by Jay Barlett, Communications
HAMILTON, Ont. - No matter where his careers in politics, academia, coaching, the corporate world, or charitable work have taken him, Terry Cooke has always called McMaster University his 'north star' - and by that light, he always finds his way back home.
Now CEO of the Hamilton Community Foundation, an organization that has committed itself to supporting lower income and marginalized kids to attend postsecondary institutions, Cooke's Hamilton and McMaster roots run deep. Following a brief stint at Western, Cooke returned home and graduated from McMaster in 1983 with a pair of degrees in history and social work, while working as a supply teacher and a high school basketball coach.
He entered the political scene at the age of 25 with endorsements from two pillars in Marauder lore, Bernie Custis and David Braley. "I can honestly say that McMaster has been a foundational presence in my life since the time I was a kid until present day, so I'm blessed and grateful" says Cooke.
Cooke would go on to serve 15 years in public office, culminating in two terms as Chairman of the regional Hamilton government, before joining Ron Foxcroft's group of companies acting as CEO for FOX 40 International and Fluke Transportation.
Terry's father was a captain of the Marauders football team in the '50's, and after becoming superintendent of the Hamilton School Board, Mr. Cooke settled the family in Westdale - just a block away from where Terry continues to live to this day.
Once a high school athlete with dreams of making it big in basketball, Terry now fills his free time with any sport or recreational activity he can. Over the last 20 years, he has run the New York City, Chicago, and Marine Corps marathons, built a home gym,
taken up cycling with his wife, Maureen, and committed himself to a healthier lifestyle of walking for at least an hour a day.
For the last 25 years, Cooke has been a staple at McMaster's squash courts every Sunday morning with his playing partner, Hamilton Mayor, Fred Eisenberger, in a ultra-competitive friendly game. When asked who has the upper hand in that matchup, without missing a beat and as straight-faced as they come, Cooke replies
"It's not even close. Not even close".
"I'm a kid who grew up with all of my formative experiences in athletics. I was either going to the Mac summer basketball camps, going to Marauders games of all sports, sitting in on classes where it made sense, and immersing myself in whatever I could as a community kid who was close to the university."
Two of Terry's partners in 'crime' at a young age were Ray Kybartas, a former assistant coach at McMaster and someone who Cooke considers one of the greatest Hamilton-born point guards ever, and Joe Raso - who would go on to become one of the winningest coaches in Canadian basketball history.
"We were gym rats," exclaims Cooke, "and we used to sneak into Burridge Gymnasium at all hours of the day before they had real security."
That feeling of being a gym rat never really left him.
Fast forward to the spring of 2018, when while playing a weekly game of pickup basketball with Hamilton musicians and artists, including Arkells frontman Max Kerman, Cooke suffered a significant knee injury on what he describes as a play just like any other.
"I took the ball to the hoop, and planted (which I've done a million times), and heard an audible 'pop' sound" explains Cooke. "I went down like a ton of bricks. I knew it was a serious injury."
One of the first to rush to Terry's aid on the court was a local ER doctor, who by a stroke of luck happened to be playing in the game that week. "We got some ice on it and he was able to give me a pretty bleak diagnosis right then and there."
The next day, Terry contacted the David Braley Sport Medicine & Rehabilitation Centre at McMaster University to discuss what his next steps would look like. Within 24 hours, he met with Marauder team doctors who referred him for the MRI that would confirm every athlete's worst nightmare - he had completely ruptured the anterior collateral ligament (ACL) in his right knee.
Cooke credits Dr. Devin Peterson, the Marauders' orthopaedic surgeon, for laying all the cards on the table about the uphill road to recovery that he was facing to rehab the injured knee.
Speaking to the severity of the injury for someone approaching 60, Dr. Peterson told Cooke "at your age, some people just wear a brace and give up mobility, and their active, high intensity lifestyles. Recovery won't be the same as it would have been if you were still 25 - you're looking at nine to 12 months of a fairly grueling rehab."
For Terry, not returning to his active lifestyle wasn't an option. The only question to the doc was "how soon can we start?"
After five weeks of 'prehab', a rehabilitation program developed to allow patients to regain strength and movement before procedures, Terry underwent successful ACL reconstruction surgery at the McMaster University Medical Centre. Within a matter of days, he was back to working out in the clinic with its world-class training staff.
"Colin Oczkowski, one of the fantastic registered physiotherapists at McMaster, became my coach, my protagonist, my tormentor, and ultimately the guy that I would credit more than anybody else with the remarkable recovery that I experienced," says Cooke. "He made it clear to me that if I was going to be successful, that I would have to work harder than I had ever worked in my life."
And Terry had plenty of motivation, training alongside Marauder student-athletes and even members of the Canadian national team, many of whom were in the same situation. He told himself whatever these 21-year old kids are doing to recover, that he was going to do that and a little bit more.
"Even if I wasn't a competitive athlete, I found it helpful to be surrounded by younger athletes, who were still recovering, some from McMaster, some professionals, and some from our national programs. These people were going through the exact same experience I was."
Over the next several months, Oczkowski and Cooke worked together to strengthen the surgically repaired knee through countless exercises, stretches, and the odd curse word. Before he knew it, Terry was logging miles on the underwater treadmill in the clinic's state-of-the-art hydrotherapy pool.
Detailing how fortunate the Hamilton community is to have such talented medical staff and first-rate facilities right in their backyard, Cooke recommends that anyone seeking to rehab from injuries, big or small, check out the clinic.
"What's refreshing [about the David Braley Sport Medicine clinic] is that there is no judgement - it is a welcoming, friendly place. It's as far from being intimidating as can be, and yet the programming and intervention is 100% tailored to where you're at in your journey."
In what was initially expected to be nine to 12 months of recovery, Terry's treatment team had him back playing squash and basketball in just over seven and a half months, with the doctor's blessing, of course. After another eight to 10 months, he was back to playing sports without his supportive knee brace.
Cooke often says that he considers his injury to have been a blessing in disguise.
"I feel like I got the best possible intervention by the best professionals, and then I committed myself to the hard work and they challenged me to succeed in that work, and I couldn't be more grateful. The experience of working with the David Braley Sport Medicine clinic staff was quite literally life-changing."
Terry says he's currently getting ready to run North America's oldest road race, 'Around the Bay', at a cool 30 km.
"As I like to say, I'm the world's oldest and fattest marathon runner" he adds with a laugh.
Three years removed from tearing his ACL, the former Westdale Secondary School Warrior, now just north of 60, feels as though he's in the best shape of his life. Whether it's running, golf, squash, playing pick-up basketball, or cycling and walking with his wife, Cooke has no plans for slowing down. And with three kids, two of whom are competitive athletes in volleyball and basketball, his life in and around a McMaster gym isn't going to change.
Throughout his travels, Terry Cooke will always call McMaster his 'north star' - a constant that forever brings him home.
