Georgia Student Fighting Flesh-Eating Disease After Zip Line Injury

[rockin'robin]

A Georgia woman is fighting for her life after contracting flesh-eating disease during a zip line accident.

Aimee Copeland, a 24-year old master's student at the University of West Georgia, hopped on the homemade zip line May 1 during a kayaking trip in Carrollton, Ga. But the line broke, cutting a gash in Copeland's left calf and introducing a life-threatening infection that on Friday claimed her left leg and part of her abdomen.

"It's a miracle she made it past Friday night," Copeland's father, Andy, told ABC affiliate WSBTV.

Copeland has necrotizing fasciitis from Aeromonas hydrophila, a bacteria found in fresh water, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The bacteria could have come from the creek where Copeland was kayaking, and invaded her body through the gash on her leg.

"The bacteria produce enzymes that can dissolve muscle deep down," said Dr. William Schaffner, chair of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., and president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. "And because it's so deep, it can be a sneaky infection that's not immediately appreciated by the patient."

o reduce the risk of necrotizing fasciitis, all wounds big and small should be immediately cleaned, treated with antimicrobial ointment and covered with sterile bandages, according to the National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation.

Copeland went to a nearby emergency room where doctors closed the gash with 22 staples. But she returned to the hospital the next day complaining of severe pain.

"The symptom that should ring alarm bells is serious, unremitting pain," said Schaffner. "An otherwise healthy individual with a seemingly superficial injury who has severe pain should have a much more thorough evaluation."

Doctors sent Copeland home with a prescription for painkillers. She returned to the hospital again Thursday and was released again, this time with antibiotics. On Friday, Copeland was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, and her left leg was amputated at the hip.

"The two main treatment options are antibiotics to kill the bacteria and surgery," said Schaffner, adding that bacteria left behind can invade the blood. "You have to look at the wound and think, 'This is as far as the infection has gone; now I have to cut even further.'"

Since the amputation, Copeland's recovery has been touch and go. On Tuesday, one week after the accident, her temperature spiked and she lost her pulse.

"They actually were able to do CPR and resuscitate her very quickly," Andy Copeland told WSBTV. "I don't want people with long faces right now because we already had a miracle Friday night when she survived. … I just believe we have to stay positive right now to honor Aimee."

Georgia Student Fighting for Life After Flesh-Eating Infection - ABC News

 

[jazzy]

so sad

 

[Bottesini]

(CBS News) Aimee Copeland, the 24-year-old graduate student who is fighting for her life against the flesh-eating disease necrotizing fasciitis is very responsive and coherent, according to a blog posted on a University of West Georgia Psychology department student website.


Aimee Copeland, 24, battles flesh-eating necrotizing fasciitis following zip-lining accident

In a post written Thursday afternoon, Aimee's classmate Ken Lewis provided an update for those following the tragic story, saying Aimee unfortunately will need her hands and her remaining foot amputated because the blood vessels have died.

Last week doctors had performed a hip-high amputation on Aimee's left leg. Not all the news was bleak, with Lewis writing that Aimee is responding to specific commands and has even selected the music she wants to hear.

"The neurologist says that there is no indication of any brain damage," Lewis wrote. "The cardiopulmonologist says that her lungs are slowly healing."

Aimee's sister Paige also wrote an update today on the Facebook page their father had set to raise awareness about Aimee's condition.


"Seeing Aimee this morning was so refreshing," Paige wrote Thursday afternoon. "Her eyes are wide open and she is nodding or shaking her head to the questions we ask. My hope for her recovery is stronger than ever!"

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a "Love Aimee" vigil is being held tonight at the University of West Georgia campus. Blood donations are also being accepted at the JMS Burn Center in Augusta where she has been hospitalized since last Friday.


Last Friday, emergency room doctors at Tanner Medical Center in Carrollton, Ga., diagnosed Copeland with necrotizing fasciitis. According to the Journal-Constitution, Copeland received a nasty cut on her leg last Tuesday on a homemade zip line she was using that broke as she and her friends kayaked along the Little Tallapoosa River in Carrollton.

Doctors closed the gash with 22 staples, but her conditioned worsened over the next few days until she was eventually hospitalized and diagnosed with the disease. The paper reports the bacteria that caused the disease was Aeromonas hydrophila, which is typically found in freshwater.


Symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis include a small red painful lump or bump in the skin that changes to a very painful rapidly growing bruise (sometimes within an hour), and the center of the bruise may become black and die, or break open and ooze fluid. Other symptoms include fever, sweating, chills, nausea, dizziness and shock. Immediate treatment, such as with powerful IV antibiotics or surgery is necessary to prevent death.

Aimee Copeland "very responsive," but to lose hands and other foot to necrotizing fasciitis, says report - HealthPop - CBS News

 

[Reba]

Very sad situation.

 

[rockin'robin]

Just terrible!....Who would ever even "think" something like this would happen to them?