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

Aimee Copeland, 24, is fighting for her life at JMS Burn Center in Augusta, her father Andy said on Facebook.

/ Facebook/ Believe and pray for a miracle to happen for Aimee Copeland

(CBS News) Aimee Copeland is fighting for her life against a deadly flesh-eating disease she contracted following a zip-lining accident.

CBS Atlanta reports the 24-year-old grad student at West Georgia University, was zip-lining last Tuesday near her home with her friends when she suffered a cut on her calf that required 22 staples to close. She came back to the emergency room at Tanner Medical Center in Carrollton, Ga. the following day in intense pain and was given a painkiller. She went back to the hospital the next day and was given antibiotics, but by Friday she was too pale to move and had to be taken to the hospital again, by a friend. Last Friday, an emergency room doctor diagnosed with her the flesh-eating bacteria necrotizing fasciitis.

Necrotizing fasciitis, known simply as flesh-eating bacteria, is a rare but serious bacterial infection that destroys the muscles, skin and underlying tissue. The word "necrotizing" means something that causes body tissue to die. When the bacteria enters the body - often through a cut or scrape - it grows and releases harmful substances that kill the surrounding tissue and disrupt blood flow. Once the tissue dies, the bacteria enters into the body and spreads.

Copeland underwent emergency surgery at Tanner to remove the tissue and was air-lifted to JMS Burn Center in Augusta. Once at JMS, she was rushed again to surgery where doctors amputated her left leg up to her hip, her father Andy said in a post on a Facebook page he set up for his daughter. Andy said Aimee went into cardiac arrest at one point but she was successfully resuscitated, and doctors have given her slim chances. She's made progress in the weeks since the accident, but he said her organs were beginning to shut down.

"I type this factual progression of Aimee's condition as a way to better cope with what is without a doubt the most horrific situation that a parent can possibly imagine," Andy wrote. "We take so much for granted in life, but I never imagined that one of my daughters would face this most unlikely of situations." I hope and pray that when you read this that the news we receive at sunrise will be positive."

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Aimee made meaningful progress Tuesday night, and has moved her arms and head, and is beginning to breathe more on her own. Andy is organizing a blood drive to be held next Tuesday at the West Georgia University, and people in the Augusta area can locally donate blood to the JMS Burn Center.

Symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis include a small or red painful bump that changes to a rapidly growing bruise (sometimes within an hour), fever, sweating, chills, nausea, dizziness and shock. Bacteria that cause necrotizing fasciitis, such as Streptococcus, can be transmitted from person to person through close contact, but a person who gets infected by the bacteria is unlikely to get necrotizing fasciitis unless he or she has an open wound, chickenpox, or a weakened immune system.

WebMD has more on necrotizing fasciitis.

[kquinn856]

Flesh eating disease

When I was in Africa I ran into a girl who had a Flesh eating disease all over her right arm, the top of her chest, and half way down her back. I asked the villagers through an interpreter if she had seen a Doctor, and they said yes, she had gone to several Doctors but there was no cure for the disease. I asked what would happen to her? And they said that the disease would soon spread down her chest and eat through her stomach, and her guts would burst open and she would die. I said "O my God we need to try to do something to help her!"

I had brought some medicine with me from the U.S. in case I got sick in the middle of nowhere. So I gave her some "Bactrin" which is an anti-biotic similar to Penicillin, and a bar of Ivory Soap. I told her that the Bactrin would help fight the disease on the inside, while the Soap would fight the disease on the outside.

I explained to her that there were little tinny bugs inside the scabby disease that were eating through her skin, and that she needed to soak off in water as much of the scabby disease as possible. And then put a little bit of water on top of the bar of Ivory Soap and rub it to make a paste, and dab the paste on the raw open wounds. I told her that it would burn like hell for a minute or so, but then it would start to feel much better. I told her to leave the soap on the wounds all the time to keep them from getting infected, and to wash it off and apply new soap twice a day.

I had to leave to work on a dam project, but 8 weeks later I returned to her village and it had killed the disease. You could see the new skin on her back and there was no ugly scaring or discoloration of skin.

[Chicago_J]

Necrotizing fasciitis is an infection caused by group A strep bacteria. It is often accompanied by more serious complications, such as strep toxic shock, not to be confused with staph toxic shock, which became well known from tampon use in the 1980's. Strep toxic shock causes life-threateningly-low blood pressure and multiple organ failure. Death rates from necrotizing fasciitis range from 5% to 25%, depending on how soon it is treated and the location of the infected source on the body. Amputation is a frequent treatment. Death rates from strep toxic shock are higher, ranging from 30% to 70%.

Please use this article as an opportunity to educate yourselves and those you love about these illnesses. Immediate and proper treatment, beginning with IV penicillin, clindamycin and/or vancomycin is essential to survival. The strep A bacteria strain, which does not affect all people equally (meaning many are immune to its ill effects, but immunity is unknown), needs only a path to a susceptible person's bloodstream to wreck havoc. Therefore, any cuts on the skin can provide a pathway. There are about 1,000 cases each year of strep toxic shock in the U.S., and roughly the same for necrotizing fasciitis, so obviously the combination of a susceptible person, a path to the bloodstream, and the particular strep A bacterium does not occur often, but it does occur. If someone has flu-like symptoms within 48-hours after suffering a cut or surgery, and unusual swelling in the area of the cut, that person should seek medical attention immediately, and if not given the IV antibiotics listed above, be certain that the physicians are well versed in necrotizing fasciitis and strep toxic shock before sending that person home. This knowledge can save your life or those you love. If you can't get the doctors to agree that either is a risk, but you still have concerns, monitor the person's blood pressure, urine output, throat for swelling, and appearance of a rash over the body. If either of the first two drop, if the throat is swelling, or if a body rash occurs, return immediately to the emergency room and insist on frequent blood pressure readings (all patients with strep toxic shock will see BP drop substantially) and monitoring of throat so that patient may be intubated before the throat closes. A matter of two hours can determine the difference in survival, so don't sit in the ER for hours without being seen by a physician. Vomiting and lethargy precede the symptoms of strep toxic shock given above 50% of the time. If you are at home and concerned, check on the person no less than every two hours, even at night, because the person could be beyond saving by morning. If you are concerned about yourself, do not remain alone. You could easily become unable to make good decisions, such as when to call 911 or when not to drive. You could also fall asleep and be too ill to save by the time you wake up. Err on the side of caution. It is tempting not to complain and believe it is just a minor complication of surgery or that it is coincidental that you caught the flu along with your infected cut, but don't take a chance, because you won't be given a second chance.

[ohgoditsart]

I got it without breaking the skin. The surgeon who studied this disease says you can get this from not taking the last pill of an antibiotic and then one germ that isn't killed mutates, and everytime you take an antibiotic it'll mutate again. All this germ needs is a bodily fluid- bursa sac, blood etc.

[joemc59]

My prayers are with Ms Copeland. One late night, March 11 2011, I was riding my bike home. Not paying to much attention I slipped of the curb. Crashed. I picked myself up and noticed my left leg was bleeding, I figured I smacked it with the pedal (about midway between my foot and knee on the front). Not really thinking much about it I just wiped the blood off with napkin and went on my way. I mean it was just a little cut, maybe 1/8-1/4 inch long, nothing to worry about. I woke up the next morning and my whole leg was swollen, I mean from hip to toe. I thought OK maybe I did more damage than I thought. Lets see how it looks tommorrow. The next day I was in terrible pain, I'm thinking maybe I fractured the bone. I go to the emergency room by ambulance (this would be 3/13/11 I believe). Fortunately the people at Orlando Regional Medical Center immediately figured out this was much more than just a small cut, Necrotizing Faciitis. After seven weeks in the hospital and ten or eleven operations I didn't loose my leg, although it was well considered. Its not very pretty now but its still functional, I mean I can walk sometimes without a cane even. I have to give Dr. Langavine credit. I guess what I want to relate is treat every little cut you get with care. A little Peroxide or Alcohol my save your life.

[Transatlantique]

I would rather die than lose a limb, or be disfigured from flesh eating bacteria.

[Save-Lives]

LifeSouth Community Blood Centers (www.lifesouth.org), a non-profit, will be at Grace Snell Middle School on Thursday, May 24th from 9am-4pm handling a blood drive in honor of Aimee. The address of the school is 3800 Brushy Fork Road in Loganville, GA 30052. The contact person at the school is Chris Guillory ([e-mail]). If you choose to donate, eat a good breakfast, avoid caffeine, drink plenty of water and bring a photo ID. To help LifeSouth plan for donors please contact Chris via e-mail in advance.

[aimeecopeland]

My 28 year old niece had something very similar. Thought we were going to lose her. This happened back in the fall. It was touch and go. The doctors at Maine Medical in Portland, ME somehow got her thru this. They were talking about sending her to Connecticut to some sort of hyperbaric??? chamber in hopes that if they put her in this it would stop the infection from spreading. She, miraculously survived without it.

[raffcat]

THERE IS A CURE FOR THIS AND FOR MANY OTHER INFECTIONS THAT HAVE BECOME DRUG RESISTANT!

IT HAS BEEN KNOWN FOR DECADES, BUT GREED AND IGNORANCE IN THE U.S. HAS HIDDEN IT, EXCEPT FOR A VERY FEW DOCTORS AND RESEARCHERS!

IF SOMEONE COULD GET THIS INFORMATION TO HER FAMILY OR DOCTORS, IT MAY STILL SAVE HER LIFE!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC130292/

GOOGLE, "necrotizing fasciitis, phage TREATMENT, cure"

IT IS SAD TO SEE SUCH IGNORANCE IN OUR MEDICAL COMMUNITY!

[Chicago_J]

I CAN USE ALL CAPS, TOO! THIS ARTICLE IS NOT ABOUT A DRUG RESISTANT BACTERIA, AND THE CURES ARE WELL UNDERSTOOD BY MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS. Please do us all a favor and don't mislead people by trying to sell your stuff. This is about an overwhelming infection caused by Group A strep, and necrotizing fasciitis caused by the same bacteria. The symptoms match that of strep toxic shock, and if treated early enough, the disease responds to penicillin, clindamycin and vancomycin. The mortality rate is high because usually patients are not treated early enough, and because the disease spreads like wildfire and results in multiple organ failure. Please see my post elsewhere for more information on necrotizing fasciitis and strep toxic shock.

[rtyurty]

Probably raised in a bath of anti-bacterial soaps, so no natural antibodies to fight infection.

[tonyatq]

I just thinking how bad things are for me but I have to thank God for things being as well as they are. You and your family are in my prayers Aimee. Father God please heal her completely in Jesus name I pray. Amen.

[4u_atruth]

Have any of the doctors considered a Hyperbaric treatment using pure oxygen at 60' ? Hyperbaric treatment has been used for Gas Gangrene as well as Osteomyelitis, and Carbon Monoxide Poisoning.
Many people are familiar with Hyperbaric treatment for divers with decompression sickness (bends), but there are other proven methods using Hyperbaric treatment that have been around for the past 45 years.
Just a thought.

[rwsmith29456]

I had to look up what 'zip lining' was. Anyway, It's a horrible thing and I hope the outcome is good.