Cooper Roberts: 8-Year-Old Shooting Victim Back In Critical Condition

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — The 8-year-old boy who was paralyzed when he was struck by a bullet during the Highland Park July 4 parade mass shooting is back in critical condition, his family said.

Cooper Roberts on Tuesday underwent a complex and lengthy five-hour surgery, his seventh in the eight days since he was shot in the abdomen, according to a family representative.

A tear in his esophagus reopened, and he has a partially collapsed lung and a spiking fever caused by an infection, according to family friend and spokesperson Tony Loizzi.

Roberts suffered a severed spinal cord when he was shot in the abdomen, rather than the chest as originally believed, while attending the parade with his family, according to an update from his family.

After emergency surgery at NorthShore Highland Park Hospital, he was transferred to University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital.

On Friday, he regained consciousness, was removed from a ventilator and had his condition upgraded from critical to serious, family representatives announced.

"He is in a great deal of pain — physically and emotionally — especially as the family had to share with him the devastating news that he is paralyzed from the waist down," according to organizers of a fundraiser on the family's behalf.

Roberts' twin brother and fellow Braeside Elementary School student, Luke, was struck by shrapnel in the shooting. His mother, Zion School District 6 Superintendent Keely Roberts, was hit in the leg.

Doctors at Highland Park Hospital described his extent of his injuries, explaining the initial steps taken to stabilize his condition in the emergency room last week after he arrived with life-threatening injuries.

“Cooper sustained severe injuries, in a very perilous location," doctors said, according to a statement provided by the family. "The bullet entered his upper abdomen, injuring the left lobe of his liver, his esophagus near the stomach, his abdominal aorta and exited through his back injuring his spinal cord."

Doctors said Roberts required an emergency operation to stop the bleeding, opening his chest and temporarily clamping his aorta to stop the bleeding.

"Because the injury to the aorta was so severe, the injured segment had to be removed and replaced with a synthetic graft in an adult size, so he can grow into it. The hole in the esophagus was sewed closed. The complex injury of his liver was also repaired," his doctors said. "Because of the severity of his injuries and the massive amount of blood transfusions he required during the surgery, his abdomen was left open with a specialized vacuum dressing."

Seven people died and at least 40 people were wounded when, according to authorities, a 21-year-old Highwood man wielding an assault-style rifle fired more than 80 bullets into the crowd below.

According to his family, Roberts is a big fan of the Milwaukee Brewers. During their game Friday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates, management of the Major League Baseball team placed a No. 22 "Roberts" jersey in the team's dugout.

“The strength to go through something like that is unimaginable,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell told the Associated Press before the game. "We’re happy he’s a Brewer fan and want to recognize that and let their family know we’re thinking about them."

Team officials said in a statement that they are "working on other initiatives to connect players with Cooper and his family, but the priority for now is to focus on their recovery."

An online GoFundMe fundraiser for Cooper's long-term care has raised nearly $1.4 million of a $1.5 million goal as of Tuesday afternoon.

"The family wishes to acknowledge and thank the many, many people – emergency medics, police, fire department, nurses and doctors at both hospitals who did extraordinary things to save Cooper’s life," Roberts family representatives said Saturday in an update. "It was a true miracle."

UPDATE: Boy Paralyzed At HP Parade Goes Outside For First Time Since July 4

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More Patch coverage of the Highland Park July 4 Parade shooting