Injured Troup football player going home Wednesday after 5 months in hospital

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - Troup ISD football player Cooper Reid is set to come home to East Texas Wednesday after being hospitalized at a Houston hospital for five months.

He’s been receiving around-the-clock care after suffering a brain injury during Troup High School’s Homecoming game in September. Reid will now continue his recovery at home.

“We have a group text called ‘Cooper Trooper Updates’ that our family communicates through, so I got a text from my stepmom, and I was just overjoyed,” sister Whitney Reid said. “Certain times we weren’t sure that he was going to pull through, so to be where we are now, where were bringing him home, is just really, really exciting.”

Reid is still not able to talk, but is showing signs of progress, like chewing and swallowing soft foods.

“It’s been really hard, like times where you wanted to trade places with them because like he’s just the brightest little light. Always smiling, always laughing, I mean I do not think I’ve ever honestly seen Cooper down,” Whitney Reid said. “To see him be in the position that he’s in and fighting so hard like he is it just it hurts so much, but he’s still fighting.”

“Knowing that he’s going to be home and in an environment that’s familiar to him we believe that that will really help continue his recovery process and push it even further.”

Whitney’s message to her brother: “We are fighting for you buddy, we are praying for you, we are so proud of the progress that you made so far and as your oldest sister, I’m just telling you buddy, keep going because I want to hear you talk again, I want to hear you laugh again.”

Troup ISD students, staff, and community members will be out in support to welcome Cooper home tomorrow afternoon as the Reid family drives through the town.

”For many of our students, they have been praying for Cooper for months, and this will just be a unique opportunity that we’ll be able to just welcome them home and show them our love and how excited that we are for Cooper to be able to return home and for his parents as well,” Troup ISD superintendent Tammy Jones said.

The “Welcome Home” is around 2:30 on Wednesday.

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