As of Thursday, May 24, 2012
© Copyright 2013
Gwinnett Daily Post
ATLANTA — A young Snellville woman battling a flesh-eating disease sat up in a chair, surprising nurses and loved ones, her father said.
Doctors at an Augusta hospital helped Aimee Copeland into the chair, where she sat up for five hours, her father Andy Copeland said. He wrote about Tuesday's development on his Facebook page Thursday morning.
"When the doctors put Aimee up in that chair, their expectations were to give her an hour," he wrote. "Five hours later, Aimee decided it was time to lie down. Had she been running an Olympic marathon, I think Aimee would have experienced a record-breaking, gold-medal moment."
Copeland, 24, developed necrotizing fasciitis after cutting her leg in a May 1 fall from a homemade zip line over a west Georgia river. Her left leg, other foot and both hands have been amputated.
In an interview with The Associated Press this week, Andy Copeland said he spoke with Aimee after surgeons removed her hands and "she just shrugged her shoulders and said, 'It's OK,' and she smiled."
She's now able to breathe for a 24-hour period without assistance from a ventilator, her father said.
"Each breath is a victory," he said in Thursday's update. "Each heartbeat is a cause for celebration."
More like this story
- Aimee Copeland's condition upgraded to 'good' ( June 25, 2012 )
- Snellville woman with flesh-eating bug communicating ( May 14, 2012 )
- Snellville woman facing flesh-eating disease upgraded ( June 12, 2012 )
- Snellville woman battling flesh-eating bacteria speaks ( May 28, 2012 )
- South grad with flesh-eating disease takes own breaths ( May 21, 2012 )
Comments
notblind 1 year ago
I truly am in awe of this young woman's intestinal fortitude.
mustardandbiscuit 1 year ago
God bless you Aimee! I am so sorry that this had to happen to you. I was going to say that it should have happened to someone else, someone more deserving, but, I don't think anybody really deserves this. It just...happens. It's a test. A test, not given by God, or parents, or nature, but just...given. And, you will pass it, and God will and has granted you Grace. God bless you!
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