A closer look at the impact St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has on families

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Cooper Redmon is a living testament to the incredible medical expertise and care at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

"I love to play baseball--play for the middle school and travel," Cooper shared.

Cooper was a toddler when his mother kept getting calls to pick him up from daycare because he had stomach issues. After a while, he didn’t want to eat, and she knew something was seriously wrong.

"Initially, his survival rate was 25%," Crystal Redmon said. "He was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma. And it was a huge tumor all over his abdomen--kind of wrapped around his heart, aorta, all the arteries."

Her husband Dave Redmon added, "The way they kind of described it to us was it was the size of a grapefruit on his adrenal gland, on his right kidney. Then it went up around his aorta and around his back the size of an orange. So, in a 17-month-old body, you know, when you looked at an X-ray scan, you're used to seeing white lungs. One side was white, and one side was black."

Cooper was flown to St. Jude in Memphis, Tennessee.

He was in the hospital for 17 months. His parents’ lives came to a halt to care for their little boy.

"They housed us, and when we walked out of St. Jude, we did not owe a dime," Dave Redmon said. "And you know, it's a huge financial burden--moving away from home and things like that. We didn't want or need anything at all."

Cooper was too young to remember all the details, but he does remember this:

"It doesn't seem very sad; you never feel really sad," he shared. "When you get there, you don't really think about how many kids are almost dying. And it feels like a--I don't know--like a vacation home almost."

Cooper says he called it “my hospital” because he felt so at home. The nurses called him “the mayor of St. Jude” because he captured so many hearts.

His dad fought back tears as he described what a special place it is.

"One of the things that folks told me is that you'll feel the angels when you walk in," he said. "And the day I pulled in, it was the oddest feeling like I knew we were where we needed to be. There's something special about that place."

Cooper's brother Tanner says he also finds it hard not to cry when he thinks about how St. Jude allowed him to grow up with a younger brother.

"Obviously, it kept him alive," Tanner said. "It chokes me up if I think about him not being here, because as much as we used to fight and what not, not having those memories and not having him around would kill me."

Only children experiencing a medical issue St. Jude is studying are cared for on the hospital campus, but researchers share anything they learn. St. Jude protocols are used in hospitals across the globe so a child doesn't have to be treated at St. Jude to receive the benefit of its expertise.

Cooper has had "no evidence of disease" for 11 years now, but he's not finished visiting St. Jude. He agreed to be part of a lifetime study in hopes he can help save other kids’ lives.

You can help children just like Cooper when you purchase a raffle ticket for the St. Jude Dream Home in Mount Washington. It's a 2,700 square foot home with four bedrooms and two and a half baths. It's valued at $475,000. You can buy a raffle ticket for $100 here.