( CNN ) -- For Andy Copeland , the `` Aimee Day '' event he 'd been waiting for happened when he was in church . Copeland was in the pews at a Baptist church in Augusta , Georgia , on Sunday morning when a text message notified him his 24-year-old daughter could not only breathe on her own , but also talk for the first time in weeks . It was a major milestone for Aimee , who is battling a flesh-eating bacteria that has already led surgeons to amputate her hands , part of her abdomen , one of her legs and her remaining foot in an effort to stay ahead of the disease . Family counters flesh-eating bacteria with faith . `` I was so excited I wanted to spring up out of the pew and into the aisle and do a dance , '' Andy Copeland posted on the family 's website Monday . `` My fellow Baptists probably would not have appreciated that , so I resisted the urge . Instead , my fingers danced across my phone . '' Two weeks ago , in a post on his Facebook page , Copeland wrote that the family would mark that milestone `` forever for the rest of your life . '' It would be several hours before he was able to see his daughter -- she had put off her family for much of the day after being given a drug that caused nausea and intestinal cramps , and Copeland said he was doing `` emotional backflips '' the entire time . But when he did see her Sunday evening , `` Aimee was expressive and she clearly elucidated her thoughts , '' he wrote . `` Her long-term memory was intact . We listened to the iPod Shuffle that Eddie Mattock of Pittsburgh had sent her , and she told me the story of Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter , '' Copeland wrote . `` We discussed ideas of how to utilize wilderness therapy/eco-psychology for amputees . We talked about her current physical condition . We smiled and at times we said nothing . Just being there and seeing her happiness put a certain peace in my heart . '' And on Monday , `` Aimee continues to talk and joke , '' he added . `` Her nurse bumped her head and Aimee said , 'Now my nurse needs a nurse ! ' Then she winked at us and said , ' I 'll take care of her . ' She then waved her arm in the air and said , 'these fingers can work magic . ' She grinned at us . She knew she did n't have any fingers , but she 's not worried about it either . She knows everything is going to be fine . We know everything is going to be fine . We all know it is going to be a long and challenging road , but we will handle it together . '' Father : ' I have never seen such a strong display of courage ' AImee Copeland was taken off a ventilator May 20 and had been mouthing words without sound for several days before her voice was heard , her family said . Her ordeal began May 1 , when she was riding a makeshift zip line across the Little Tallapoosa River , about 50 miles west of Atlanta . The line snapped , and she fell and got a gash in her left calf that took 22 staples to close . Three days later , still in pain , she went to an emergency room . Doctors eventually determined she had necrotizing fasciitis caused by the flesh-devouring bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila . Her father has written regularly since about her situation , with over 72,500 `` likes '' on his Facebook blog devoted to Aimee 's fight . And the psychology department at the University of West Georgia -- where Aimee has been pursuing her master 's degree in psychology -- also posted regular updates online . A number of bacteria that are common in the environment but rarely cause serious infections can lead to the disease . When it gets into the bloodstream -- such as through a cut -- doctors typically move aggressively to excise even healthy tissue near the infection site in hopes of ensuring none of the dangerous bacteria remain . The disease attacks and destroys healthy tissue and is fatal about 20 % of the time , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Dr. William Schaffner , chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center , estimates that fewer than 250 such cases occur each year in the United States , though estimates are imprecise since doctors do not have to report the cases to health authorities . Since Copeland 's struggle came to light , there have been reports of others fighting the same disease . They include Lana Kuykendall , a South Carolina woman also diagnosed earlier this month , a few days after giving birth to twins . She has had at least 11 `` debridement surgeries '' but thus far no amputations , with her brother Brian Swaffer noting late last week that the condition is confined to his sister 's legs and she , too , is breathing on her own .
Aimee Copeland began speaking Sunday , her father says . She `` continues to talk and joke '' on Monday , he says . The 24-year-old Georgia woman is battling a flesh-eating bacteria . The infection has cost her her hands , a leg and her remaining foot .