HOUSTON, Texas — A Houston-area toddler whose heart stopped seven times after a near drowning is bouncing back.
“This is a total miracle the way she’s come around,” said her mother Destiny Alvarez during an exclusive interview with KHOU 11 News.
Elizabeth Alvarez, 2, nearly lost her life earlier this month after taking a swim in the Woodlands Hills community pool near Willis, Texas. She was there with her mother and siblings.
"When I got her out of the pool, she looked like she had no life in her,” said Destiny.
She found Elizabeth face down in the water after a momentary distraction despite the toddler having on a flotation device and being in very shallow water. There was also a lifeguard nearby who was the first to administer CPR.
"When we got to the hospital, she coded seven times," Destiny said. "And coding, if you don’t know in medical terms, is, like, that means her heart stopped beating. She had basically died seven times.”
Elizabeth was hooked up to all sorts of machines in the first photos shared with us after the incident.
She's now able to get out of bed and play with toys. She's also eating solid food on her own nearly three weeks later.
"And she just got out of the ICU yesterday,” said Destiny.
She credited her friends and many perfect strangers for raising money through a GoFundMe page which has allowed for, among other things, Elizabeth’s father to take off from work to be with her at the hospital.
“I don’t know honestly what I had done without my community,” Destiny said.
Elizabeth is expected to go home as early as next week, according to Destiny.
She said her family is more mindful when it comes to being around the pool and even some of her neighbors have signed up for CPR training since the incident. Others plan to attend an upcoming swimming safety event.