The then 17-year-old was preparing to leave the Prince of Wales Showgrounds on October 24 when he was punched to the head by a 30-year-old man walking in front of the group in a random and unprovoked attack.

His head hit the concrete and he lost consciousness.

“Not knowing what happened to me, I was rushed to hospital with no memory,” he wrote in a victim impact statement, read out in the Bendigo Magistrates’ Court this week.

“I got in the ambulance, scared for my life. I was told I was hit and at first I didn’t even believe it.”

He suffered a fractured cheek, swollen lips and persistent headaches for weeks.

He was rushed to Bendigo Health where doctors recommended he not work as a building apprentice for at least four weeks, fearing memory and concentration problems.

The attack had a great impact on his ability to keep working.

Now 18, Kade said he realises how close he was to serious injury, disability or death.

“Considering all of this, I was one of the lucky ones,” he said.

“I realise how lucky I am to even be alive still, with no long-term injuries, disabilities or anything. The only long-term effect it has had on me is my mind state.

“After the incident I was a lot more cautious with what I did, where I went and what kind of people I was hanging around with – some days I would just decide to stay home to avoid anything else that might happen.”

His mother Janelle Rogers wrote a statement aimed directly at her son’s attacker, Sean Huggett, 30, of White Hills.

She wrote that the attack was “sickly”, particularly given it was aimed at another 18-year-old who was not connected to Kade.

“You are old enough to know that one punch kills. That is the one thing that I will never get over,” Ms Rogers said.

“I am forever grateful that my son survived that punch, but the ‘what ifs’ haunt me every day.

“What if he was one of the statistics, where just one punch kills?”

She spoke about the thoughts going through her mind when she received the phone call that her son was in an ambulance on the way to hospital after being attacked at random.

“My son, as well as my other children, took a very long time to get over this,” Ms Rogers said.

A Bendigo court heard the man who punched Kade Stevenson, 18, to the head at last year’s Bendigo Show intended to target another teenager in a case of “mistaken identity”.

Sean Huggett, 30, pleaded guilty to recklessly causing injury in the Bendigo Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

He was sentenced to 30 days prison, a 12 month community corrections order and 150 hours of unpaid community work.

Huggett has appealed the sentence, to be heard in court later this year.

Prosecutor Senior Constable Karl Mannes said the 17-year-old Kade Stevenson was walking with friends at the show at 9.05pm on October 24 last year.

Huggett was walking in front of the group when he turned around, walked up to Kade and punched him to the head without provocation in front of a number of young children.

Huggett was then heard to shout “How would you like it?” at the victim, believing him to be another 18-year-old who was in a relationship with one of Huggett’s relatives.

Kade was taken to Bendigo Health with facial injuries and persistent headaches, while event security questioned Huggett over the incident and contacted police.

Huggett was arrested on January 25.

He told police the intended target - another 18-year-old not connected to the victim - had been harassing him earlier in the evening on Facebook.

“In the dark I could not get a good look, it could have been a bystander I suppose. I panicked for the safety of my children,” he told officers.

“It wasn’t meant to knock him out, but a warning to back off, he wasn’t in that bad condition I thought.”

Defence counsel Peter Baker said Huggett was “very remorseful and apologetic” for the attack and accepted there was no excuse.

“He saw (the intended victim) at the show and was told on Facebook he was going to come after him,” Mr Baker said.

“There was a group of young men he thought was following him, he was concerned they would follow him to the car park.”

The court heard since the incident, Huggett has joined the school council and shown he is “not a person only thinking of himself”.

Magistrate Richard Wright said it was “very lucky” the victim was still walking around today.

“Having heard the victim impact statement, it’s clear this has had a significant impact on the young man,” he said.

“One can see from the photos that he was hit pretty hard.

“(The sentence) needs to indicate the court’s condemnation of your actions.”