Student may lose fingers as well as leg to flesh-eating infection

A college student who has already lost a leg to a rare, flesh-eating bacterial infection is now expected to suffer the loss of her fingers too, her father said.

Aimee Copeland, 24, was kayaking and zip-lining along the Little Tallapoosa River near Carrollton, Georgia, on May 1 when the line broke and she cut her calf.

Emergency room doctors closed the wound with 22 staples and released Copeland, a graduate student at West Georgia University. But after her conditioned worsened, Ms Copeland was diagnosed with necrotising fasciitis, a rare flesh-eating bacterial infection.

Ms Copeland, who already suffered the amputation of a leg at the hip, was still listed in critical condition yesterday, said Barclay Bishop, spokeswoman for Doctor’s Hospital in Augusta. She would not provide any other details, but Aimee’s father, Andy Copeland, said in a web posting over the weekend that her fingers were also likely to be lost to the infection ravaging her body.

He said she may retain the use of her palms after surgery, however, potentially leaving her with enough muscle control to use prosthetics.

Necrotising fasciitis is often initially overlooked by doctors because it invades tissue deep inside the wound while the outer wound appears to be healing normally, said Dr William Schaffner of the Vanderbilt University Medical School.

“This often is a very subtle infection initially,” Dr Schaffner said. “These bacteria lodge in the deeper layers of the wound. The organism is deep in the tissues and that’s where it’s causing its mischief.”

Friends 270km away at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton are holding vigils and organising blood drives while praying for Ms Copeland.

“When she put her mind to a project, there was no letting go. She was relentless until it was completed,” said Richard LaFleur, a fellow graduate student. “I don’t expect anything less at this point because she’s fighting for her life. If anyone will pull through this, it will be Aimee.”

Ms Copeland had just finished her second year of graduate school and was to begin work on her thesis when she was injured. It happened on a kayaking trip when she tried to cross the Little Tallapoosa River on a homemade zip-line. The line broke and Copeland fell onto the rocks below, suffering a nasty gash in her leg.

Infections by so-called flesh-eating bacteria are rare but sometimes can run rampant after even minor cuts or scratches. The bacteria enter the body, quickly reproduce and give off toxins that cut off blood flow to parts of the body. The affliction can destroy muscle, fat and skin tissue. Affected areas may have to be surgically removed to save a life.

The bacteria that infected the student, a bug called Aeromonas hydrophila, is found in warm and brackish waters. Many people exposed to these bacteria don’t get sick and, when illnesses occur, it’s often diarrhoea from swallowing bacteria in the water. Flesh-eating cases are considered extremely rare.

Despite the severity of her condition and the likelihood she will lose all of her extremities, Ms Copeland’s family has remained upbeat about her prospects for survival after doctors initially told them her chances were slim to none.