Andy Copeland: “The power of prayer is real.”

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — “They called me from the O.R. and said, “Sir, when Aimee first arrived we were trying to save her leg, now we are trying to save her life,” says Andy Copeland, Aimee Copeland’s Dad. Andy Copeland clearly remembers the day his 24 year old daughter, Aimee was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis. “My heart sunk when I heard that, because I knew what that was,” says Copeland. Aimee was suffering from a flesh eating bacteria after falling from a homemade zip line into a Georgia river. “The only place I knew to turn was to God above,” says Copeland. The bacteria took Aimee’s leg, then her Dad had to deliver the news that it wouldn’t stop there. “I told her, I held her hands up to her and said these are hampering your recovery and I said the doctor’s want to amputate and she just held them up and looked at them and said, ‘Let’s do this,” says Copeland. Those three words would become the motto for her recovery. “We don’t focus on lost limbs, but we focus on life and the fact that Aimee has life,” says Copeland. ‘Let’s Do This,’ was also the slogan for a blood drive at USC Monday. “This is a chance for everybody to pretty much get out and show their love I think in the tangible form when they’re just not showing support for Aimee but they are giving the gift of life to a lot of people who really need it,” says Copeland. The University of Georgia is partnering with USC for the blood drive, Aimee is a UGA grad, her Dad graduated from USC in 1983. Monday, he returned to USC to thank volunteers for helping save his daughter’s life by giving blood. But he says, they cannot deny the help of their faith. “Some people call Christianity a crutch, but I call it a stretcher, because God has carried us through this,” says Copeland. A journey that’s not over, but one the Copeland’s are ready for. “There comes a time I think to move on, to look toward the future and to look toward her recovery and to get her prosthetic limbs so that she can regain that quality of life that she was accustomed to before this event happened,” says Copeland. If you would like to give blood in honor of Aimee and were not able to attend Monday’s blood drive, you can do so this week at the Red Cross Columbia Donation Center located at 2751 Bull Street, hours are: Monday-Wednesday 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. and Thursday & Friday 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.