By Jim Gold, msnbc.com
Doctors in Georgia may be able to save more of flesh-eating bacteria patient Aimee Copeland’s limbs than originally thought, her father said in a blog post Saturday.
Copeland, 24, of Snellville, Ga., remained in critical condition Saturday at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, spokeswoman Barclay Bishop told msnbc.com.
Burn Center doctors removed Copeland’s left leg and tissue from her abdomen Tuesday to fight the spread of a rare infection from necrotizing fasciitis. She went into cardiac arrest and was resuscitated.
Copeland developed the infection after a May 1 accident on a homemade zip line left her with a gash on her calf that Carrollton, Ga., emergency room workers closed with 22 staples.
Her father, Andy Copeland, has been providing updates about Amiee in a blog posts maintained by University of West Georgia grad school classmates of his daughter. A Facebook page was also set up for support.
In a post on Saturday, he called his daughter's progress a "miracle."
“Yesterday doctors revealed that they are continuing to examine Aimee’s hands and foot,” he wrote. “It appears that they may be able to save more of her extensions than they originally thought. That is why they are taking that part of Aimee’s recovery very slow.”
Earlier, he had written Aimee would lose her fingers and possibly her remaining foot.
Aimee, who at one time was breathing 100 percent oxygen through a respirator, only needs 39 percent now, Copeland wrote Saturday.
When the respirator comes out, he wrote, he will call it “Aimee Day” and inform her of her condition.
“She will discover that her hands lack the dexterity and tactile response she has known all her life,” he wrote. "How would you respond in such a situation? I think that moment will be one of horror and depression for Aimee."
Earlier: Woman fights for life after losing leg to flesh-eating bacteria
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