Kooper Brooks, 13, of Berwick suddenly paralyzed. How to help.

BERWICK, Maine — Thirteen-year-old Kooper Brooks and his family need help after a medical incident left him paralyzed, with no clear prognosis for his recovery.

Kooper is paralyzed from the waist down. Whether he will regain function of his legs and walk again remains unknown, according to his family.

Kooper was at Boston Children's Hospital Friday, soon to be transferred to a rehabilitation center in the Boston area. Until mid-May, he was a happy, healthy boy, a student entering ninth grade at Noble High School who enjoyed sports, including playing football.

Suzanne Dennis, Kooper's mother, spoke from the lobby of Boston Children's Hospital about the suddenness of his condition and their hopes for the future. A number of fundraisers have been set up to help the family defray costs.

A spokesperson for Boston Children's Hospital said they could not speak about Kooper's condition.

"One of the main expenses they will face besides the unknown of medical costs, is that they will need to retrofit a room on the first floor of their house," said Sarah Quaker, a neighbor and friend who is helping the family. "Suzanne said the biggest goal of the GoFundMe is to raise the funds to create an accessible bedroom and bathroom on the first floor of their home. Currently they live in a tall, narrow New Englander, and are going to need to have quite a bit of renovation done to have it ready for Kooper to come home."

Dennis, Kooper's mom, said her son began experiencing pain and numbness in his legs on May 18.

"We took him to be checked out and his symptoms were chalked up to growing pains," she said. But by May 22, "he could no longer bear weight on his legs."

The family took Kooper to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover, New Hampshire, where doctors identified a lesion inside the base of his spinal cord, she said.

"They acted quickly and med-flighted him to Boston Children's Hospital," Dennis said. "It was not good. He was in pain and losing control of his limbs."

Kooper was diagnosed with a cavernous malformation, which according to the Mayo Clinic website are groups of "tightly packed, abnormal small blood vessels with thin walls. They may be present in the brain or spinal cord. The vessels contain slow-moving blood that's usually clotted. CCMs, which look like a small mulberry, can create problems in the brain or spinal cord due to leaking of blood in some people."

Dennis said the lesion was slowly leaking blood, putting pressure on his spinal cord.

"My understanding is that it was a tangle of nerve endings," Dennis said. "They removed it but cannot be sure they got it all. It was determined to be non-cancerous. But from here, we do not yet know what the future will bring."

Kooper has no feeling from his belly button down, according to his mom.

"He has to be terrified, but he is putting on a tough front," she said. "He is a real firecracker, a super determined kid. We are moving him to (rehabilitation) and his view is — let's do this! He has a lot of questions, and I just do not have the answers. Sometimes I just have to step outside his room and regroup. It gets overwhelming. I love him and I am afraid for him. Just a week ago, Kooper and his sister Kinsey were planning to join the football team. I told Kinsey to still do it, to do it for her and for Kooper."

On Friday, Kooper remained at Boston Children's because he had developed a small infection at the incision site from his surgery, his mother said. Once that clears, he was set to be moved.

"Right now, we are thinking he will be (in rehabilitation) for about six weeks," Dennis said. "We are all pulling for him and waiting for better answers."

The community is pulling together to support Kooper and his large extended family.

The four fundraisers set up to help the family are found on GoFundMe at gofundme.com/f/k6qak-help-for-kooper and gofund.me/6c534ef4, on Meal Train at mealtrain.com/trains/16kw93 and Bonfire at bonfire.com/kooper-strong.