A Georgia woman who lost her leg after contracting a rare flesh-eating bacteria after a zip-lining accident could lose more limbs. She is in critical condition and the bacteria can possibly take her life. Click below to find out more.
Aimee Copeland, 24, remains in critical condition at Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Ga. nearly a week after suffering a cut on her leg that now threatens her life.
The bacteria causing the disease is “usually not life-threatening,†Dr. Jay Varkey, an epidemiologist at the Emory University School of Medicine, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday. “It requires a perfect storm of bad circumstances. And when it happens in those rare cases, it can be dramatic.â€
Copeland is one of those rare cases: She has had most of her left leg amputated since the horrific May 1 mishap.
The young woman was kayaking with friends along the Little Tallapoosa River in Georgia when the group went zip-lining with a homemade rope, The Journal-Constitution reported.
When it was Copeland’s turn, the line snapped, and she fell and cut her leg. Doctors speculate she could have come into contact with the common bacteria — called Aeromonas hydrophila — from the water, where it then entered her body through the gash.
In her case, the bacteria triggered a flesh-eating disease that can dissolve muscle, doctors said.
Copeland, a master’s student at the University of West Georgia, had the cut closed with 22 staples, according to reports. She was sent home with pain killers.
But the unbearable pain didn’t stop, and she returned to the hospital and received antibiotics.
