A US woman who lost her hands and feet to flesh eating bacteria has left hospital to continue her recovery in a rehabilitation facility.
New photos show Georgia 23-year-old Aimee Copeland smiling as she was discharged on Monday from Doctors Hospital in Augusta where her hands, a leg, her other foot and some abdominal tissue were amputated to save her life.
Her father Andy, who has blogged continuously about Ms Copeland's ordeal, told CNN she was "excited, like a kid going off to college" but realised that rehab would be "arduous".
"This next step is her opportunity to go (to) the next phase and learn something, be able to rehabilitate and basically relearn her life skills," he said.
"She needs to be able to develop the autonomy to be able to transfer from her bed to a wheelchair to the shower to the bathroom or anywhere else in the house. And she can do it."
Ms Copeland suffered a cut on her left calf on May 1 when a makeshift zipline she was riding across the Little Tallapoosa River near Atlanta snapped.
Doctors used 22 staples to close the wound but three days later she was diagnosed with necrotising fasciitis caused by the bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila.
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