Cooper's dad ran the Eastern Bay Jetboat Tours and supplemented his income as a deer shooter. He had been out working deer recovery in the bush about ten minutes from Gisborne when the helicopter he was in crashed. Cooper's world fell apart as he tried to deal with the tragedy that everyone dreads.
''It was a difficult time for me - my dad had helped me heaps with motocross and I just couldn't do it without him,'' shared Cooper, ''As you know, it costs a lot of money to race and prepare bikes and my bike just got run down. I just couldn't focus on racing during that time.''
The next three years of Cooper's life were extremely difficult. His racing career dried up completely as he learned to deal with his tragic loss. Then, out of the blue, Cooper got a call ...
''Some friends of mine, Peter Pimm and his son, Mark just rang me up one day and asked whether I wanted to ride the Woodville GP? I went and borrowed one of Honda's bikes and won five out of five races in the 15-16 Years Junior 125cc class. I only rode for two days before that event after a three year break.''
The Woodville Motocross GP is one of the biggest stand alone motocross events on the New Zealand calendar.
Cooper's solid performance after such a long time away from the racing circuit turned heads and one of those heads belonged to Blue Wing Honda's [Honda New Zealand] Dave Borlase.
''After Woodville, Dave Borlase picked me up and I've been with them ever since,'' Cooper related, ''Dave was awesome. He knew my situation with my dad and he knew I couldn't afford to race so he worked out a deal where they gave me everything I needed to race - all the parts I needed and everything. You know, if I hadn't gone to Woodville that weekend I don't reckon I'd be riding now.''
Under the Honda wing, Cooper began to explore the sport more fully and started complementing his motocross with other events. The infamous Hawkes Bay Six-Hour cross-country was quick to make an impression on the young rider.
