NORWOOD, N.C. -- One of the survivors of the Fort Hood, Texas, rampage that killed 13, who is still fighting for his life, has family in the Charlotte area.

The parents of 30-year-old Matt Cooke live in Norwood in Stanly County. They told Eyewitness News that Cooke was shot several times in the stomach and woke up from a coma Friday morning. He remains in the intensive care unit in a Texas hospital.

Dianemarie Frappier said words can't describe the pain knowing her son is clinging to life.

“I just can't tell you the shock. It just doesn't make any sense,” she said. “He has lost most of his colon, his bladder, and they tried -- they worked on his intestines."

Frappier said Cooke is a proud soldier, husband and father. He serves the 20th Engineer Batallion of the 36th Engineer Brigade at Fort Hood.

Cooke already fought two tours in Iraq.

"He got to come home for the birth of (his son) Gabriel," Frappier said.

Cooke also nearly lost his life during combat.

"They fired at Matthew, and the bullet lodged in the window frame, so he said if the bullet had been a couple inches higher it would have killed him," Frappier said.

But she said she thought her son was safe on American soil.

“A lot of (the soldiers) are kids who've lost their life on their own base in the middle of America," she said.

While Frappier still tries to cope with why the shooting spree happened, she said she relies on her faith and she’s hopeful her son's resilience will pull him through.

But, she said she realizes he will never be the same.

"This is life-altering, but he's going to make it," Frappier said.

Cooke's parents are making arrangements to go to Texas as soon as possible.

Because security is so tight, Cooke's wife has only been able to see her husband a few times. He was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan in January.