Cookson, just 23, was driving a ute on the first day of his new job and collided head-on with a bus on the Murray Valley Hwy on October 26 last year.
He had been given a job by Kyabram Cricket Club president Tim Nelson at Repco Echuca, where Nelson is store manager, as a full-time delivery driver, and was delivering a toolbox to a Repco client at Cohuna.
He never made it.
Nelson remembers that day vividly.
“It was a devastating time,” he said.
“We didn’t know if he would walk again, so to see him playing cricket again is just fantastic.”
He said Saturday’s game would be an emotional day, not only for the club but the whole sporting community.
“He only played two games for us and it is quite incredible that someone who played for such a short time has had such a massive impact,” Nelson said.
Cookson said playing with the club that has done so much to support him would be incredibly moving, even overwhelming.
“It’s been a journey,” he said.
“The fact that I am even able to do it that day, exactly 12 months on, means a lot to me.”
He’s particularly grateful to have the opportunity to play alongside Nelson, as well as Brenton Sheppard (who is on loan from Kyabram Fire Brigade for the match).
Sheppard said he and his family “fell in love with the bloke” after Cookson moved in behind Hurley’s Bar, which Sheppard owns, when he first came to Kyabram.
They have been key figures in Cookson's recovery.
“Saturday is a momentous occasion,” Sheppard said.
“To cast your mind back 12 months to the day, this wouldn’t have been imaginable.
“We got to know him in the small space of time before the accident and we knew that you don’t find people like this every day.
“When the accident happened we knew we had to help, especially with his loved ones so far away.
“I promised his mum and dad that we would do everything in our power to care and help him.
”And during that time, we haven’t heard him complain or whinge once … he has just got the best attitude.”
Sheppard thanked Kyabram Fire Brigade and Kyabram Cricket Club for making it possible for him to play with Cookson, a game he “wouldn’t miss for the world''.
Perhaps the only way to make the comeback any sweeter would be to have Cookson's parents here for the match.
He said that although they would have loved to witness his return, they had been overwhelmed by the outstanding support of the Kyabram community and know he is well looked after.
“After my rehab I’ve moved back up to Kyabram because I feel so at home here, which is a compliment to the whole town,” Cookson said.
“People have got my back, say hello at the pub and check in to see how I am going.
“It’s not just about me — that support has been a massive relief for my mum and dad also to know that I have such a good support network.
“I’m sure it’s a little bittersweet for Mum and Dad because they won’t be here, but as always they are backing me 100 per cent.”
Cookson says it’s his determination to be the best he can be that has got him back to the ground so quickly.
“Anything I do I always wanted to do the best I can,” he said.
“I just decided that I owed it to myself to get myself into the position to live a normal life and be happy.
“Who knows how far I will go.”
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