Flesh-Eating Bacteria Victim Receives Skin Grafts

Aimee Copeland, the young Georgia female who was fighting for her life after being attacked by flesh-eating bacteria underwent a skin graft on Monday to continue her amazing recovery.

Last month doctors had to remove tissue from Copeland’s abdomen, side and hip in order to prevent the bacteria from spreading. Doctors were also forced to amputate most of her hands, one of her legs and her remaining foot in order to stay ahead of the disease.

After the Monday skin graft a secondary graft was scheduled for Friday, a process said to be the “final initial graft procedure to close the open wound.”

Andy Copeland wrote of her skin graft:

“I say ‘final initial’ because I understand that skin surfaces continue to break down over time and that Aimee will need follow-up surgeries to repair those areas in the weeks, months and years ahead. Aimee’s wound repair is a lifelong process that will require ongoing attention and medical care, however, the surgery today will bring her one step closer to her biggest challenge yet: rehab.”

Since beginning her battle with the flesh-eating bacteria Aimee Copeland has been downgraded from critical to serious condition.

Copeland contracted the flesh-eating bacteria on May 1 after she fell off a zip line while going across the Little Tallapoosa River, she received a gash in her left calf that took 22 staples to close.

The young Snellville woman’s ordeal began May 1, when she was riding a makeshift zip line across the Little Tallapoosa River, about 50 miles west of Atlanta. The line snapped, and she fell and got a gash in her left calf that took 22 staples to close. Aimee was diagnosed three days later with necrotizing fasciitis caused by the bacterium Aeromonas hydrophila.

Despite her severe pain Copeland has refused to take pain medication throughout her ordeal.