Snellville leaders presented Aimee Copeland's family with a check for $19,000 Monday night, a donation meant to help the 24-year-old native in her recovery from a deadly flesh-decaying infection.
The money came from a community fundraiser last month dubbed "Aimee's Weekend," featuring a series of outdoor concerts and other events. Copeland's family was presented with the check at the start of a City Council meeting.
"I wish she could be here to accept the check, but there will be a day that she'll be here to do even greater things than accepting a check," said Andy Copeland, her father. "I hope one day that she'll be the one giving out checks."
After nearly dying from the infection, and suffering amputations of her hands and feet, Aimee Copeland was released from an Augusta hospital last Monday and began the next phase of her recovery at a rehabilitation center in Georgia.
Copeland will spend the next six to eight weeks in rehab to continue her recovery from the bacteria she contracted from a wound she suffered after falling from a homemade zip line on May 1.
Organizers of "Aimee's Weekend" said they hope the money will assist the University of West Georgia graduate student in the next phase of her recovery.
In a recent online update, Andy Copeland the financial support means a lot to the family because prosthetics for Copeland will be expensive.
"We have come to realize that $150,000 for prosthetics may have been a conservative estimate," Copeland wrote. "Aimee will require a set of body-powered limbs and a set of myo-electric limbs. She will also require ongoing fittings for the ever-changing condition of her amputated limbs, which is required for continued comfort."
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