( CNN ) -- A 24-year-old woman in a hospital bed fighting off flesh-eating bacteria has to be told repeatedly -- each time she wakes up -- what has happened , her parents told CNN on Monday . The medication Aimee Copeland is given leads her to forget each time she falls asleep . `` It 's scary to her , '' said her mother , Donna Copeland . She asks where she is and `` does n't understand . '' Yet Aimee Copeland -- who has lost a leg and part of her abdomen to the virulent bacteria and may lose more , including her fingers -- is keeping her spirits strong , her father said . Can I get this flesh-eating bacteria ? `` We really do n't see the suffering side of it . We see the miraculous survival , '' Andy Copeland said . `` I think that 's the story that 's inspired us , that 's the story that 's inspired , I think , the nation at this point . '' On Facebook , he wrote that doctors have used words like `` astonishing , '' `` confounding '' and `` mind-boggling '' to describe the young woman 's recovery . The master 's student in psychology at the University of West Georgia was out with friends on May 1 near the Little Tallapoosa River , about 50 miles west of Atlanta , when she grabbed onto a homemade zip line . It snapped . The accident left her with a gash in her left calf that took 22 staples to close . Three days later , when the pain continued , a friend took her to an emergency room , where she was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis and flown to Augusta for surgery . She had contracted the flesh-devouring Aeromonas hydrophila . The bacterium is `` remarkably common in the water and in the environment , '' according to Dr . Buddy Creech , an assistant professor of pediatric infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University . `` When it gets into those deeper tissues , it has a remarkable ability to destroy the tissues that surround it in sort of this hunt for nutrition , '' he said . `` When it does that , those tissues die , and you see the inflammation and the swelling and the destruction that can be very difficult to control . '' In most cases , people contract the bacteria by swallowing them , resulting in diarrhea . Aimee Copeland 's case was much more rare . Her wound became infected , `` and the infection ( ran ) wild , '' Creech said . A blog set up by the University of West Georgia psychology department said Aimee Copeland will suffer the loss of her fingers . `` However , physicians have hope of bringing life back to the palms of her hands , which could allow her the muscle control to use helpful prosthetics . They are awaiting a safe time before embarking on surgery for this . '' Speaking to CNN on Monday , her father said doctors were assessing `` day by day , or even hour by hour . '' Copeland has told his daughter that one day , the family will celebrate Aimee Day -- when she will be able to breathe on her own . `` We 're going to celebrate that day forever for the rest of your life , '' he told her . `` It 's the day that my daughter was delivered from this horrible , horrible disease . '' If there 's anything to be learned , Andy Copeland said , it 's not to use homemade zip lines . Aimee Copeland 's parents say that when she wakes up , she expresses concern about finishing her thesis . In her studies , she has focused on eco-psychology -- the idea that harmonizing with nature can be a powerful tool in ensuring one 's psychological health and vitality . CNN 's Josh Levs , Greg Botelho and Brooke Baldwin contributed to this report .
The medication Aimee Copeland is given leads her to forget what has happened . She may lose her fingers . Her body will be unable to move, and she will die in a few days or weeks from the effects of this drug. Her father promises they will one day celebrate her ability to breathe on her own .