Aimee Copeland Foundation

Life-Changing Option: The Aimee Copeland Foundation provides free access to all-terrain vehicles in around two dozen locations, including state and national parks. Photo credit: Contributed

Aimee Copeland was zip lining in 2012 when she fell and cut her leg on a rock.

The injury resulted in a diagnosis of necrotizing fasciitis – a flesh-eating bacterial infection. She lost both hands, her right foot and her entire left leg. She was 24 years old.

She did not lose her enthusiasm for the outdoors, though, and her belief that “ecotherapy” can be healing. So she founded the Atlanta-based Aimee Copeland Foundation to help people with all disabilities – physical, cognitive, emotional – connect with nature.

The organization provides workshops and retreats that foster resilience and “life hacks,” but its primary program is called All Terrain Georgia, which provides a fleet of all-terrain wheelchairs in around two dozen locations including both state and national parks – from the mountains of North Georgia to Cumberland Island – so people with mobility impairments can experience the joys of hiking, fishing and beachcombing.

Use of the chairs is free of charge and requires an online training and certification course and an able-bodied “buddy” to tag along. The program so far has served more than 1,500 clients from as far away as Switzerland, from age 6 to 100.

“It’s truly life-changing,” says COO Melanie Dunn, who is herself a double amputee. “When I first lost my limbs, I fell into a deep depression. But it was getting outside in the wind and sun that brought me back.”

All Terrain Georgia is one of the first programs of its kind in the nation, and the Aimee Copeland Foundation is in talks with other advocates across the country who want to duplicate its services.

Learn more: Aimee Copeland Foundation