A toddler girl who wasn't expected to walk, talk, or feed herself after nearly drowning in the family pool is doing all three and more, because doctors took a chance on experimental oxygen therapy that reversed her brain damage.

"She's getting so much better all the time," said mum Kristal Carlson of little Eden Carlson.  "In a couple of years, it's going to be like she never had an accident."

The two year old got past the safety gate and fell into the backyard pool at the family's home in Arkansas in February 2016.  Mum was taking a shower and thought the baby was playing with her siblings.  When she came out of the shower, the toddler had already been underwater for at least ten minutes and had no heartbeat.  Doctors told the Carlsons that Eden was left with catastrophic brain damage and would likely never respond to her surroundings ever again.

The parents searched for other options, and found Dr. Paul Harch of Hyperbaric Medicine at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, who documented her progress in a report published in Medical Gas Research.  55 days after Eden fell into the pool, Harch began administering oxygen at sea-level pressure filled Eden's nose for 45 minutes, twice a day.  About a month after that, he put Eden in a pure oxygen environment in a hyperbaric chamber for sessions five days a week.  

Gradually but amazingly, Eden began to improve.  By April, she was moving her arms; the next month, she was able to chew and swallow, and more importantly to the family, she laughed.

"The startling regrowth of (brain) tissue in this case occurred because we were able to intervene early in a growing child, before long-term tissue degeneration," said Dr. Harch. 

The family has a Facebook page showing Eden's progress.