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The tears of sadness are evident as Cheryl Cooper talks about her son Christopher, killed last year after being struck on his bicycle by an alleged drunken driver fleeing from police.
Cooper’s pain is inconsolable as she preps to lead a group of nearly 70 people on a 1-mile memorial walk down Noland Road to the site of a memorial erected for Christopher shortly after his death Nov. 8, 2007.
It’s been one year since Christopher died and a myriad of emotions runs through Cheryl Cooper as she gathers the group and leads them on a candlelight vigil from Noland Road and Fair Street south to Noland and Osage Street, the site of the collision and the site of Christopher’s standing memorial.
“I don’t really have words, because there aren’t words in my language or any other way to describe what was taken from us one year ago tonight,” Cheryl Cooper said minutes before Saturday’s walk, a walk that included Christopher’s old school mates, friends, his siblings and representatives from the Cass/Heartland Division of Mother’s Against Drunk Drivers. “There is a word for you if your parents die. There is a word or you if your spouse dies, but there is no word for me.... the only word I have is mom. I’m his Mom.”
Cheryl Cooper described her son, who was a 17-year-old junior at Truman High School when he was killed, as a dedicated friend who championed causes for life’s underdogs.
“Christopher was very dedicated with friends,” Cheryl Cooper said. “His friends meant the world to him as well as his family. He was a champion of the underdog. He had a very unique ability to see pain in people.”
Sarah Devera, a freshman at Truman High, said Christopher was her brother’s best friend. Devera said Christopher was an awesome skateboarder with a winning personality and that she missed hanging out with him and her brother after school.
“I miss his smile,” Devera said. “I miss hanging out with him after school. Everything about him I miss. It happened one year ago today, but it doesn’t even feel like its been a year. It seems like a month ago or two months ago. Not a year. It’s crazy.”
Wilfredo J. Pujols of Independence, who was charged after Christopher’s death with second-degree murder, driving while intoxicated and felony fleeing, goes on trial in Jackson County Court Dec. 8.
“We’ll be there, at the trial, supporting Cheryl,” said MADD representative Vicki Boyles of Independence, herself a survivor of a 2004 accident caused by a drunken driver. “Cheryl’s been coming to us and we’re just trying to support her as much as we can.”
The tears of sadness are evident as Cheryl Cooper talks about her son Christopher, killed last year after being struck on his bicycle by an alleged drunken driver fleeing from police.
Cooper’s pain is inconsolable as she preps to lead a group of nearly 70 people on a 1-mile memorial walk down Noland Road to the site of a memorial erected for Christopher shortly after his death Nov. 8, 2007.
It’s been one year since Christopher died and a myriad of emotions runs through Cheryl Cooper as she gathers the group and leads them on a candlelight vigil from Noland Road and Fair Street south to Noland and Osage Street, the site of the collision and the site of Christopher’s standing memorial.
“I don’t really have words, because there aren’t words in my language or any other way to describe what was taken from us one year ago tonight,” Cheryl Cooper said minutes before Saturday’s walk, a walk that included Christopher’s old school mates, friends, his siblings and representatives from the Cass/Heartland Division of Mother’s Against Drunk Drivers. “There is a word for you if your parents die. There is a word or you if your spouse dies, but there is no word for me.... the only word I have is mom. I’m his Mom.”
Cheryl Cooper described her son, who was a 17-year-old junior at Truman High School when he was killed, as a dedicated friend who championed causes for life’s underdogs.
“Christopher was very dedicated with friends,” Cheryl Cooper said. “His friends meant the world to him as well as his family. He was a champion of the underdog. He had a very unique ability to see pain in people.”
Sarah Devera, a freshman at Truman High, said Christopher was her brother’s best friend. Devera said Christopher was an awesome skateboarder with a winning personality and that she missed hanging out with him and her brother after school.
“I miss his smile,” Devera said. “I miss hanging out with him after school. Everything about him I miss. It happened one year ago today, but it doesn’t even feel like its been a year. It seems like a month ago or two months ago. Not a year. It’s crazy.”
Wilfredo J. Pujols of Independence, who was charged after Christopher’s death with second-degree murder, driving while intoxicated and felony fleeing, goes on trial in Jackson County Court Dec. 8.
“We’ll be there, at the trial, supporting Cheryl,” said MADD representative Vicki Boyles of Independence, herself a survivor of a 2004 accident caused by a drunken driver. “Cheryl’s been coming to us and we’re just trying to support her as much as we can.”
