Soul to Squeeze
The late 9-year-old Cooper Stock has a legacy that will last a long, long time.
Published by SLAM ONLINE - April 26, 2014 By Dr. L.A. Gabay
When I read about the tragic death of Cooper Dean Stock last January, I felt that dreaded (and self-involved) pang of, “It could have been me.” Nine-year-old Cooper was fatally struck by a taxicab while crossing the street holding his father’s hand. Deaths that occur during routine, benign activities like crossing the street are alarming in a way that international assassinations will never be able to match—they make anyone who crosses streets feel vulnerable.
But I was drawn in to Cooper’s story when I read that he was a basketball aficionado and spent his summers at Walt Frazier’s BC Hoops basketball camp. That “It could have been me” shiver ran through my body again. And when I read that Cooper’s parents Dana and Richard had focused their devastation into something amazingly positive, I became even more interested.
Creating Coop’s Hoops, Cooper’s parents decided to raise money for scholarships and financial aid to the basketball camp that so wonderfully impacted their son’s life.