This last weekend Cooper enjoyed the madness as his Charter School and older brother took 4th in State for High School Basketball. However, that excitement was short lived as Cooper became ill, feeling feverish and developing a cough. He stayed home from school for two days and began to grow puffy in the face. His parents became concerned, knowing the puffy face was familiar to that of the puffy face experienced with kidney failure 9 years ago. He was taken to Children’s Hospital Colorado where they immediately identified him as having pneumonia. Kidney labs were ordered while in the Emergency Department to find his kidneys were failing. Cooper remains in the hospital and was just told dialysis is needed and will continue until a successful transplant takes place. The family now prepares for the process of finding and testing those who could potentially be a strong kidney match for Cooper! Cooper is a unique kid who has made quite an imprint on others in this community. Here’s his story:

At 3 years old, Cooper was diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease (KD), the #1 acquired heart disease in children. After 18 months of the KD diagnosis, one of the heart medications Cooper was placed on, caused an allergic reaction in his kidneys resulting in weeks in the ICU and months of dialysis with Chronic Stage 3 Kidney Failure. His kidneys rebounded to 35% functionality with the understanding that hitting teenage years could result in kidney failure as puberty set in. Since Cooper was 3-4 years old, he has been on 10-12 daily medications helping the heart and kidneys give Cooper life. And what a life Coop has created! Cooper has an intense love for basketball, music and friends. His love for music was evident in his singing and dancing to Black Eyed Peas lyrics as a kid. At one of our first Kawasaki Kids Foundation events the DJ hired, came over to tell mom & dad that “that kid has talent! You ought to look into getting him into DJ’ing.” At 8 years old Cooper began DJ'ing and has impressed audiences across Northern Colorado. He has created party vibes for schools, graduations, weddings, city events, the MLB Fanfest in Denver and most recently became the official DJ of the Colorado Eagles. Cooper has created lasting friendships with many as he’s grown as a DJ and as an aspiring basketball player for his middle school basketball team.

Cooper is one strong kid. Your support would mean the world to us! Thank you!