- November 1, 2024
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With seven surgeries by age 8, Cooper Ascone is a true fighter.
The Palm Coast boy has a congenital heart disease called Shone’s complex. There’s no one fix for it, his mother Jennifer Thornton Ascone said.
As a doctor herself, Jennifer struggles with having a mind of medical knowledge but no way to heal Cooper.
“It’s the hardest thing to know you can’t fix them,” she said. “But that’s why you try to find the best physicians in that field that do the best work.”
On Jan. 30, Cooper had aortic value replacement surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. The Ascones were last in New York for Cooper’s mitral value replacement in 2017.
Despite years of emotional operations, the community of friends and family rallying behind “#SuperCooper” gives Jennifer hope.
“You’ve got people who are putting your son on prayer chains and talking about him and thinking about him and sending you these thoughts and these prayers. It makes you just feel like you’re not alone,” she said. “It makes you feel like even when you’re in these hospital rooms and all you’re hearing is the beeps and the bells and everything all night, you can look outside the window and know that there’s a whole community out there. You just know your son is so loved.”
Cooper’s twin sister Chloe and younger brother Carter are awaiting his return to Palm Coast. They all attend Old Kings Elementary School.
On Feb. 5, Jennifer said they just left ICU and are now on the recovery floor.
“We’re hoping this is the last surgery for years,” she said.
Click here to donate to Cooper.
