Cooper's Story

Welcome! Have you ever heard the saying; “You’re one in a million?” If you’re Cooper Cook, you really do fit this description.

Why? Well, because in September, 2008, at only 8 weeks old, Cooper was diagnosed with Infantile Fibrosarcoma, which originated in the parotid gland (head and neck area). Unbelievably, the odds of this type of cancer diagnosis were one in one million at the time (currently about 5 out of 1 million).

It began as Cooper was being fed one day. A small lump was felt on the side of his jaw. After multiple scans, we saw our son’s head was largely lit up like a Christmas tree with a tumor that had to be removed. “Cooper the Trooper” soon became his nickname.

Unfortunately, over 10,000 families feel the same type of overwhelming thrust of emotions, that we as Cooper’s parents felt with his diagnosis, each and every year. It is with this news that a child, their parents, siblings, extended family, and friends begin a journey that no one would have hoped for.

We realized how especially difficult it was, as parents of two other children, to go through this experience. At the time of Cooper’s diagnosis, he had two older brothers (Carson and Colby), who were ages 5 and 2. As we juggled all that was involved with Cooper and his care, we were keenly aware that his brothers were often times, left in the “shadows.” They needed reassurance and emotional support, more than ever before. After all, they were “Troopers” too. Cancer really does impact the entire family.

It began with wanting to provide parents a resource to help siblings, and remind these brothers and sisters that their feelings and emotions are important during a difficult time. It was later that we realized the lack of dollars spent on research to find cures and better treatments, especially for childhood cancer. Therefore, we expanded our mission to include raising awareness and money for pediatric cancer research.

Now, for the rest of “Cooper the Trooper’s” story. After two complicated surgeries to resect a tumor that represented about 20% of the volume of his head (picture a tangerine inside an infant’s head), Cooper is an active and healthy, teenager.