A REMARKABLE Stourport boy born nearly four months prematurely has been given a new lease of life thanks to a specialist trike.
Cooper Bower-Daglish, from Stourport, was born at just 25 weeks’ gestation, weighing a tiny 860g, and spent four and a half months in neonatal intensive care after he suffered bleeds on the brain.
Now aged five, he lives with cerebral palsy, visual impairment, global developmental delay, and is autistic.
Last year, a Kidderminster physiotherapist recommended that Cooper could benefit from a therapy trike to help build his leg muscles.
Mum Anna Bower, a part-time dental nurse, said: “Cooper had such a tough start in life.
“I had Group B Strep during pregnancy, which led to him contracting meningitis as a newborn.
“He was starved of oxygen for eight minutes at birth and needed an Ommaya reservoir fitted in his brain at three weeks old, to treat hydrocephalus.
“This came after an operation at just six days old, when he had a stoma to treat necrotising enterocolitis (NEC).
“Then, at six months, he had further brain surgery to fit a shunt.”
Cooper’s early setbacks and disabilities don’t hold him back, attending Fort Royal Community Primary School in Worcester, using a walking frame to help him get around.
Anna added: “Cooper’s always been delayed in his milestones, but he’s taking steps, with support, and is such a happy child.
“He loves animals, Teletubbies, CBeebies Land, and going to school with his friends.”
Cooper’s parents, Anna and Daniel Daglish, discovered that Caudwell Children, a charity providing practical and emotional support for disabled and neurodivergent children, could help fund the trike, and they offered to pay 80 per cent of the cost.
Anna added: “We were thrilled to learn that there was help out there to part-fund the trike.
“Cooper loves wheels, and since receiving his trike, he’s been able to join us on family trips to the park and around the estate where we live.
“We also love going to the forest together now.
“Being mobile on three wheels has enabled Cooper to build leg strength, which has helped him to become sturdier when using his walking frame. He’s more confident now, too. It’s been truly game-changing, and it’s so lovely to see him thrive.”
