Professionally installed and maintained, a zip line can be fun and good exercise . . .but improperly installed they can be potentially dangerous and cause serious injury. One west Georgia family learned this first hand when their daughter dropped six feet into the Little Talapoosa River when the homemade zip line she was on broke. That in itself would have been traumatic enough, but Aimee Copeland also suffered a laceration to her left calf that required two-dozen staples to close. Sadly, the story doesn't end happily there -- but takes a deadly turn as she developed an almost always fatal complication known as Necrotizing fasciitis (or NF for short) a rare, flesh-eating virus that can easily travel across the fascial plane. I won't dwell on the condition but, just know, Aimee Copeland is alive today because of excellent medical treatment on the part of the Joseph M. Still Burn Unit in Augusta, Georgia (JMS Burn Center) and God's grace!
Aimee's accident points out the danger of a home-made zip line. These lines - whether they be made of rope or heavy-guage wire - are subject to great stress and can easily snap if they are not properly installed and/or maintained. As a matter of fact, when I first read of Aimee's accident, I was under the impression that her injury was the result of being cut by the breaking zip line; it wasn't until I read a follow-up article the next day that I understood that she was injured by the fall. I joint Aimee's fellow psychology majors at West Georgia College in asking that, while it's okay to enjoy a zip line, please leave the construction and maintenance of them to the professionals!
-- Walter
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| Get well soon Aimee! |
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