Cooper Gardner Wiki – Cooper Gardner Biography
Cooper Gardner Age
Cooper Gardner’s age is unknown.
Cause of Death
Cooper Gardner, a junior at Bath High School, died at home Sunday, nearly two weeks after the incident during a game against Portland St. Patrick, the Lansing State Journal reported.
“I never would have thought it would lead to this,” junior varsity coach Michael Collins told the newspaper.
Junior Varsity Coach Michael Collins said Cooper was a hard-working kid who loved baseball. He was always positive and looking for opportunities to improve, he said.
“If you had a bad day, you could go to practice and see his smiling face and all is right in the world,” Collins said. “As smart as can be, had everything in front of him. Good student, humble kid…he was just too young.”
Cooper was moving to cover a player from St. Patrick’s who was stealing second base, Collins said. He dropped down to catch the ball and tag the runner, but when he did, they believe the other player’s knee collided with Cooper’s head and he fell with all his body weight on Cooper, Collins said.
It was quick, Collins said. It looked like the two players had collided.
“I never would have thought it would lead to this,” Collins said.
Cooper was rushed to the emergency room with a traumatic brain injury and heart and lung complications, according to the GoFundMe, which was set up by a family member.
He spent six days in the pediatric intensive care unit, then moved to a regular room last week, according to GoFundMe.
Cooper died Sunday morning at his home, according to GoFundMe. Collins said he doesn’t know what caused Cooper’s death.
The Bath baseball team began selling #CoopStrong T-shirts and wristbands to raise money to help Cooper’s family with expenses, Bath High School officials wrote in an April 26 Facebook post to spread the news about the community effort.
“I’ve never witnessed something like that,” Collins said. “You just always read about things going wrong, but you never think it’s going to be one of your kids.”
Once Cooper was released from the hospital, his teammates and friends began sending him messages and parents and coaches started a meal train for the family, Collins said. The varsity coach, Scott Peru, was supposed to visit him Sunday because he was feeling better, Collins said. “He’s just a great kid,” Collins said. “It’s tough to put into words what Cooper meant to everyone. He’s just Coop… Coop was family to everybody.”
GoFundMe
A GoFundMe page set up for Cooper’s family described the incident as a “freak accident.” Cooper was knocked unconscious for about 40 minutes. While they waited for an ambulance, a nurse who is also the mother of a St. Patrick’s player ran onto the field to help, Collins said.