Boy Paralyzed At Highland Park Parade Goes Outside For First Time Since July 4

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — The 8-year-old boy who suffered a severed spinal cord when he was struck by one of the more than 80 bullets fired into the crowd at the Highland Park Independence Day parade was able on Thursday to take liquid by mouth and go outside for the first time since July 4, according to his family.

Cooper Roberts, 8, had an orange popsicle and went outside in his wheelchair, according to family representatives. The Highland Park resident suffered an esophagus tear, which continues to heal from surgeries, and he has been paralyzed from the waist down.

Doctors briefly moved Roberts from critical to serious condition Thursday, but a CT scan showed that a buildup of fluid in his pelvis is an abscess, family spokesperson Anthony Loizzi said in a Friday update.

"The various medical teams (cardiac, thoracic, infectious disease, pediatrics) will confer today on the best approach to evacuate the fluid," Loizzi said.

"The spiking fever has returned, off and on, likely due to this infection," he added.

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Loizzi said the Roberts family asks for continued prayers for Cooper's healing.

"The family continues to be very grateful for and humbled by the outpouring of support and well wishes — including a special care package from the Milwaukee Brewers, Cooper’s favorite baseball team, which included a jersey with his name on it that really lifted his spirits," Loizzi said.

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Roberts' twin brother, Luke, a fellow student at Braeside Elementary School in North Shore School District 112, was injured by shrapnel during the parade. Their mother, Zion School District 6 Superintendent Keely Roberts, suffered a gunshot wound to the leg.

This week, Luke and Keely Roberts visited Elawa Farm in Lake Forest, where they were provided with a private beeping session that allowed Luke to put on a bee suit and visit the farm's bees, according to organizers of a GoFundMe online fundraiser on the family's behalf.

More Patch coverage of the Highland Park July 4 Parade shooting