'A true miracle': Despite devastating news, Cooper's family finds reason to give thanks
Despite a painful weekend during which they had to tell their 8-year-old son he is paralyzed from the waist down, the parents of Highland Park shooting victim Cooper Roberts found reason to give thanks Sunday as the baseball-loving boy faces a long, painful road ahead.
Cooper was shot in the abdomen - not chest, as initially reported - last week during Highland Park's Independence Day parade, suffering a severed spinal cord among other injuries. He was one of three family members injured in the mass shooting.
After emergency surgeries last week that saved his life, Cooper remains in serious condition at Comer's Children's Hospital in Chicago. He is scheduled to undergo another procedure Monday, to address damage to his esophagus, according to an update released by his family Sunday afternoon.
"He is in a great deal of pain - physically and emotionally - especially as the family had to share with him the devastating news that he is paralyzed from the waist down," the update states.
The update includes new details about Cooper's lifesaving care at Highland Park Hospital immediately after the shooting. According to doctors there, Cooper was shot in the upper abdomen, with the bullet injuring the left lobe of his liver, his esophagus near the stomach, his abdominal aorta and his spinal cord before exiting through his back.
Doctors said they had to perform a thoracotomy, opening his chest to temporarily clamp his abdominal aorta to slow down the bleeding. Because the injury to the aorta was so severe, the injured segment had to be removed and replaced with a synthetic graft in an adult size so he can grow into it
"The family wishes to acknowledge and thank the many, many people - emergency medics, police, fire department, nurses and doctors at both hospitals - who did extraordinary things to save Cooper's life," the family statement from Sunday reads. "It was a true miracle. And to thank from the bottom of their hearts the thousands who have prayed, sent gifts, supported the family in myriad ways and donated to the GoFundMe campaign for Cooper's long-term care."
That GoFundMe online fundraiser, at https://tinyurl.com/ycksm9fx, has raised nearly $1.2 million toward a $1.5 million goal.