Friends and family are holding a blood drive on Tuesday in honor of a Georgia graduate student fighting a flesh-eating infection.
Loved ones say they are encouraged by a recent update by Aimee Copeland's father, Andy, saying that his daughter is beginning to communicate by mouthing words. But they said they are haunted by the images he describes of holding his daughter in the hospital bed while he prays with her.
Copeland, 24, contracted the rare flesh-eating bacterial infection after a zip lining accident on the Little Tallapoosa River on May 1. Doctors amputated her left leg and for days she was near death.
Carroll County officials have not released the exact site of the accident. Sources tell FOX 5 that it happened between Ballard Bridge Road and Burwell Road.
Copeland is a graduate psychology student at the University of West Georgia. Laura Fenley said she can't stop thinking about her friend.
"It's pretty difficult. But I want to think about her while I'm doing it. Because I think it will help me finish this project the way she wanted it," said Fenley.
Honoring Aimee has become a mission for her friends.
Phone calls, emails and cards have come in from all over the world offering prayers, hope, and donations.
"Actually this morning I took a call from San Francisco with a person who had this very same bacteria Aimee has been dealing with," said student/instructor Richard LaFleur.
On Monday, Aimee's father said that while doctors concede she will probably lose her fingers, they are now hopeful they will be able to save her palms, which will make using prosthesis much easier. He says she told them when she's ready, the first food she would like to eat is ice cream. Her family also had a message for the folks on campus.
"Andy asked if we could organize a blood drive," said LaFleur.
The blood drive will be the campus of the University of West Georgia on Tuesday from 2 to 7 p.m. Organizers stress that everyone is invited. You do not have to be a student at the university.
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Friends and family are holding a blood drive in honor of a Georgia graduate student fighting a flesh-eating infection.
