Aimee Copeland, Flesh-Eating Disease Survivor, Tells Katie Couric She "Won't Take Life For Granted"

24-year-old Georgia-bred grad student Aimee Copeland was met with standing applause as she walked her way onto the stage of Katie Couric's new daytime show on Tuesday, Sept. 11. Copeland, who recently survived a tough battle with a rare flesh-eating disease, made her way towards Couric on a prosthetic leg using a walker she'd gotten just five days earlier, exclaiming that she doesn't take life for granted anymore.

On May 1, University of West Georgia graduate student Copeland was celebrating the finish of her second semester with some friends down by a river, when the crew decided to have some fun with a homemade zipline. When Copeland took her turn to cross the stream on the zipline, it broke and she plummeted down onto sharp rocks below, gashing her leg in the process. She then contracted the rare infection called necrotizing fasciitis caused by bacteria, which eats away and decays the flesh. Doctors were uncertain if Copeland would even survive, and eventually had to amputate both of her hands, her left leg, and her right foot in order to keep the disease from spreading. She spent two months at a rehabilitation clinic in Atlanta called Shepherd Center, where she relearned how to eat, walk, and bathe without the use of prosthetics. She had just recently been fitted with the prosthetic right leg that she debuted on Couric's show on Tuesday.

Couric interviewed Copeland and her family, and although Copeland admits that her recovery was long and difficult, she goes on to explain, "I love life. It's a beautiful thing. It's something I don't take for granted anymore."

Copeland doesn't plan on giving up anytime soon, and hopes to learn how to drive again. She doesn't view her struggle as a disability - while she can get around with the help of hooks (a replacement for hands) and prosthetic wheelchair arms, she likes to do as much as she can with the remains of her limbs.

"She's strong so we have to be just as strong for her," said Copeland's mother Donna.

Before wishing the best of luck to Copeland, Couric revealed a huge surprise - an Atlanta-area Chevrolet dealer was currently in the studio, and was willing to offer Copeland a new, retrofit minivan that would help her achieve her goal of getting behind the wheel again someday.

"I've been so blessed by the kindness of complete strangers," Copeland said. "I don't know what to say; I'm speechless."