KC family giving gifts away to turn tragedy into triumph
The Cooper family is giving gifts as a way to turn tragedy into triumph. They plan to spread Christmas joy through the streets of Kansas City after losing nearly everything in a car crash.
By Grace Smith
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KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KCTV) — One local family is giving gifts as a way to turn tragedy into triumph. They plan to spread Christmas joy through the streets of Kansas City after losing nearly everything in a car crash.
Two years ago, two days after Thanksgiving, Chastity Cooper got in a horrible car crash.
“It was a traumatic experience; I was lucky to be alive for sure,” Cooper said. “I broke my neck in three spots, and my head was split open.”
Cooper spent two weeks recovering in the hospital. Doctors said she was lucky to be alive. But as a single mom of three heading into the holiday season, she was drowning.
“The accident definitely took a huge toll; it turned my life upside down, my kids, definitely financially and emotionally, everything,” Cooper said.
But that’s when people left and right came together for the family to help save their Christmas.
“Very blessed to have a lot of people jump in; there were friends, family, complete strangers, people I didn’t know off the street jumping in, providing my kids with a Christmas,” Cooper said.
A Christmas Cooper and her children are now paying forward.
“We’re going to go give some essentials and goody bags to the less fortunate,” said Cooper’s daughter Isabella Hanover.
Hanover said she wants everyone to feel the joy of Christmas and hopes their goody bags will do just that.
“I really like the idea of making them look pretty and just thinking of their faces whenever we give it to them,” Hanover said.
The goody bags will be filled with all the essentials: warm clothes, toothbrushes, and food. Spreading that Christmas cheer the way they received it from others two years ago.
“You never know what people go through, the traumas that people face, the accidents or the situations that put them in these positions, and I think it’s good for the kids to be able to see that firsthand and give back like others gave to us,” Cooper said.
On Christmas Eve, the family will drive around downtown, giving out the goody bags.
There is a GoFundMe setup if you’d like to contribute to this very generous Christmas gesture.
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