Motorcycle crash survivor making miraculous recovery
By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor
GRAND RAPIDS — Every day William “Coop” Cooper, Jr. takes one step closer to recovery after suffering critical injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, in a motorcycle crash just about six weeks ago.
The 51-year-old North Muskegon man was airlifted by Aeromed from the crash scene the afternoon of April 22 on East M 20 near 162nd Avenue in Newfield Township.
He was not wearing a helmet and suffered a skull fracture when his Harley Davidson motorcycle crashed. Coop was taken to Corewell Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids.
Coop and Markaya outside Mary Free Bed.
“Between Life EMS and Michigan State Police troopers, life-saving measures were provided on scene,” said Sgt. Michael Cuevas, one of the MSP personnel on scene that day. Cuevas and MSP Trooper Devin Roesler were the first to arrive.
“He started at the ICU at Butterworth; then went to the LTAC (long term acute care) program; and is finally now at Mary Free Bed,” said his fiancée Markaya McBean, who has been by his side throughout his entire recovery process. “Most of his injuries were to his right side—he went down on the right side of his head. When Sgt. Cuevas and Trooper Roesler found him, he was barely 
alive. He had two collapsed lungs, several ribs broken; he has a broken right femur; a broken left clavicle; but the worst that is coming from him right now is that right shoulder has a lot of muscle and tendon damage. He did not use the right side of his body until probably a week and a half ago,” said Markaya Friday, June 5. “We didn’t know if he was going to be paralyzed.”
“He was on a ride with my dad (Mark Townsend) and a couple of my dad’s friends. They call it the Geezer Run,” a funny lighthearted name for some older guys riding their motorcycles together.
“I got a text from my dad, and it said, ‘Cooper was in an accident. They are working on him now.’” She called him, and he told her that Coop wasn’t breathing. She immediately drove to the scene. “All four lobes of his lungs had completely collapsed. He had bad fractures to his face.
“Sgt. Cuevas and Trooper Roesler were working on him. They saved his life. His life is 100 percent due to them being there and being as fast as they were.”
“Life EMS, the local fire department and Aeromed all performed an equal amount of life saving measures to save this individual,” said Sgt. Cuevas. “Roesler and I were first on scene where we were able to open the patient’s airway and do a secondary check of injuries, because his head injury was pretty traumatic. He had to to have his lungs decompressed before being taken by Aeromed, which Aeromed and EMS were able to do, which also saved his life. Everyone there did a phenomenal job and worked really well together.
A photo of the couple before the life-changing accident. (This was not taken the day of the accident.)
“I’ve worked on a lot of bad PI (personal injury) crashes, and that was probably one of the worst ones that I’ve seen where somebody is expected to make a full recovery. The level of teamwork and communication on that one was astounding,” said Sgt. Cuevas.
There was no drinking, drugs or speeding involved in the crash, and Markaya said that her dad is doing research to try to figure out what caused it, speculating that something was wrong with the bike.
Another photo of the couple before his motorcycle accident.
Several hours after the accident, Markaya was finally able to go into the intensive care unit and see Cooper for the first time since the crash. “I hit the floor,” she recalled. “He was hooked up to every machine you could possibly think of. He looked like a mummy—he was basically wrapped from head to toe due to road rash. He was unrecognizable. It was very scary.”
An active and fit man, Coop runs a hunting and fishing corporation, Whitefish Lodge, in Canada, she said. “He is always on his feet, always working. He’s a workaholic.” He enjoys lifting weights with her dad and brother.
His situation was so grave that she and his daughters were advised to consider “pulling the plug” at one point, she said. “He had one of the worst brain injuries you could possibly have.”
She asked one of his doctors what the odds were that he would recover to 60 percent, and she said he answered, “One in a million.”
As the days went on, Cooper began to show his strength, beating the odds. After about eight days, he began to open his eyes. “It was this continuum of small miracles.”
After he stabilized, he was moved to long term acute care at the Select Specialty Hospital, which is a critical illness recovery hospital located at Corewell Health Blodgett Hospital. “They thought he was never going to leave there. It was very depressing, and it was probably the hardest time through the process.”
After a couple days, he started trying to speak. It was a big sign of hope that she, family members and close friends had been praying for. “Sticking by my faith is what helped me.”
He was soon taken off the ventilator and talking. “From that point on, it was ‘Game On.’” He then began therapy. “The PT people there were amazing.”
“We were finally getting to where I could have conversations with him.” She remembers his doctor saying to him, “You’re a miracle.”
He was soon moved to Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital, where he is presently. “Knowing he was getting accepted to Mary Free Bed was the best day of our lives. They have really pushed him in the best way.”
He was finally taken off the feeding tube and recently had his first meal—cheesy breadsticks from his favorite Grand Rapids eatery, Z’s Bar & Restaurant. He has lost about 60 pounds since the accident.
“He is released from his room, so now I can take him in his wheelchair from his room and go outside. We can have lunch together outside.” She has even brought his dog for a visit.
Friends and family gathered last Sunday to celebrate not only his birthday, but also his miraculous recovery.
The day before the June 5 interview, she said he stood up and pushed himself to rehab.
Markaya said they have stayed in touch with Sgt. Cuevas throughout the recovery process and consider him a friend.
She estimates that he is about 80 percent recovered at this point. “We owe a lot to all of these doctors and nurses who have helped us. His personality is back, and he is telling them jokes. I never knew if I was going to see that.”
The long road to recovery has come with a big price tag, and a Go Fund Me has been set up to help Coop and Markaya with the mounting bills and expenses.
Cooper had ordered helmets for Markaya and him just prior to the accident. When she got home from ICU that first night after his accident, they were on their porch.
A benefit is being organized by the Muskegon Motorcycle Club. When the details are finalized, they will be posted on the Go Fund Me page.
Despite all the progress he has made, Markaya acknowledges there is a lot more healing that needs to take place. “There is such a long road ahead. Our home is going to have to be modified for a while.” She has confidence that Coop is going to give it everything he has to fully recover. “He is not a quitter—he’s a fighter.”
- Contributed photos provided by Markaya McBean
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