This week, one of the youngest victims injured in the fatal Highland Park parade shooting on July 4 returned to school after making significant rehabilitation progress.
Cooper Roberts, an eight-year-old kid who was paralyzed after a gunman opened fire on a crowd at an Independence Day parade in a Chicago suburb, returned to the school after several months of rehabilitation.
The achievement is significant for Cooper, his twin brother Luke, and their parents.
We could not sleep the night before his first day back because we were so anxious. Cooper’s parents stated that they cried in the parking lot as he wheeled himself into school and again when they left the parking lot.
Luke was also hospitalized after the incident with lower-body shrapnel wounds. Doctors removed some of the material, but were unable to remove all of it before releasing him.
Eight-year-old Cooper Roberts, who was injured during the shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade, has had a difficult road to recovery.
During the shot, Cooper’s spinal chord was severed and his vertebrae were fractured.
Cooper (left) and Luke (right) were both wounded in the incident, although Luke was soon discharged. Doctors were able to extract the majority of shrapnel from his body.
Cooper’s family reported that being separated from his twin brother Luke, who was unable to visit much due to COVID-19, was one of the most traumatic aspects of his protracted hospital stay.
Cooper smiled on his first day of third grade after his “amazing” recovery, having lost the ability to walk only months prior.
Monday, the family released a statement announcing that both boys have begun third grade, according to ABC 7 in Chicago.
Cooper’s path back to school has been arduous and lengthy.
The youngster was hospitalized for weeks following the shooting, and Cooper’s family was uncertain whether he would ever return to school following the tragic incident.
But on Monday, Cooper accomplished the seemingly impossible. And his parents were once again able to see him off to school.
We were a complete mess! He cherished each moment, and his precise comments were, “It would have been a wonderful school day if I had not been shot, paralyzed, and confined to a wheelchair, but it was a fantastic day nevertheless! I adored it “Cooper’s parents, Keely and Jason Roberts, acknowledged as much.
After the shooting, for Luke and Cooper, having each other was essential to their recovery.
Luke was able to return to school in a more usual manner, but Cooper’s return involved months of hospitalization and rehabilitation.
His family stated that he will return to school gradually, not rushing him into the process until he is ready.
The sluggish reintegration is also attributable to the requirement for ongoing care and therapy.
According to a GoFundMe page established for Cooper’s rehabilitation expenses, the eight-year-old required and continues to require expensive medical care for his extensive injuries.
After being shot on July 4, Cooper was airlifted to a special hospital in Chicago, where he underwent multiple surgeries, was placed on a ventilator and intubated multiple times, went without food for days before being placed on a liquid diet, and continues to deal with a’significant, rigorous, and ongoing’ rehabilitation schedule.
Cooper has a significant spinal cord damage resulting from shattered vertebrae.
In the case of Cooper, the spinal cord was cut, resulting in a diagnosis of paralysis below the waist.
Cooper, according to his parents, has endeavored to make the most of his life despite a grave prognosis. The young man has remained as active as possible in novel ways.
For his parents and family, every moment has become’remarkable’ due to the conflict.
Cooper’s parents stated, “It has been one of the most humbling and hopeful experiences of our lives to watch our precious 8-year-old, who has had so much cruelly and violently taken from him and whose life has been needlessly and irrevocably altered, so cheerfully and eagerly count down the days until his return to school.”
Despite the significant progress the youngster made this week, his parents say he remains anxious about his paralysis and how his diagnosis would affect his life.
Cooper’s parents stated, “These run through his head and ours all day long, like a continuous loop of anxiety.” Everyone is learning how to adapt to these aspects of our new reality.
Realities such as a life without monkey bars, physical education, and playground equipment.
Cooper was an active boy who enjoyed playing on the jungle gym and running with his buddies on the playground before to his injuries.
Cooper’s damage, according to doctors, will prevent him from ever walking again.
His parents stated, “Cooper’s return to school is not without sadness and pain… He sees the things he cannot accomplish.”
Everyone in his life is happy of how far he’s gone, despite his parents’ claims that he has felt helpless over the previous several months.
Cooper’s parents stated, “He has been wonderfully courageous and truly delighted to return to school.” It was a significant obstacle, and we hope his positive feelings persist.
Cooper’s GoFundMe page has served as a venue for people interested in watching the young boy’s growth as well as for those wishing to assist the family in need.
In the months since the shooting that left Cooper paraplegic, more than $2 million have been raised towards Cooper’s recovery.
Cooper’s recuperation entailed rigorous in-hospital and outpatient physical therapy and rehabilitation.
The eight-year-old was accompanied by his family during his months-long treatment, which included surgery, rehabilitation, and hospitalizations.
Cooper, who is still smiling, is adjusting to life in a wheelchair, according to his family.
According to the fund, the funds would be used for “treatments, therapy, and all equipment, devices, and home adaptations.”
Cooper has a lengthy rehabilitation process ahead of him on his road to recovery, they said. We feel that Cooper’s journey is just beginning and that he will demonstrate to the world that there is no greater force than the force of love.
This GoFundMe page is one of many established for the victims of the shooting at the Highland Park procession.
When a gunman opened fire on the gathering attending the suburban parade, seven people were murdered and over four dozen were injured.
Robert ‘Bobby’ Crimo, a 21-year-old man charged with the shooting, pled not guilty in August to 117 counts, including 21 counts of first-degree murder.
Robert ‘Bobby’ Crimo is suspected of killing seven people and injuring more than forty at the Independence Day parade in Highland Park.
The several counts of first-degree murder say that Crimo planned to kill, inflicted death or serious bodily damage, and acted with a high likelihood of causing death or great bodily harm to the seven victims.
Crimo is thought to have used a rifle’similar to an AR-15′ to fire more than 70 shots into the parade audience from atop a business building.
There were approximately 30,000 individuals in attendance that day, according to estimates.
After the shooting, investigators stated that they believed Crimo had disguised himself as a woman to carry out the deadly Independence Day attack.
The 21-year-old possessed a variety of firearms, including two rifles. After the incident, one of his firearms was discovered in his vehicle.