Photo: Getty Images
8-year-old Cooper Roberts has just returned home from the hospital after undergoing multiple surgeries for life-threatening injuries sustained as a result of the Highland Park shooting in July. According to NBC5, the Robert's family feels very blessed to have Cooper back home, but he still has a long way to go in the recovery process.
"We are at a total loss of words to express how filled with gratitude, love and wholeness we now feel given that we are able to finally have Cooper back at home," NBC5 noted the family sharing in a letter, "There was a time, not all that long ago, where we were desperately and feverishly praying just for Cooper to live. To be able to have Cooper home and our family all reunited together again is such an amazing blessing."
Though Cooper has returned home, he continues to struggle with "word recovery," and lack of control over fine motor skills.
"And, now that he is home, Cooper has to deal on a daily basis with the sadness and grief of recognizing all the things he’s lost – all that he used to be able to do at his house, in his community, that he cannot do anymore … playgrounds he cannot play on, sports he cannot physically play the way he used to, a backyard he cannot play in the same way he used to, a bike in the garage that sits idle," the letter continued.
Despite challenges, the Roberts' family is choosing to focus on the activities that Cooper will be able to partake in such as wheelchair tennis, and basketball. Following the shooting, the Roberts' set up a GoFundMe page for Cooper's medical expenses that recently surpassed $2 million.