Telling a young boy that he can not touch or play with toys and books in a doctor’s office or other locations in public is hard for a parent to do. Especially when that is exactly why those items are there… to be played with and used. That is what Cooper Holloway of Abilene has to do, not touch those types of things.

Cooper, 6, was diagnosed in May of 2013 with a Common Variable Immune Disease which makes it hard for his body to fight off illness. He has to have a plasma transfusion with T and B cells once a week. When making trips to the hospital in Kansas City, Cooper had to bring a bag of his own toys and books from home. One day while at the hospital, Cooper said to his mother, Dawn, that he wished that all of the kids had their own bag of things.

That started the idea of “Cooper’s Care Cases” (C3). The “case” is a draw-string sack, with Cooper’s colored handprints on it, that contains a notebook for writing and coloring, a story book, small notepads, crayons, a pen, pencils, and a note from Cooper to “stay strong like Cooper.” Cooper, along with family and friends, have made some of the bags for the cases and some bags have been donated by the Eisenhower Center.

He began making and filling the “cases” and taking them to be distributed to children at the hospital in Kansas City where he has spent a great amount of time.

Cooper also wanted to help children locally and recently made a stop at Memorial Hospital in Abilene. He brought with him 150 Cooper’s Care Cases to be given to children that are patients in Heartland Health Care Clinic, Med/Surg Department, and the Emergency Department.

Cooper gives his care cases to help children “stay strong”, just like him, during their stay in a medical facility.

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Story by: Billy Hansen / Memorial Health System