The sky’s the limit for Super Cooper
‘Cerebral palsy warrior’ Cooper Scally continues to reach new heights with the help of equipment purchased thanks to the generous donations of more than 1,000 people.
A campaign last year raised more than £10,000 in less than a week to fund ‘life-changing’ equipment for seven-year-old ‘Super Cooper’, including a new wheelchair, custom-built disability trike, and a special child carrier which allowed his dad Greg to carry him to the summit of Beinn Ghuilean.
Greg, an ‘outdoorsy’ person who enjoys walking, hiking and camping, always dreamed of taking his son to the summit of Kintyre’s highest hill, and admitted he had a lump in his throat when the monumental moment finally came in December.
Cooper was born 14 weeks prematurely, on May 14, 2012, weighing just 1lb 12oz, and spent the first 16 months of his life in hospital in Glasgow. Despite enduring eight major operations, 18 blood transfusions and a resuscitation, Cooper continues to thrive but he cannot walk, talk or eat independently.
His mum Zoey explained that being unable to do the usual father and son activities which many people enjoy has been extremely hard for Greg. She added: ‘Don’t get me wrong, Cooper has been camping multiple times and on forest trail walks but taking him to the top of Beinn Ghuilean just didn’t seem like an option, although it was a dream of Greg’s and on our Cooper Bucket List.
‘We’ve ticked off things like wheelchair ice-skating and swimming with dolphins, and now we can tick off the summit of Beinn Ghuilean thanks to the Freeloader Child Carrier, which is specially designed to enable adults to carry children weighing up to 40kg.
‘Its aluminium frame means it is extremely strong yet incredibly lightweight. We bought this piece of equipment specifically using money that was donated to us by the little super swimmers.’
A sponsored swim, during which seven of Cooper’s friends swam more than three miles in Aqualibrium’s pool, raised £850 and was one of several individual fundraising events which contributed to the main campaign fund.
A few weeks later, Santa delivered Cooper’s bespoke Tomcat Trike to him and he spent much of Christmas morning riding his first bike up and down the street.
‘That would not have been possible without the help of the people of Campbeltown,’ Zoey said, ‘so I’d just like to take the opportunity to say thank you again to anyone who donated.’
Greg was joined by Graham Brown, Paul Souden and Jamie McGougan on the Beinn Ghuilean climb, with the men taking turns carrying Cooper.
Zoey said: ‘I think it was emotional for all involved. Greg has a very close group of friends and I think it meant a lot to them all to be able to help Greg achieve this dream.
‘They’ve set their sights even higher now and plan on enlisting the help of more friends and family to take on Ben Nevis with Cooper in the summer.
‘If they set their minds to something, they are definitely going to do it, so I’m very excited to see what 2020 is going to bring for Cooper!’