Copeland coping well

On May 1, 2012, Aimee Copeland, a University of West Georgia graduate student, was outdoors with friends at the Little Tallapoosa River, about 50 miles west of Atlanta when the homemade zip line she was holding snapped. She fell and got a gash in her leg that required 22 staples to close. Three days later, still in pain, she went to an emergency room, and doctors eventually determined she had necrotizing fasciitis caused by the flesh-devouring bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila. Doctors performed amputations to save her life. She lost parts of all limbs: her hands, a leg, and a foot. Fast-forward to May 2013, Aimee now uses the latest technology in prosthetic hands to chop vegetables, pick up tiny items like Skittles, and comb and iron press her hair. With the bionic hands, Copeland is looking forward to cleaning her house and cooking her own food. "I really want to be able to get back in the kitchen and start cooking some delicious vegetarian meals for myself," she said as she used the hands in a demonstration for media outlets this week. "It just mimics so well a natural hand that it really just reminds me of before the accident, how I would have done things," she added. "I never thought I would actually be able to hold a knife and cut something. That's just incredible." Yes it is, but there's also the price to consider: the "i-limb ultra revolution" hands can cost up to US$120,000 each, according to a spokesman for manufacturer Touch Bionics. This means that I won't be getting them anytime soon, especially as I don't need any prosthetic body parts at this point in time.