News Nearby: Aimee Copeland to Receive iLimbs

Aimee Copeland will soon be the recipient of a set of iLimbs, an advanced set of prosthetic arms that are controlled by electrodes. 

This past Tuesday, March 26, she also walked on two legs for the first time since her injury, and will soon receive a set of advanced prosthetic legs. 

"To help other people heal," she said during a South Gwinnett Rotary Club meeting, "you first have to heal yourself."

On May 1, 2012, Aimee was injured in a homemade zip-line accident, where she fell into a creek and cut her leg severely. In the process, she picked up a typically fatal bacterium from the water that eats away the skin. The infection caused a condition called "necrotizing fasciitis," more widely known as "flesh-eating disease."

As a result, Aimee lost her left leg, her right foot, and both hands.

Now, her goals for the future include a second graduate degree in social work, which should pair well with her first master's degree in psychology. She hopes to do research at the Amputee Adventure Camp at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in North Carolina to determine "how these children with amputations are affected by the nature around them."

"I'm trying to isolate this variable of nature as healer," she explained. 

See the full story on Snellville Patch.