A 12-year-old girl who won her battle with a rare, brain-eating amoeba was officially released from the hospital on Wednesday.
Kali Hardig was admitted to the Arkansas Children's Hospital earlier this summer after she contracted the parasite, according to CNN. The brain-eating amoeba reportedly enters the body through the nose, and one reportedly cannot get the infection through drinking water, according to health officials.
"Doctors believe an experimental drug helped Kali fight off the infection. First, Kali's doctors induced a coma and cooled her body to 93 degrees in order to preserve brain tissue," WTSP reports. "They then got the experimental anti-amoeba drug from the Centers for Disease Control, although they were unsure if it would work."
Hardig has made significant improvements; she is now drinking, eating and talking, a dramatic improvement for the little girl. Hardig is reportedly walking with assistance and swimming in the hospital's pool.
"Kali's doctors have been in virtually uncharted territory as they treat her for the rare amoeba, called Naegleria fowleri," CNN reports. "Of 128 known cases in the past half-century, just two patients have survived, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
The CDC says there were 32 reported cases of the parasitic infection from 2001 to 2010 in the United States, most of which were located in the Southeast.
Hardig reportedly is the third known person to have survived the infection.
"This infection is one of the most severe infections that we know of," Dr. Dirk Haselow of the Arkansas Department of Health told WMC about the little girl's infection. "Ninety-nine percent of people who get it die."
Hardig will be returning to school and is excited to see her friends. During a press conference held at 11 a.m., she told the reporters she will be returning on a part-time basis, and offered people one piece of advice.
"Use nose plugs when you swim at water parks," the 12-year-old said.
