Ankeny boy who spent 456 days in hospital "doing really well" two years after transplant
Cooper Schmidt spent the first 456 days of his life at University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Following a successful kidney transplant, several members of Cooper’s care team celebrated with music and bubbles as he left the hospital to make his first trip to his Ankeny home in March of 2022.
“Super Cooper,” as he is known, turned 3 in December 2023 and recently celebrated the two-year anniversary of his transplant. His mother, Mady Schmidt, said the toddler is “doing really well.”
Cooper was born with autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD), a condition that caused development of cysts in his kidneys, making them significantly enlarged and with barely any function. Surgeons eventually needed to remove both of Cooper’s kidneys, so his other organs could have room to grow.
About six months later, a living donor came forward to donate one of their kidneys. Cooper received his new kidney on Feb. 7, 2022 with help from the pediatric kidney transplant team at UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital—the only one of its kind in Iowa.
