CHICAGO — Cooper Roberts, the 8-year-old boy paralyzed from the waist down after being wounded at the Fourth of July parade shooting in Highland Park is back to critical condition just days after the family had shared in a statement that the boy was doing better.
On Tuesday morning the Roberts family shared that the boy’s condition was downgraded as he struggles with a new infection, and one of his lungs is partially collapsed. Doctors also told the family that the last procedure revealed that the tear in Cooper’s esophagus reopened and the boy will undergo an “urgent, complex and lengthy surgery today to again attempt to repair his torn esophagus,” the family said through their spokesman Anthony Loizzi.
“This is his seventh surgery and is of particularly high risk given his age and current condition,” Loizzi said and added that the family “greatly appreciates all prayers for his recovery.”
