Georgia Flesh-Eating Disease Victim Speaks
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ABC News(AUGUSTA, Ga.) — Aimee Copeland, 24, has spoken her first words since she was hospitalized in an Augusta, Ga., hospital on May 4 after contracting a flesh-eating disease, according to her father’s Facebook page.
Andy Copeland, who did not reveal the exact words Aimee Copeland said, on Sunday updated his page with the message: “Our baby can talk. Details will follow later today.”
On Monday, Andy Copeland further described the conversations he had with his daughter Sunday evening on a blog he set up to chronicle his daughter’s recovery.
“Aimee was expressive and she clearly elucidated her thoughts,” he wrote. “Her long term memory was intact. … We discussed ideas of how to utilize wilderness therapy/eco-psychology for amputees. We talked about her current physical condition. We smiled and at times we said nothing.”
Andy Copeland wrote in the blog that later in the evening his daughter began to get tired and simply mouthed words, but he said that she remained in good spirits.
By Monday afternoon, more than 200 well-wishers had posted comments on Andy Copeland’s Sunday update in which he proclaimed it to be “Aimee Day,” in honor of his daughter recovering her ability to speak. A more recent update had garnered more than 130 messages of encouragement.
Aimee Copeland’s struggle with the flesh-eating disease, known broadly as necrotizing fasciitis, began on May 1, when an accident on a homemade zip line slashed open her calf and a common waterborne bacterium infected the wound. She lost the injured leg and doctors removed her other limbs to prevent the spread of infection to her blood, her father has said.
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