Kali Hardig, the 12-year-old brain-eating amoeba third survivor, is finally heading home, and to attend school once again, USA Today reported Wednesday.
A week ago, Kali Hardig was reportedly battling for her life after contracting primary amebic meningoencephalitis, a serious infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba, at a Little Rock, Arkansas waterpark in July.
"I'm lucky to be alive," Kali said at a press conference Wednesday, after doctors have confirmed her triumphant rovery over the fatal amoeba.
New York Daily News reported that Hardig is actually the third survivor of the disease within the last 50 years that kills nearly all of its victims except for two documented survivors.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been only 128 documented cases involving the parasitic amoeba called Naegleria fowleri in the United States.
The great news however does not end on Hardig's successful battle, but it actually marks the new beginning for the young girl who is now ready to leave the Arkansas Children's Hospital and go back to her home.
"Yeah, I'm ready to go home," the survivor added.
When asked on the first thing she's going to do after arriving home, she quickly answered, "Play with Chloe. My dog, Chloe. I have a little Yorkie. She's about 1. And I'm going to play with her and lie on my bed."
Kali Hardig has undergone several intensive therapies, and is currently taking special medication flown in from Germany.
Meanwhile, her doctors shared that it was the quick response of Kali'smother to the situation by sending her daughter right away to the hospital that made Hardig's recovery possible.
"I was determined that I wasn't going to lose her," Kali's mom, Traci Hardig, said. "I'm so thankful and blessed... it's just a miracle."
"Can you remember what you said ... the first time you spoke to me?" Hardig''s mom asked her.
"'Momma,'" Kali replied. "And mom was ecstatic."
Hardig is now ready to get back to school part-time since she has to attend to physical and speech therapy in the afternoon.
When asked what she wants to become, Kali answered, "I plan to become a hair stylist and do hair. Yup, that's my dream."
Kali's doctor confirmed to ABC News that Kali will get back to attending her classes on Sept. 16.
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