Georgia Gwinnett College will have a very special speaker at its upcoming commencement ceremony.
Aimee Copeland -- the Snellville native who's surviving and thriving after a 2012 ziplining accident in which she contracted a flesh-eating bacteria that claimed both hands, her left leg and her right foot -- will deliver the keynote address at the school's May 12 graduation.
"I am blessed to have the capacity to share my experience with others and have a chance to improve the quality of someone else's life," Copeland, 28, said in a GGC news release.
Copeland graduated from Brookwood High School and was attending the University of West Georgia when, on May 1, 2012, she fell from a zipline running over the Little Tallapoosa River. Her left leg was gashed and left susceptible to necrotizing fasciitis, which threatened her life and led to her eventual amputations.
Since then, Copeland has completed her Master's degree in humanistic psychology and is pursuing another in social work. She's also become an advocate for people with disabilities, and recently posted on Facebook that she's writing a memoir -- the proceeds of which "will go toward my dream of creating a nonprofit community growth center for people of all ages and abilities."
During the GGC ceremony, Copeland will address more than 400 graduates, including the Lawrenceville school's first class of bachelor-degreed nursing students. GGC's first two female U.S. Army ROTC cadets will also be commissioned during the ceremony, which will be held at 10 a.m. on the college's main lawn.
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