Connect with us

Augusta, GA

Miracle Monday: With Children’s Hospital, ‘there’s so much more support’

Published

on

Miracle Monday: With Children’s Hospital, ‘there’s so much more support’


AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Cooper Dickert was born at 28 weeks, weighing 1 pound 3 ounces.

After a couple of weeks, Cooper’s parents Chris and Christa knew Cooper would need greater care and support. That’s when they transferred to the Children’s Hospital of Georgia.

“So, it was a lot of emotion, relieved he was doing well, but uncertainty knowing there were concerns in the days to come,” Chris Dickert said.

“We’re local, so we’re blessed to have this in our backyard because we didn’t know we need it, but when you do need it, it’s nice to have it close, so you don’t have to travel a couple of hours,” he said.

Advertisement

MORE FROM NEWS 12:

Cooper spent half his time in the neonatal intensive care unit and the other in the pediatric intensive care unit, where he celebrated his first birthday.

“There’s so much more support here being a children’s hospital because there were people who not only took care of Cooper on the medical side, but people who supported Chris and I as his parents,” said Christa Dickert.

Cooper was born with a heart defect as well as Down syndrome.

“As a dad, I wanted everything to be perfect and it really hit me hard at first because I didn’t know what to expect, and all of sudden all of those fears and ideas of the worst and negative come in,” Chris Dickert said. “But as we get to know Cooper and his personality, he is the happiest kid and brings joy to the room. It is not a deficit; it’s an addition.”

Advertisement

Cooper’s first surgery to correct his heart was at 6 months old.

“We were told there was the potential that Cooper wouldn’t be able to come off the heart-lung machine after open-heart surgery because of how sick he had just been, and that was terrifying,” Christa Dickert said.

But “there was nothing more relieving than watching that cardiac surgeon walk through the door with a smile on his face. and we knew that surgery had been successful,” she added.

GET INVOLVED:

  • If you would like to support families like Cooper’s or learn more about Children’s Hospital of Georgia, visit https://www.augustahealth.org/give/childrens/.

With three other surgeries that followed, Cooper was finally able to go home in June of this year.

“That news that Cooper could come home and when it became real was so overwhelming and incredible,” said Christa Dickert. “It didn’t even feel real because it was that light at the end of tunnel that we had been waiting on a year.”

Advertisement

The Dickerts say this to any family going through something similar: Have hope.

“When you watch them fight, that produces a spark of hope in your own heart, and as long as they’re fighting, you’ve got a shot,” said Chris Dickert.

Cooper is currently on a feeding tube and ventilator and still has weekly checkups at the Children’s Hospital. His parents say more procedures are to come.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Augusta, GA

Tree giveaway helps Augusta get back to normal after Helene

Published

on

Tree giveaway helps Augusta get back to normal after Helene


AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – It’s been more than 100 days since Hurricane Helene came through our area.

Now, those in the CSRA are still cleaning up the aftermath.

On Saturday, Rooting for Augusta helped the area get back to normal.

“Every once in a while, we have a horrific event that unites us all, and we certainly had it with the storm. Everybody can agree that it’s a good thing to plant trees back in the right spots,” said Dennis Trotter with Rooting for Augusta.

Advertisement

Rooting for Augusta gave away 700 trees as part of the event.



Source link

Continue Reading

Augusta, GA

New Richmond County sheriff promotes deputies, other employees

Published

on

New Richmond County sheriff promotes deputies, other employees


AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – After swearing in 100 new deputies at the beginning of his tenure, Richmond County Sheriff Eugene Brantley also addressed promotions and appointments for those in the sheriff’s office.

It happened on Friday before the winter weather got underway and impacted the region.

Brantley spoke with us after about why the new promotions, appointments and people in the sheriff’s office will benefit the community.

“For the most part, when you’re suffering from a shortage of staff like we have been and so many other agencies in the state of Georgia and around the country, I think it is a boost in the arm to onboard 100 people to help get things that we need slow down crime and stop what is plaguing our community,” said Brantley.

Advertisement

Brantley said it was the first step to making the community safer.

He says he has been working on improving the jail as well.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Augusta, GA

AugustaCon returns to new location in Columbia County

Published

on

AugustaCon returns to new location in Columbia County


AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – AugustaCon was back, but in a new home this time.

Saturday’s event was held in Columbia County at the Performing Arts Center.

The event holds video game tournaments and hosts vendors that had anime and video game-style items.

We spoke to one of the vendors, who helped run the video game tournament there.

Advertisement

“We really love it. It’s a great environment. We love seeing new gamers, collectors, anyone that likes anime,” said Cedric Bacon.

If you missed out on Saturday’s AugustaCon, there are ones usually in the summer and winter as well.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending