Lawrence-based Cooper's Cause Foundation provides financial relief for family of pediatric heart patient

The Nichols family of Olathe — Sheri and Kevin Nichols and their sons Ethan, 1, and Logan, 3 — have been selected to receive a $6,000 grant from the Lawrence-based Cooper's Cause Foundation, which benefits families with pediatric heart patients. Ethan Nichols was diagnosed with a heart defect at birth and had open heart surgery when he was 8 months old. The grant will be used to pay for medical bills that aren't covered by insurance.

The medical bills are mounting for an insured Olathe couple whose son had open heart surgery last summer.

Kevin and Sheri Nichols’ son Ethan was diagnosed with a heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot one day after he was born in Oct. 27, 2010.

For eight months, he went to a cardiologist every three weeks to have his heart tested. Those tests cost about $500 apiece. Then he had surgery in June followed by a two-and-a-half week stay in Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. The cost for the surgery and hospital stay alone was about $500,000.

While the couple has health insurance through Kevin’s employer, it hasn’t paid for everything.

“The cost of the co-payments for office visits alone have added up,” Sheri Nichols said.

Recently, the Nichols family learned that they would receive some financial relief: a $6,000 check from the Lawrence-based Cooper’s Cause Foundation.

“I just started crying because it was such a relief,” she said. “It was just so much stress taken off our shoulders. It takes care of quite a few of our bills and we don’t have to worry about making those payments each month now.”

Lawrence residents Terry and Kristi Keefer established the foundation in 2008, a year after their son, Cooper, was born with multiple heart defects. Cooper has had four surgeries in his 4-year-old lifetime, and now mom said he’s doing amazingly well.

Kristi Keefer said they started the foundation to help families that have health insurance but don’t qualify for low-income funding. She said the Lawrence community helped them and they wanted to pay it forward.

“After our son’s second surgery, things did not go well at all, and we had expenses and medical bills that our health insurance didn’t cover,” she said. “He was on life support for quite a while, and when we got out of the hospital, the community had some fundraisers for us that we never expected people to do, and they almost completely eliminated our medical expenses at that time.”

The foundation has provided $27,000 in funding to families with pediatric heart patients. The Nicholses will receive the money Saturday morning during a presentation at Central National Bank on Nieder Road.

Ethan’s parents said he will need another surgery someday depending on how his heart develops; it could be in a few years or when he’s adult. But today he’s doing well with six-month visits to the doctor and no physical limitations.

“He’s crawling all over the place and standing and I don’t think he’s too far from walking,” his mom said.

Ethan Nichols is pictured for his first birthday in October. Ethan was born with a heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot and had surgery about eight months later. His family is the recipient of a $6,000 grant from the Cooper's Cause Foundation, which helps families of pediatric heart patients pay for medical costs that are not covered by insurance.

HOW TO HELP

Cooper’s Cause Foundation helps families with pediatric heart patients. It is named after Cooper Keefer, of Lawrence, who was born with multiple heart defects in 2007.

Donations may be sent to Cooper’s Cause Foundation, P.O. Box 303, Lawrence, KS 66044.

Three fundraising events are planned:

• April 29 — bowl-a-thon.

• July 27 — golf tournament.

• Sept. 22 — 5K run and one-mile walk.

For more information, visit foundation’s website at cooperscause.org.

Nine-month-old Cooper Keefer rests his head against his mother, Kristi, on Aug. 20, 2008, in their Lawrence home. Cooper already had undergone two open-heart surgeries to correct several heart problems including ventricular septal defect. by Nick Krug