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Traumatic brain injury couldn't stop H-W's Cook

Tuesday, January, 15 By Mike Grenier
Staff writer

Matt Cook has returned to his usual routine with the Hamilton-Wenham basketball team. The 6-foot-2 inch sophomore forward practices hard every day and looks forward to the Generals' regular season games.

But there is nothing ordinary about what the 15-year-old Cook has gone through in the last nine months to make himself whole again, which is why he is so appreciative of where he is now. To Cook, every day this season is extraordinarily good.

"Sometimes after practice, I think to myself, 'I just had a great time out there,' said Cook, who has averaged six points and a team-high seven rebounds this winter. "Basically, I'm just the normal kid on the team again. It's been fun."

The word "fun" was temporarily erased from the Cook family vocabulary last March 30 when Matt suffered a traumatic brain injury at Hamilton-Wenham's first outdoor baseball practice of the season.

It was a freak accident. Cook was pitching batting practice when he was clobbered by a line drive.

The damage was a fractured skull and, far worse, bleeding on the brain that caused him to lose sensation and function on the right side of his body. His speech was severely impaired. In fact, he had many of the symptoms of a stroke victim.

"From the time it happened, there was a dark cloud over our season," recalled long-time Hamilton-Wenham baseball coach Doug Hoak. "There wasn't a day that went by that you didn't think about it."

Cook had all the time in the world to think about it, but the focus was on making a full recovery | if that was indeed possible.

He was held for a week at Children's Hospital in Boston, including two days in the intensive care unit. He spent another four weeks at Boston's Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, where he received occupational, physical and speech therapy.

When Cook came home there were several more weeks of therapy, this time at Shaughnessy-Kaplan Hospital in Salem. Along the way, Cook never lost faith or hope. His family was always by his side. He recalls his dad, Tom, a former Cleveland Indians draft pick and a local basketball official, feeding him when he was in ICU. He drew strength from his parents and from those who cared for him.

"I never thought I wouldn't be able to play sports again," said Cook. "I was just anxious to get back on the field or on the court. It was tough, yes, but I didn't think of it that way. I got so many compliments and people were helping me out, so I always thought of the positives.

"Every single week, it was more encouraging knowing I was getting better."

The first big breakthrough for Cook came in May, when he felt comfortable enough to go back to school to visit friends | although he wasn't ready for classes just yet. Later that month in what was one of the most thrilling moments of his life, Cook got to throw out the first ball at a Red Sox-Tigers game at Fenway Park. A lot of Cook's friends and teammates played hooky from school that afternoon in order to see him.

"I went to school for the social aspect," said Cook, "and it was great for me. With the help of people at rehab, I was still teaching myself to speak again. I would stutter at times and I had trouble with word retrieval. I think it was around July that everything started to click."

Hamilton-Wenham basketball coach Marty Binette runs a hoop camp during the summer and one of his varsity players, Corey Daff, urged the coach to invite Cook to help out. At that point, Binette didn't know what stage of recovery Cook was at, so it was an opportunity for the coach to see for himself. Plus, it was another boost to Cook's spirit.

"I wasn't even thinking about Matt at the time because (of the severity of his injury)," said Binette. "But when he came to our camp, he worked with the 8-and 9-year-olds and was great with those kids. I could also see that even though he wasn't 100 percent physically, he could be all right. He did much better as time went on."

Cook received medical clearance to play athletics, as he recalls, in late September. That in itself was stunning, if not miraculous. Doctor Mark Proctor from Children's Hospital told Matt's parents that it can take two years for someone to fully recover from this type of traumatic brain injury. Or they might not fully recover, period.

"Nine months ago, he couldn't hold a fork or pen," said Matt's mother, Ann. "The doctor told us several times at his six-month follow-up that Matt's recovery was remarkable. "To show you how serious the injury was, the doctor said, 'If you were an adult, you probably wouldn't get your speech back. Ever.' So Matt had youth on his side."

Although baseball remains his favorite sport, the basketball season has been a joy for Cook. Physically, he's grown 3-4 inches and added 30 pounds to his frame since last summer. He's a solid role player | he had a season-high 16 points in a game against Amesbury | on a young team that's getting better (5-4). Binette loves his playing style and his attitude.

"Matt is just so coachable," said Binette. "He defends really well and rebounds. When he scores it's a bonus, but he probably leads us in every hustle stat. He has a nice feel for the game as a young player, and he's going to get better."

Meanwhile, Tom Cook has taken a year off from officiating high school games to see his son play. He's a proud parent and feels blessed that Matt has his good health back.

"We don't know where he'll end up, but he's playing sports again and we're all happy about it," said Tom Cook. "There's a reason we live here. We have some of the best health care you can find anywhere, and Matt had the will to keep improving. He's a great kid."