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Hello everyone,
My name is Brad, I would like to share with you what's been going on with my family over the past few months.
On October 15th our two-year-old son, Cooper, had some diarrhea. The following day he vomited and had blood in his diarrhea, so we took him to the emergency room. A stool sample was sent to the lab and we were sent home. Later, we took him to a pediatrician, we were told to keep him hydrated and sent home. A few hours later he had a seizure in my arms. We took an ambulance to the Belleville hospital, and we were air lifted to the Children's hospital in Ottawa, where we found out that Cooper was infected with E-coli. The E-coli caused a blood disorder known as HUS. On Saturday he seemed to be stable and was showing some signs of improvement, but early Sunday morning he went into cardiac arrest. They managed to restart his heart, but he was pronounced brain dead.
We stayed with Cooper for two more days while they searched for an organ donor recipient. Our four-year-old son, Ashton, came to the hospital to say goodbye to his brother. A recipient was found and Cooper donated his heart.
During all of this, my wife Kristin, was pregnant. Later that night our baby girl was born. We named our daughter Caitlyn after a nurse who cared for Cooper and helped us survive some of the most difficult days of our lives.
Cooper was a gentle, sweet, adorable boy. He brought true happiness into our lives everyday. He was fun, pure, and full of love. There are no words to describe how much we miss him.
If I had you here for one more day
I'd hold you close, next to you I'd lay
I'd hug and kiss you till you wiggled away
Lost in your innocence, I'd watch you play
I'd cherish your laugh and the things you'd say
I'd follow your lead, in the moment I'd stay.
Cooper was infected with E-coli during the Romaine lettuce outbreak. We're sharing our story because people need to know how dangerous E-coli is, and we want something good to come from this. We feel the best way to make change is by investing in safe food production. We're raising money to plant a small orchard and start a hydroponic vegetable farm.
Thank you for your support.
My name is Brad, I would like to share with you what's been going on with my family over the past few months.
On October 15th our two-year-old son, Cooper, had some diarrhea. The following day he vomited and had blood in his diarrhea, so we took him to the emergency room. A stool sample was sent to the lab and we were sent home. Later, we took him to a pediatrician, we were told to keep him hydrated and sent home. A few hours later he had a seizure in my arms. We took an ambulance to the Belleville hospital, and we were air lifted to the Children's hospital in Ottawa, where we found out that Cooper was infected with E-coli. The E-coli caused a blood disorder known as HUS. On Saturday he seemed to be stable and was showing some signs of improvement, but early Sunday morning he went into cardiac arrest. They managed to restart his heart, but he was pronounced brain dead.
We stayed with Cooper for two more days while they searched for an organ donor recipient. Our four-year-old son, Ashton, came to the hospital to say goodbye to his brother. A recipient was found and Cooper donated his heart.
During all of this, my wife Kristin, was pregnant. Later that night our baby girl was born. We named our daughter Caitlyn after a nurse who cared for Cooper and helped us survive some of the most difficult days of our lives.
Cooper was a gentle, sweet, adorable boy. He brought true happiness into our lives everyday. He was fun, pure, and full of love. There are no words to describe how much we miss him.
If I had you here for one more day
I'd hold you close, next to you I'd lay
I'd hug and kiss you till you wiggled away
Lost in your innocence, I'd watch you play
I'd cherish your laugh and the things you'd say
I'd follow your lead, in the moment I'd stay.
Cooper was infected with E-coli during the Romaine lettuce outbreak. We're sharing our story because people need to know how dangerous E-coli is, and we want something good to come from this. We feel the best way to make change is by investing in safe food production. We're raising money to plant a small orchard and start a hydroponic vegetable farm.
Thank you for your support.