Aimee Copeland Contracted Flesh-Eating Bacteria After Zip-Lining Accident

Aimee Copeland is clinging to life after a flesh-eating bacteria took her leg.

UPDATE: At 3:55 p.m., Aimee Copeland's father reported that she is showing tiny signs of improvement. "Her lungs have moved from being totally dependent upon the respirator to being 40-percent self-respiration," Andy Copeland writes.

Full story:

A Georgia woman is clinging to life after a zip-lining accident left her with a flesh-eating bacteria that has already taken her leg.

Now, 24-year-old Aimee Copeland's parents say a simple cut could end their daughter's life.

A week ago, Copeland was healthy, playing in the water on a kayaking trip with her friends in Carrollton, Ga. She was using a homemade zip line last Tuesday when the line snapped, leading to a cut through her calf.

She went to a doctor, received stitches and left the hospital. But in the following days, repeated visits to the doctor didn't help the pain. By Friday, an ER physician had diagnosed her with necrotizing fasciitis, an infection from a rare flesh-eating bacteria.

Copeland was airlifted to a hospital burn unit in Augusta, where surgeons had to amputate the leg immediately, along with tissue from her abdomen to stop the bacteria from spreading. Doctors on Tuesday said her chances of survival were "slim to none."

The tragic details are outlined on a Facebook page set up by Copeland's father, Andy, called, "Believe and pray for a miracle to happen for Aimee Copeland."

Story continues below

Loading Slideshow

• Aimee Copeland

  Aimee Copeland was put on life support and had her leg amputated after a freak zip-line accident left her with a cut leg and a flesh-eating bacteria. Her family needs help -- to donate or leave warm wishes for Aimee, visit <a href="http://AimeeCopeland.com" target="_hplink">AimeeCopeland.com</a>.

• Aimee Copeland

  Aimee Copeland was put on life support and had her leg amputated after a freak zip-line accident left her with a cut leg and a flesh-eating bacteria. Her family needs help -- to donate or leave warm wishes for Aimee, visit <a href="http://AimeeCopeland.com" target="_hplink">AimeeCopeland.com</a>.

• Aimee Copeland

  Aimee Copeland was put on life support and had her leg amputated after a freak zip-line accident left her with a cut leg and a flesh-eating bacteria. Her family needs help -- to donate or leave warm wishes for Aimee, visit <a href="http://AimeeCopeland.com" target="_hplink">AimeeCopeland.com</a>.

• Aimee Copeland

  Aimee Copeland was put on life support and had her leg amputated after a freak zip-line accident left her with a cut leg and a flesh-eating bacteria. Her family needs help -- to donate or leave warm wishes for Aimee, visit <a href="http://AimeeCopeland.com" target="_hplink">AimeeCopeland.com</a>.

• Aimee Copeland

  Aimee Copeland was put on life support and had her leg amputated after a freak zip-line accident left her with a cut leg and a flesh-eating bacteria. Her family needs help -- to donate or leave warm wishes for Aimee, visit <a href="http://AimeeCopeland.com" target="_hplink">AimeeCopeland.com</a>.

• AimeeCopeland

  Aimee Copeland was put on life support and had her leg amputated after a freak zip-line accident left her with a cut leg and a flesh-eating bacteria. Her family needs help -- to donate or leave warm wishes for Aimee, visit <a href="http://AimeeCopeland.com" target="_hplink">AimeeCopeland.com</a>.

• Aimee Copeland

  Aimee Copeland was put on life support and had her leg amputated after a freak zip-line accident left her with a cut leg and a flesh-eating bacteria. Her family needs help -- to donate or leave warm wishes for Aimee, visit <a href="http://AimeeCopeland.com" target="_hplink">AimeeCopeland.com</a>.

• Aimee Copeland

  Aimee Copeland was put on life support and had her leg amputated after a freak zip-line accident left her with a cut leg and a flesh-eating bacteria. Her family needs help -- to donate or leave warm wishes for Aimee, visit <a href="http://AimeeCopeland.com" target="_hplink">AimeeCopeland.com</a>.

• Aimee Copeland

  Aimee Copeland was put on life support and had her leg amputated after a freak zip-line accident left her with a cut leg and a flesh-eating bacteria. Her family needs help -- to donate or leave warm wishes for Aimee, visit <a href="http://AimeeCopeland.com" target="_hplink">AimeeCopeland.com</a>.

• Aimee Copeland

  Aimee Copeland was put on life support and had her leg amputated after a freak zip-line accident left her with a cut leg and a flesh-eating bacteria. Her family needs help -- to donate or leave warm wishes for Aimee, visit <a href="http://AimeeCopeland.com" target="_hplink">AimeeCopeland.com</a>.

• Aimee Copeland

  Aimee Copeland was put on life support and had her leg amputated after a freak zip-line accident left her with a cut leg and a flesh-eating bacteria. Her family needs help -- to donate or leave warm wishes for Aimee, visit <a href="http://AimeeCopeland.com" target="_hplink">AimeeCopeland.com</a>.

"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 on the page Tuesday. "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," he added.

Today, Aimee's condition has worsened as her organs have begun to shut down, according to a site set up by her family for people who want to donate blood.

Anyone wishing to donate can visit the links above or send monetary donations to "Aimee's Fund," United Community Bank, 119 Maple Street, Carrollton, GA, 30117.

Correction: An earlier version of the story stated that Copeland's leg was amputated in Carrollton. She was airlifted to a burn unit in Augusta and doctors amputated her leg there. We regret the error.

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Comments

[Rikio Shibuya]

5 minutes ago ( 7:42 PM)

There is only one condition that leads to garanteed death: life. If you live it worrying about all the things that can kill you, you miss the whole point!

[OHFORCRYINGOUTLOUD]

08:29 PM on 06/26/2012

A zip line is huge in diameter. It is not a piece of thread. It is a coiled cable of wire that can hold so much bacteria in it ... especially when it was home made. God only knows where this cable was from. The weather alone in Georgia is HOT and sticky. Sweat off of the hands and legs of the people that rode this line was all over it. Plus what ever the water had in it. This was not picked up at the hospital. Although it can be everywhere on anything. This cut that they are calling simple was not a simple cut. Never should it have been stitched up as it was until antibiotics were given intravenously. She needed a shot big time. I know easier said after the fact but really this is horrible. Everyday that I have read about this it has sickened me on so many levels.

[OHFORCRYINGOUTLOUD]

08:11 PM on 06/26/2012

For one I dont believe this to be what they are calling a simple cut. This was a deep cut from a home made ZIP line ... made out of what? and where did this line come from? Off of a garage floor? Or a horse stable? I mean really. The wound should have been cleaned, rinsed and cleaned again BEFORE it was stitched up. She also should have had major antibiotics since this was a line that was home made and 2 its so hot and sticking and sweaty on Georgia where how many kids had there hands legs and feet all over this zip line.

[JBKearney1]

08:28 PM on 05/15/2012

My name is John Kearney and I live in NY. I am an LPN who was also a first responder at The World Trade Center on 9/11/01 so my lungs are shot. However, I am a DYNAMIC healer of my own wounds and know it is in my blood. I am willing to fly to Georgia at my own expence, lie on a gurney next to Aimee, and let them directly transfuse four pints of my (B+) blood at one sitting. Contact me please if I can be of help, Sincerely, John

[Lykurgan]

01:35 PM on 05/14/2012

People need to be aware that in today's phony culture there are few accountable professionals if any out there. You should be educating yourself at all times because the only one interested in the greater interest of yourself is ultimately yourself. If you have what you believe is a serious complication then don't let someone else tell you any different, especially those you believe have some higher expertise than yourself. Self interest trumps the badge of expertise. Get other opinions, do research and consult medical blogs. Don't buy into the mythology of the caring expert.

[Owled]

04:54 AM on 06/19/2012

Hear Hear!

[Owled]

04:55 AM on 06/19/2012

Hear, Hear!

[ApocalypseAdam]

01:40 AM on 05/12/2012

Thats very alarming. I hope she pulls through.

[Carl Flatley]

09:55 AM on 05/12/2012

This is not only alarming it is the #3 cause of death in the US. 258,000 people die yearly from sepsis and only 4 out of 10 people have heard this word. No one even tracks those like Aimee who lose limbs or have other disabilities If they survive.
258,000 people a year is like an A380 Airbus crashing every 19 hours in the US!!! Where is the outrage? Why is the government not taking an active role? Why are not hospitals doing more? There are current treatments but not hospitals are on board?

[GreenMan76]

05:50 PM on 05/14/2012

Sepsis might be fairly common but bacterial infections turning into necrotizing fasciitis is not. In the rare occasions that this does happens, rarely does the hosptial catch it the first time, or in this case the first three.

[moonflowerjewelry]

11:05 PM on 05/11/2012

More than one bacterium can cause necrotizing fasciitis, but the one that is on the rise is MRSA. Antibiotic resistant and becoming prevalent, especially in hospitals. Why? Overuse, obviously, of antibiotics AND antibacterial soap products. Hospitals with the most extremem chemical sterilization procedures, as in Japan, have the highest rates of MRSA infections. We can decrease the occurence by using good old fashioned pH balanced vegetable based soaps like Dr. Bronners. One of the strange times where the best preventative technology is the most "backwards."

Having said that, my heart IS with this young woman and her family.

[Tony Twohill]

12:52 AM on 05/12/2012

Don't forget not giving farm animals antibiotics for growth purposes.

[Ystorm]

11:27 PM on 05/12/2012

Well, being too clean, is, of course, how we got the polio epidemic.

[odanny]

05:45 PM on 05/11/2012

If you are reading this story and in good health, remember how lucky you are. Freak accidents can happen to us all, in only a matter of seconds. Take nothing for granted and be pro active for good health. Get well soon Aimee, I'm sorry this happened to you. You certainly didnt deserve this and I only hope you can beat this virus so you can live a long life.

[Ystorm]

11:27 PM on 05/12/2012

Agreed!

[Lindsgrace33]

04:18 PM on 05/11/2012

This is tragic. My heart goes out to her and her family. I hope she makes a full recovery soon.

[Thermoguy]

02:16 PM on 05/11/2012

Coat's Aloe out of Texas is FDA Registered and Medicaid pays for his pharmaceutical grade aloe vera. We investigated them and they have killed this bacteria and MYSA as well as accelerated wound healing. They can help her.

[sbgirl2009]

11:48 AM on 05/11/2012

My husband almost died from this 8 months ago. 20 surgeries later, skin grafts, ostomy for 7 months, all from a bacteria they don't even know how he got. It could come from a wound as small as a pin head. Overnight he went from thinking he had the flu to immediate surgery, within hours. Spent 2 weeks on life support and 3 months in the hospital. Had to have a colostomy for 7 months until the graft area healed. At one point they didn't think he would survive it, but he had some of the best surgeons in the nation at Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh. Very scary ordeal that I hope I never have to relive.

[asantewa3]

08:55 AM on 05/11/2012

What a terrible accident!! If the wound was cleaned properly during the initial suturing procedure, could this have been prevented? How is it possible that she went from having pain to a week later being on life support without any medical professional figuring this out?

[This is your leader]

04:46 AM on 05/11/2012

this is in the crime section because Sheriff Arpaio has called in the swat team to raid an round up the bacteria that attacked this poor girl

[Stephen Thorpe]

11:40 PM on 05/10/2012

I was a medic in the NAVY, and this is malpractice. The
'so called hospital' where she was treated and sent home, what a joke. They killed her.

[kcrom]

09:30 AM on 05/11/2012

We tried to file a suit against the hospital when this happened to my family, it did not work out in our favor. This is a "super" bug. It is deep in the tissue. Like the perfect storm.
This disease became my passion for many years. I do not think we can always solve some health issues. Now, that being said, I do think the second visit to the hospital with pain is a huge red flag. My family member was finally admitted after it was too late to save her. I wish we had a test that would rule it out, maybe more people would be saved.
My family member was young, healthy and fit. On the outside, but what was going on on the inside, we do not know.

[Mark P Fitzgerald]

11:26 AM on 05/11/2012

This is not malpractice at all. Necrotizing fasciitis is a very rare infection to contract. When a normal suturing procedure is done doctors are not thinking, "maybe this girl has contracted a flesh-eating bacteria". Since the bacteria have a virtually unlimited supply of food (flesh), this allows them to multiply in an exponential fashion (doubling their population size every 20 minutes or so), completely overwhelming any innate immune response that the body can mount. Even if the wound were properly cleaned, there's no way every single bacterium would be killed, and even one would multiply exponentially in this fashion. Depending on how deep the laceration was, the bacteria may have entered into the bloodstream when she received the cut. This would quickly lead to sepsis and massive organ failure. Basically, it's a freak accident & yes it realyl does suck. My heart goes out to this girl, but nobody killed her at all. Most people who contract this infection either die or end up multiple amputees.

[Stephen Thorpe]

05:50 PM on 05/11/2012

I replied, however some of the moderators discard comments for no good reason. So, I'm not sure if it's pending or tossed.

I said; all hospitals have trouble with infection control, and this was reported as staph infection. I elaborated further but, I'm not going to do so again, so the mod can toss it again.

[GreenMan76]

05:59 PM on 05/14/2012

Necrotizing fasciitis is not an infection but a symptom of the infection. If the infection is caught soon enough then anti-biotics can kill the infection before it turns into necrotizing fasciitis. Once this happens there is no option but to cut out the dead flesh because without blood flow there is no way for the anti-biotics to get to it. The fact remains it took them 4 visits to figure it out. That's lazy medical work.

[Janet Jubilee]

11:10 PM on 05/10/2012

Diseases will always be with us. You just have to use common sense these days. Eat organic food, detox and don't do shots. This will reduce your chance of getting cancer, the BIGGEST cause of death.