Dad brings dance to daughter awaiting heart transplant in hospital
A 10-year-old girl awaiting a heart transplant had an unforgettable father-daughter dance at Cleveland Clinic Children's after missing a similar event at her school.
Caregivers decorated Ava Cooper's hospital room with heart-shaped streamers, lights and balloons, while Ava's mom Jamie Cooper helped her daughter get ready in a pink dress and did her hair and makeup, the hospital told "Good Morning America" in an email.
Ava's dad Sean Cooper waited outside her room with a corsage, and the medical team safely escorted Ava, who relies on a Berlin Heart device, to the improvised dance floor, the hospital said.
Ava's Berlin Heart device "helps her heart pump blood throughout her body," according to Cleveland Clinic Children's.
Surrounded by cheering caregivers, the two swayed to Ava's favorite songs, sharing a heartfelt moment that Sean Cooper called one of the most impactful of his life, "rivaled only by her birth," according to the hospital.
Ava said her favorite memory from that day was the slow dance with her father, saying, "My dad is like having the best friend a girl could ask for."
Ava has been in the hospital for over 200 days, fighting congenital heart defects since birth, according to Cleveland Clinic Children's.
Despite multiple surgeries, Jamie Cooper said her daughter remains a fighter, holding onto hope for a donor heart.
