Frozen Toddler Expected to Survive

A toddler found nearly frozen to death after she wandered outside on a bitter winter night appears to have survived the ordeal without brain damage, her doctor said Sunday.

The 13-month-old, clad only in a diaper, wandered from the home where she had been sleeping Friday night with her mother and 2-year-old sister, and was found outside at 3 a.m. Saturday. No one knows how long the girl was outside.

The child’s toes were frozen together, and paramedics who responded to her mother’s frantic call had trouble getting a breathing tube into the child’s throat because her mouth was frozen shut. Her heart stopped beating, doctors said, and her body temperature was 60.8 degrees when she was found.

“I think, to be fair, I’m using the miracle word now,” said Dr. Allan De Caen, a pediatric intensive care specialist in Edmonton, Alberta. He said the girl is behaving as normally as can be expected under the circumstances.