Belle Cooper at Harch Hyperbaric Inc, Image from NEWSWEST9 story

At only three years old, Belle Cooper has already faced some pretty big life challenges.  She was premature, born with a hole in her heart, and 2 years later she nearly drowned in a swimming pool.

She healed well from her heart surgery earlier in life, and was enjoying just being a toddler when tragedy struck.  Last summer Belle was playing in the pool and started to drown when her family had turned away for a quick moment.

“We don’t know how it happened, but we started CPR and we got to Midland Memorial Hospital, they got her back, she was on a vent,” said Taylor Cooper. Belle’s mom. Belle was then taken to a Lubbock hospital, where doctors gave the family some bad news. “They said that she would never be able to walk, there was hardly any kind of brain activity whatsoever, and it was very scary,” said Cooper.

Belle’s family searched far and wide for hope, and found a story of a girl, just like Belle, who was treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy at Harch Hyperbaric Inc and who is thriving today.

“She was 2 years old like Belle here, and she was a near drowning baby as well, and it was awesome, they did the hyperbaric with Dr. Harch, and the little girl started talking and walking, and it was like nothing ever happened to her,” said Cooper. The family quickly went to the same doctor in Louisiana to start Belle on hyperbaric oxygen treatments, and they worked. “We got there, we did the treatments and she is a totally new child from what she was until now,” said Cooper. “She’s totally different.”

Read more at NEWS WEST 9