee Copeland alive, her father wrote of his gratitude for her bravery. “A tear rolled down my face as I walked out of her room. I wasn’t crying because Aimee was going to lose her hands and foot, I was crying because, in all my 53 years of existence, I have never seen such a strong display of courage. Aimee shed no tears, she never batted an eyelash. I was crying because I am a proud father of an incredibly courageous young lady,” Andy Copeland wrote.
Dr. Buddy Creech, assistant professor of pediatric infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University, said flesh-eating bacteria are exceptionally common in water and the environment.
Lana Kuykendall joins Aimee Copeland as a sufferer of the flesh-eating disease. Kuykendall noticed a bruise on her leg that was swiftly growing before she began her own series of surgeries.
Aimee Copeland managed to wish Andy Copeland a happy Father’s Day Sunday, according to CNN Atlanta.
