This rivalry would pit UGA against USC, and it's all for a good cause.
As Aimee Copeland, the Snellville native battling a rare flesh-decaying infection continues to improve, her father is challenging the University of Georgia and the University of South Carolina to have a “Border Bash blood drive.”
The 24-year-old Snellville native remains in critical condition in an Augusta hospital but is improving daily, her father told the Augusta Chronicle.
The University of West Georgia graduate psychology student contracted the infection May 1 as she and friends zip-lined along the Little Tallapoosa River near Carrollton. When the homemade zip line broke, she fell to the water and rocks below, cutting her calf on a stone. The bacteria entered through Copeland's wound, doctors said. Her left leg had to be amputated at the hip. Surgeons at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta had said she might lose her fingers and remaining foot.
Now doctors say her palms and remaining foot are looking better, Copeland told the Chronicle. “We still are extremely cautious,” he said. “But I will tell you her doctors are keeping a really good eye on it.”
Andy Copeland is a Gamecock alum and both his daughters are former Bulldogs, so the family rivalry is a good reason to have the two schools hold a competition, the elder Copeland wrote in a blog post. "Athens is organizing a blood drive in support of my daughter, a UGA graduate. I am a USC graduate and I say whatever they do, we can do one better," he wrote. "My goal is to get the USC campus mobilized to give blood to your community blood bank and outdo your Georgia counterparts." Go to the UWG psychology student site for information on giving blood in honor of Copeland.
Andy Copeland told the Chronicle the family would like to replace the blood Aimee has received -- which was upwards of 177 units as of Wednesday -- and more.
Meanwhile, UWG and the Shepeard Community Blood Center in Augusta, which supplies blood to the burn center, will team up to host a second blood drive on the campus June 1. More than 160 people showed up at the campus for the first drive on Tuesday, and 113 units were collected.
Meanwhile, the South Gwinnett Rotary Club will host a blood drive from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday at the First Baptist Church of Snellville, 2400 Main St.
Fundraisers for Copeland
A concert Friday at the Moonshadow Music Hall in Carrollton will feature Cory Durkin, a singer-songwriter who has written a song about Copeland, according to Gary Duke, owner of the adjoining Sunnyside Cafe where Aimee Copeland works. The Sunnyside is also planning a fitness exhibition and an art auction for the Aimee Fund on Friday. That fund has been set up at United Community Bank, 119 Maple Street in Carrollton. Or, people can go to the online site and use PayPal to donate.
Duke said he is also planning a rock and roll benefit concert on May 26, Memorial Day weekend, but he has not finalized details.
-- Concerts set for June 15 and 16 on the Snellville town green will be fundraisers for the Copeland family, said Snellville Mayor Pro Tem Tom Witt. Witt said Banks and Shane will perform June 15. The June 16 act is yet to be determined. Witt said numerous local bands have offered to donate their performance.
About the Author
