An 8-year-old boy whose spine was severed in the shooting at a Fourth of July parade is conscious for the first time since the attack and is asking to see his twin brother, his family said Friday.
Doctors do not believe Cooper Roberts suffered any brain damage from the bullets in his chest, the family announced in a statement Friday that confirmed he is paralyzed from the waist down.
The child was removed from the ventilator. He is serious and in a lot of pain, but improving.
He and his twin brother, Luke, loved the 4th of July parade in their Chicago suburb.
But now the family is envisioning a “new normal” for Cooper, who was injured in a hail of gunfire that left dozens injured and seven dead in Highland Park, Tony Loizzi, a family spokesman, said during a Zoom call with journalists on Thursday.
Luke and the children’s mother, Keely Roberts, superintendent of the 2,300-student Zion Elementary School District, were also injured, but not as seriously. Only the children’s father, Jason Roberts, escaped unharmed.
Luke, who was hit by shrapnel, is home. But some of the fragments remain in his body because removing them would cause too much damage, Loizzi said. The twins are the youngest of six siblings, and their four older sisters, ages 18 to 26, adore Luke while Cooper is hospitalized.
Meanwhile, the boy’s mother, who was shot twice in the foot and leg area, has had two surgeries and may need a third, Loizzi said.
“Frankly, she probably shouldn’t have been released,” Loizzi said. But when she found out that Cooper was on a ventilator, “she told her doctors and nurses that she had to discharge her or she would go on her own because she needed to be with her child,” Loizzi said. .
He said the school district where he works is getting offers of support from superintendents across the state, some of them retired. She said they want to help so she can heal and focus on her family.
“They’re devastated,” she said of the family, “but right now they’re focusing all of their energy on Cooper. It’s been a very emotional time for everyone in her circle. And if you know Keely, she’s just a fighter. And it seems like Cooper got that part of her in him because he’s fighting as hard as he can.”
Loizzi had few details about the shooting itself. He said he didn’t know where the family was along the parade route when the shots rang out or who helped them.
“To be honest, I haven’t had that conversation with Keely,” he said. “I’ve tried not to focus on what exactly happened, and really kept the focus on what we’re doing to help her and her child.”
Loizzi described the boy as having a “passion” for sports and the Milwaukee Brewers.
“Whenever I talk to his mom about him, he’s always very active,” she added.
A GoFundMe has raised more than $800,000 to help the family with what Loizzi described as “the obvious ongoing treatment and therapy Cooper will need.” She said Keely Roberts is a dedicated school leader, working tirelessly for her students, often sending emails in the wee hours of the morning.
“Now,” he said, “she and her family need our support. So we just ask that you continue to keep the Roberts family and everyone affected by this tragedy in your thoughts and prayers.”