Cooper Jackson is a cheeky four year old, whose bravery and resilience is far beyond his years. He has experienced many challenges in his life, but recently he’d had both of his legs placed in casts to aid the straightening of his legs and improve his ability to walk.
Although he had the casts on for a month, he still managed to get to kindy to see his friends. Cooper enjoyed showing off his casts to his kindy friends and insisted on doing all the normal things he’d usually do each day. Given his energetic and active nature, he wanted to try and keep up with his friends, which wasn’t an easy task.
Cooper is an affectionate and robust little man who handled the bilateral casts like a trooper, only complaining about the itchiness the casts were causing.
He may have to do another stint with bilateral the casts but Cooper doesn’t let much phase. He’ll take this all in his stride, without saying “’I can’t do this’.”
Tennielle Barron, an Adelaide-based Customer Service Specialist for GB, is an old friend of Cooper’s parents. Tennielle thought Cooper might need a furry friend to help him along with the journey so she and her husband presented Cooper with his Gentle Bear at a family BBQ in November. Cooper was touched at receiving a Gentle Bear, and said “’a special bear just for me?’”
Since receiving the Gentle Bear, Cooper has named his new friend “Busta”. Busta has become an international traveller, being lucky enough to visit his extended family in New Zealand over the holidays.
Cooper’s parents Cheyenne and John were touched by the gesture, and sent the below note to the GB team:
“Dear Team GB,
Thank you for the lovely bear my son Cooper received. He adores him and we couldn’t be more humbled at the very kind gesture. In honour of a dear loved one’s pet we’ve named him Busta. Coop takes him to bed most nights and is taking him to the zoo very soon. Thank you Tennielle and Team GB for thinking of Cooper.”
