His wife Alysa and the children, two girls 16 months and 5 months old, stayed with relatives in Klamath Falls until Jason, who does not remember specifics of the attack after the initial confrontation, was released. Danise noted that Jason has not yet recovered the full use of his arm and is facing months of physical therapy.“The scary part is they’re not sure he will,” which would impact his career in offshore drilling. “And he loves physical work, being outside working... it’s been quite a blow,” especially as his older daughter does not understand why she “can’t crawl up on Daddy,” whose emergency surgeries were extensive. “His wife’s mother,” Debbie Avendano of Santa Paula, said Danise, “has set up a fund trying to help, as they’re being hit with expenses they never dreamed they would be facing,” which in addition to the loss of Jason’s full income include being charged a $2,000 penalty for breaking the lease on the apartment they can no longer afford. Donations are being accepted at Santa Barbara Bank & Trust Harvard Boulevard Branch; checks must be made out to Debbie Avendano, with the memo notation “Jason Cook Hospital Fund.”Danise said she is speaking for the entire family when she offers thanks “to all the good people who had Jason in their prayers. The doctors told us it would be a miracle if he survived and we did have that miracle, but we could use a couple of more.” And, she added, overall “We are so grateful, we just hope he can regain his strength and get down there and play with his little girls again.”
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Pictured above are Jason Cook, his wife Alysa, and their two children, Jayden, 16 months and Mackenzie, 5 months. |
Jason Cook back home, recovering after unprovoked Oregon stabbing
July 30, 2008
Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula TimesA former Santa Paula resident who was stabbed July 3 in front of his wife and two small children while attending a family reunion in Klamath Falls, Oregon is recovering at home in Ventura County, but his mother said that Jason Cook has a long road ahead to complete recovery.Cook, 25, was stabbed at a gas station in Klamath Falls in an attack described as unprovoked. His younger brother, 17-year-old Brian, was also injured by the three men - one who had escaped to Apple Valley where he was found last week - now in custody in Oregon.Klamath Falls Police had requested that Cook’s identity not be revealed until all the suspects were captured. Cook was not expected to survive the attack, but “He’s recovering and started his physical therapy, but has a long road ahead of him,” said his mother, Danise Cook - Bob Cook is the boys’ father - of Santa Paula.Jason was stabbed twice after being confronted by the suspects while Jason and his brother were entering a convenience store at about 10 p.m. The attack was “out of the blue... they were getting gas and the guys started yelling at them. They kept expressing that were not from the area and reminded them that there were children in the car,” but after the brothers pumped gas and “tried to leave, the others,” described in Klamath Falls press reports as Caucasians, “just attacked.”Two of the suspects were captured within hours while doctors fought to save Jason’s life. “His heart stopped and they had to massage it to get it going,” said Danise of Jason, who was stabbed in the lung and the primary vein in his right arm that “runs to the heart... that was nearly the fatal blow,” involving a “massive loss of blood and nerve damage.”Jason, a former Santa Paula High School football player who graduated from a private high school, surprised the doctors. “He didn’t have any of the setbacks the doctors figured he would; and although he spent several days in Intensive Care he held his own, never did go downhill.”
