Courage Defined

It is pretty neat that 14-year-old Duke Children's patient Matthew Cooper played in this year's Duke Children's Classic Celebrity golf tournament, but it is even more amazing knowing that Matthew is blind.

Matthew has been playing golf ever since he was a "little kid." He has also been battling cancer. Matthew has lost his vision as a result of an inoperable tumor.

Matthew was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 1996 in his home state of California. The Cooper family lived in a small town in northern California, yet an Internet query on brain tumor treatment centers identified Duke as the place of hope for Matthew. He has been a patient at Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center in Durham, N.C. since 1998.

Travel to appointments was challenging and time consuming. For each visit the Coopers endured a five-hour drive to the nearest airport in San Francisco, and then a cross-country flight to the East Coast, but the care Matthew received at Duke Children's was worth the effort.

After seven years commuting coast-to-coast for care, the Coopers moved to Durham in July of 2005. Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center offered Matthew more treatment options than hospitals closer to his home. As an added bonus, Matthew had more opportunities to hone his golf skills in the Durham area. It was a win-win situation. In March of 2006, Matthew started taking golf lessons with a private instructor.

Mature beyond his years, Matthew said of the Duke Children's Classic, "The main thing is by playing in the tournament, I'll get to talk to people and tell them that Duke is amazing."

Matthew is a profile of courage and perseverance through adversity. He is an inspiration and represents the true spirit of the patients treated at Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center.