Patient Testimonials

When Tragedy Struck, Cooper Was There

As he slowly awoke from a coma, ten-year-old Tyler Rodriguez fluttered open his eyes, glanced at the doctors standing next to him and calmly introduced himself as, “Hi, I'm lucky to be alive.”

Tyler's day had started out like any other Thursday. It was overcast and after his classes ended, Tyler went for a walk with a friend who was picking up his younger brother at a local elementary school.

As Tyler and his buddy neared the school, they hurried across a designated crosswalk. Suddenly, what started out as a short detour on Tyler’s way home quickly turned into every parent’s worst nightmare: Before he reached the other side of the street, a car drove through the crosswalk and hit Tyler. The sudden impact sent him flying in the air and back to the road, where he landed directly on his head.

By the time a police officer arrived at the Rodriguez home, Katherine Rodriguez, a mother of five, tried not to overreact.

“But you can’t help it - your heart stops when you see the police at your front door and your child is not at home,” Katherine says. When the officer advised her that Tyler had been hit by a car, Katherine froze, but then took a deep breath when she learned that her son was alert and communicating, and his injuries did not appear serious.

“When we got to the hospital, my heart stopped when I heard the ambulance’s siren,” Katherine recalls. “Seeing Tyler lying on a stretcher and wearing a neck brace was horrible, but the paramedics promised me that he would be just fine.”

To be on the safe side, however, the emergency physician ordered a CAT scan and an MRI to rule out any further damage. Although his injuries were not visible, the MRI showed a fractured skull and an epidural hematoma, a collection of blood caused by bleeding from a ruptured blood vessel just under the skull that may prove fatal if not treated promptly.

He was immediately transferred to The Southern New Jersey Trauma Center at The Children’s Regional Hospital at Cooper, the only Level I trauma center in the area.

Within minutes of his arrival, the trauma team rushed Tyler, who had slipped into a coma and was barely breathing, to one of Cooper’s pediatric operating rooms where a neurosurgical team opened the boy’s skull at the site of his fracture and worked quickly to stop the uncontrolled bleeding in his brain.

After Tyler’s surgery, he was transferred to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Cooper’s Children’s Regional Hospital for specialized post-op care.

“Tyler did quite well considering that he had a major head injury and was very close to death,” says trauma surgeon Steven E. Ross, M.D.

Hours later, when Tyler awoke, mumbled a few words, pulled at his IV tubes and appeared somewhat cranky, the PICI staff was delighted. “They were happy he was complaining because that meant his brain was OK,” says Katherine.

Tyler rebounded from his trauma so quickly that by Sunday he was released from Cooper and sent home to continue his recovery. He continues treatment for residual damage to one of his eye muscles, but otherwise is a happy, healthy boy.

“The whole hospital staff, and particularly the trauma department, was just amazing. Everyone – from nurses to doctors to aides – treated us so well and really cared about Tyler,” Rodriguez says emphatically. “And the Children’s Regional Hospital caters to kids with ‘extras’ like video games in every room and childlife specialists.” Katherine Rodriguez believes that parents should be grateful when their children are in good health – after Tyler’s accident, she knows firsthand that a child’s wellbeing can disappear in a moment.

“Before the accident, Tyler was always an outgoing, friendly kid, and luckily, he still is,” she adds. “We certainly didn’t plan on this happening, but I’m very thankful that Cooper was there for Tyler when it did.”

We are thrilled that Tyler is now back in school full-time and happy to be out with his friends again.