Aimee Copeland’s Parents Read Her Lips

As a young Georgia woman fights back against a flesh-eating bug that has claimed her fingers and most of her left leg, her parents have learned to read lips. Aimee Copeland is doing battle with necrotizing fasciitis, a rare infection of flesh-eating bacteria that can eat through muscle, fat, and other tissue. Copeland, whose breathing is being assisted by a tube down her throat, has been communicating by mouthing words to her parents, her father Andy Copeland said Monday. “Aimee is alert and trying to mouth questions,” the father said. “Her breathing tube has been reoriented to increase her comfort and allow them to try to read her lips.” According to her father, ice cream is the first thing Copeland wants to eat once she can manage it.