Cars and motorcycles lined up outside the Matte family's home in Pleasanton, Texas on October 11, delivering candy and well-wishes to 4-year-old Cohen Matte as he awaited a major heart surgery his family hoped would be his last. Cohen was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a life-threatening congenital heart defect that affects the development of the left side of the heart, and he was gearing up for a third open-heart procedure.
The drive-by celebration came together after Cohen's mother, Brooke Matte, turned to Facebook to find a safe way for her son to celebrate Halloween before his hospital stay, according to localmemphis.com. Neighbors answered the call, forming a roughly 15-minute parade past the family's home and leaving Cohen with about seven laundry baskets full of candy. Brooke described her son as funny, superhero-obsessed, and, in her words, stronger than a superhero.
Cohen has already been through more than most children face in a lifetime. He underwent his first surgery at just 7 days old and his second at 5 months old, and the pending procedure was meant to be the third and, his family hoped, final major repair. Pleasanton Express reported that doctors had scheduled Cohen for the Fontan procedure on October 19, with surgeons also hoping to repair a leaking tricuspid valve during the same operation.
An Infection Upends the Surgery Timeline
Not long after the celebration, the plan changed. Days after the drive-by event, Cohen tested positive for an infection, and according to 9news.com, his medical team determined it would not be safe to proceed with the surgery as originally planned. Localmemphis.com's report states that Cohen's surgery has been postponed until December 2026, though the exact rescheduled date has not been independently confirmed by a primary medical source.
Whenever the operation does move forward, doctors anticipate Cohen will spend at least three weeks in the hospital afterward, and recovery could stretch longer depending on how his heart and lungs respond. The uncertainty adds another layer of stress for a family already trying to take things one day at a time while they wait.
A New Insurance Plan Means Starting Over Financially
Compounding the medical worry is a financial one. Brooke and her husband, Dylan Matte, had already met Cohen's deductible under their current insurance plan and were working toward satisfying the remainder of his out-of-pocket maximum for the year. But the family is set to transition to a new insurance company and policy on November 1, which means starting over toward a new deductible and out-of-pocket maximum right as Cohen's surgery looms.
The Matte family has spent thousands of dollars on Cohen's medical care this year alone, and they have created a GoFundMe page to help cover the mounting costs. Brooke has said she hopes sharing Cohen's story will raise awareness about the financial burden families carry when caring for children with complex medical needs, telling reporters the family is raising both awareness and money because of what it costs to save her child's life. People following Cohen's journey can also do so through the family's Facebook page, Mending Cohen's Heart.
Families living with hypoplastic left heart syndrome often face a lifetime of ongoing care beyond the initial surgeries, including outpatient visits, imaging studies, and cardiac catheterizations, according to research published by pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. The staged nature of HLHS treatment, which can include procedures like the bidirectional Glenn shunt typically performed between 4 and 6 months of age per the CDC, helps explain why the Matte family's medical bills have piled up well before Cohen's third major operation.
For now, the Matte family says it is relying heavily on the support of their Pleasanton community while they wait for Cohen to be cleared for surgery. The outpouring of candy and cars outside their home earlier this month was, for a few minutes at least, a reminder that their small Texas town is in their corner for whatever comes next.
