Cooper / Beautiful Boy

Cooper was born on Saturday, November 20, 2004. When he was born the nurses noticed that Cooper's skin tone was bluish in nature and after almost four hours after he was born, Cooper was diagnosed with Transposition of the Great Arteries. This congenital heart defect causes the two main arteries, the Pulmonary Artery and the Aorta, to grow out of the opposite heart chambers. The defect causes the red blood and the blue blood to be segregated and never mixes depriving the body of much needed oxygenated blood.

Cooper underwent a sepal defect procedure when he was 2-days old, an open-heart surgery when he was 9-days old, an angiogram when he was 6-months old and a balloon angioplasty when he was 9-months old, and most recently a bilateral stent procedure in his pulmonary artery this summer (2014).  To top it off, in July of 2014 a tree branch fell on Cooper's leg breaking his tibia (shin bone) and fibula putting him in a full leg cast. He remained in a cast for 9 weeks and then a walking boot for 3 weeks. Cooper is a very tough kid who has certainly been through a lot.

Cooper understands that he must stay healthy in order for his heart to stay healthy. He participates in the Super Cooper events along with several  other racing events as well. He loves sports and currently plans and has played on a variety of sports teams, including,  soccer,  flag football swimming, basketball and High School cross country, track and baseball. 

Cooper is now 18 years old and doing great. He is still restricted from contact sports but loves to be involved in many other activities. He is an Honors graduate of Terrebonne High School and begins his college studies (Business) at University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the Fall of 2023.

 "When I was born I had heart surgery. I don't remember if it hurt or not. I need to stay healthy because I might have another heart defect. I stay healthy by eating healthy food and drinking healthy drinks and by exercising, like swimming and running."