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Dianemarie Frappier of Stanly County said her son was able to say only one word on the phone Friday, but that was plenty for her.
“He said ‘ma,' ” Frappier said of her son, Army Spec. Matthew Cooke, who was shot three times Thursday by the gunman who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in central Texas.
“Then he fell back asleep again,” she said.
Cooke, 30, a 10-year Army veteran with two tours in Iraq, was among the 30 people injured when a man identified by Army officials as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire inside a building at Fort Hood.
Frappier, who lives with her husband Gerard in Norwood, said Army surgeons have given the family a hopeful outlook on her son but say he will need more surgery and a lengthy recovery.
She said she was at home Thursday afternoon when her husband called and told her to turn on the TV, because something had happened at Fort Hood.
“I saw what had happened, but with thousands and thousands of soldiers at Fort Hood, I never imagined Matthew could be involved,” Frappier said.
A short time later, she received a call from a doctor in an ambulance.
“Matthew was one of the first people taken to the hospital, because his injuries were so bad,” she said. “There was a phone in the ambulance, and Matthew was able to give the doctor our phone number. That's how I learned.”
Cooke underwent surgery and went into a coma late Thursday night.
Frappier said she had just about fallen asleep, about 3 a.m. Friday, when she heard that a 13th shooting victim had died. She worried that it was Matthew, and it was well after daybreak before she was able to reach authorities at Fort Hood and learn that her son had survived.
“You can't imagine what it was like during those few hours,” she said.
Frappier has been able to learn a few details about what happened. She said a friend of her son's was among the first people shot, hit in the head and killed by the gunman.
“Matthew bent over to help him, and that's when the man shot him three times in the back,” Cooke's mother said.
She said it appears as if her son might have some longterm physical problems as a result of the shooting, but, she added, “Although he's not doing well, he's alive.”
The family is from the Binghamton, N.Y., area. Frappier and her husband, along with daughter Christina Cooke, moved to the Charlotte area 2 1/2 years ago. Another daughter, Kimmy Miller, lives near Binghamton. Kimmy and her husband Grady drove all night from New York to be with Matthew in Texas. Diane Frappier says she will travel there next week, so the family can spread out its visits.
“This will be a longterm thing, and we want to make sure someone is with Matthew,” she said.
Cooke and his wife, Sara, have two children, Zachary, 5, and Gabriel, 14 months.
Frappier said her son was preparing for a third tour overseas – to Afghanistan.
After facing danger twice in Iraq, Frappier said it was strange that her son was shot in the United States.
“Who would have known?” she said.
