She lost both of her arms and a leg after contracting a rare flesh-eating bacteria, but now, she's been given not one â€" but two â€" helping hands.
Aimee Copeland, a 25-year-old graduate student from Georgia, tragically lost both arms at the elbow and her left leg, as well as her right foot, after contracting necrotizing fasciitis during a zip-line accident in May 2012.
TODAY
Copeland, who is studying psychology, uses the muscles in her upper arms to control the prosthetics, which pick up subtle chemical and electrical currants from her muscles.
The young woman has recently been fitted with state-of-the-art prosthetic hands, a promising new development that will allow Copeland to begin picking up the pieces of her former life.
RELATED: AIMEE COPELAND TELLS KATIE COURIC SHE ‘LOVES’ LIFE
TODAY
The brave young woman has said that she looks forward to being able to cook and clean with her new appendages.
Appearing Friday on the “Today†show, the determined young woman showed viewers how she's overcome her circumstances and has re-learned how to do the simplest of tasks â€" like slicing strawberries and chopping cucumbers.
Speaking with “Today,†she said that she sometimes forgets that all of this has happened. "Sometimes I wake up, and I'm just like, 'Oh my God, is this my life?'"
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Aimee Copeland, surrounded by hospital personnel, posted to her website on July 7, 2012. The bacterial infection nearly cost Copeland her life.
She was fitted with two prosthetic hands, each costing $100,000, by Touch Bionics, an Ohio-based company. Because she agreed to serve as a spokesperson for the brand, she was given them at no cost.
RELATED: GA. ‘FLESH-EATING BACTERIA’ STUDENT SLOWLY IMPROVINGÂ
Ida Mae Astute/AP
Copeland spoke with Katie Couric on a show in September of 2012 about her injuries and miraculous recovery.
The prosthetics respond to electric and chemical signals in her remaining muscles, her prosthetist, Robert Kistenberg, told “Today.â€
"Our electrodes are sensitive enough to pick it up through the skin." While Copeland learns to control her new prosthetics, she admits there is a bit of a learning curve. But Kistenberg says that Copeland is a fast learner and will soon be able to adapt to her new limbs without having to actively think about moving them.
Copeland Family/AP
Copeland was 24 when she was zip-lining with friends on a home-made line. She contracted the flesh-eating bacteria through a gash in her leg and the infection quickly spread.
Copeland was wounded in May 2012 when she was zip-lining with friends. But the equipment failed and, as a result, she nearly lost her life.
RELATED: FLESH-EATING BACTERIA SURVIVOR LEAVES HOSPITAL
The fast-moving bacteria entered her body through a cut in her leg and quickly began to spread, causing five of her organs to fail. In an attempt to save her life, doctors were forced to amputate.
After a year without her hands, Copeland said that she's most looking forward to being able to cook and clean again.
"I'm sort of OCD," she told “Today,†"so it seems like a weird thing to want to do, but I really want to clean."
The brave young woman has also been chipping away at a master's degree in psychology, and hopes to begin a career in social work.
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