“Kain loves trucks, trains, tractors, or really anything with wheels. He is always smiling and laughing and truly a blessing in our lives.”
Sounds like a typical 2-year-old boy, right?
But Kain Cooksey is more than a typical little boy. He is a Miracle Kid, and many SAU students will be dancing in Kain’s honor this Saturday at Dance Marathon.
Jenna and Mike, Kain’s parents were high school sweethearts who were married in October 2008 and eventually moved to Walcott, Iowa. When the couple found out that they were going to have their first baby, they didn’t find out the child’s gender but they did know that there was no indication of any problems. On March 1, 2011 Kain, Mike and Jenna’s miracle, was born.
“It was love at first sight,” Jenna says about her oldest son.
The day after Kain was born, everything changed.
Doctors detected a heart murmur after some testing, and Kain was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot. This is a rare heart condition which actually involves four distinct defects in a baby’s heart. The biggest problem with the condition is that the child’s blood doesn’t have enough oxygen. Oxygen is essentially food for the body, and when the blood doesn’t supply it, the body is starved.
“It was scary,” Kain’s mom said. “We had never heard of this diagnosis before. We didn’t know if he would live, if he would have surgery, how old he would be when he had to have surgery–all unanswered questions until we went to the children’s hospital.”
Eventually a plan of action was developed and Kain’s corrective surgery was schedule for September 13, 2011, at only 6 months old.
“After that I think it was easier for us, more manageable. All of our questions were answered.”
Kain is described as a “rock star” because he moved out of the pediatric intensive care unit only two days after surgery and was only in the hospital for five more days after that. Luckily, he was a trooper and never experienced any complications from his heart defect.
Now, Kain really is a typical little boy with a typical family. He is a proud big brother to Parker who was born October 12, 2012. Depending on his parents’ work schedules, Kain either goes to daycare with his brother and plays with all his friends or stays home with his dad. At the end of the day, the family enjoys every moment of dinner, playtime, bath time, and bed time.
However, the Cooksey’s haven’t forgotten all the support they received at the University of Iowa’s Children’s Hospital.
“We are the BIGGEST advocate for the Children’s Hospital and the American Heart Association. 100 percent of our donations benefit one or the other. Whenever someone asks me about it, I tell them our story and I hope that puts them at ease.”
Now, through SAU’s Dance Marathon, Kain and his family have found another support system.
“Dance Marathon has brought Kain and our family around a bunch of great individuals who have been through the same thing or worse than we have. We are involved because we want to share our story with scared or nervous parents who might have to endure the same thing that we did.”
Jenna Cooksey describes the support of the SAU dancers as “amazing” and is extremely appreciative of the dedication so many Ambrosians to put this event together.
“We can’t wait to see everything in motion!”