Annelise Camp, 2, has been receiving care at Texas Children's Hospital since the incident, which her father said occurred after the child briefly wandered away from family members at a hotel pool.
Johnston Camp said Annelise was found at the bottom of the pool by her 12-year-old cousin.
"Her 12-year-old cousin found her at the bottom of the pool," Camp said.
Camp said he performed CPR after rushing to help his daughter.
"She had water coming out of her mouth," he said.
Since then, family members have remained by Annelise's side while praying for her recovery. Camp said the first days following the incident were difficult, but he believes there have been signs of improvement.
"The first couple days were very turbulent. Then her vitals started to level out," he said.
The family has also taken legal action to prevent the hospital from declaring Annelise brain dead while they pursue additional treatment options. A court injunction temporarily blocks such a declaration until Friday, according to Camp.
"The staff has been wonderful, but the legal system gave us certain restraints," Camp said. "If she would've been declared brain dead, it could've greatly limited her ability to receive treatment moving forward."
Camp said he hopes to transfer his daughter to another facility where she could receive hyperbaric and stem cell treatments that he believes are not available at Texas Children's.
"With all these positive results, you can't cut her lifeline off four or five days into it and prevent her from additional treatments," he said.
Attorney Aaron Arenas, who is not involved in the case, said legal disputes involving life-support decisions can arise when families seek additional time or treatment options.
"Is it that common? No," Arenas said. "It really depends on if you have doctors saying one thing, and usually it's a child, and you're not ready to give up on them."
Arenas said families can communicate with medical providers and seek legal counsel before decisions are finalized. He noted that hospital ethics committees are often involved in evaluating potential next steps.
"What usually happens is there's an ethics committee working to find out, if we can help, can we move this patient somewhere?" Arenas said.
Camp said his family remains committed to pursuing every available option for Annelise while relying on their faith.
"This is a girl who never gave up when I asked her to do something," Camp said. "I'm never going to give up on her."
Texas Children's Hospital said it is evaluating all viable medical options and working to honor the family's wishes as Annelise's treatment continues.