Biking Safety
Our bicycle correspondent survived a serious accident. He will be OK. He hopes to get out a warning about riding without a helmet. Consider the potential cost to yourself, your family and your insurance group!
As Erling Petersen tells us:
On October 1 last year I rode my bike without wearing my helmet-it was on a forest preserve bicycle path which I assumed to be safe-and somehow fell, was knocked unconcious, and was diagnosed as probably fatally injured(Blood clots in the brain).
Fortunately a surgeon operated on my brain, somewhat unsure whether it would do any good as he felt I still might die or have little brain function. I was comatose for the next 3 1/2 weeks and spent more than 2 months in the hospital. Upon release it took two more months of being reeducated to read and write properly.
Fortunately I have mostly recovered (I still cannot remember names or certain words)... I ride on a regular basis now but never without the helmet that I had already owned.
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Twice-Saved, He Rides with a Helmet
Our bicycle correspondent reports a new example of Surviving the Streets thru Bicycle Safety:
I have another one for you now. When I rode Bike-the-Drive this year on May 24 another rider lost control and fell right in front of me. Obviously when he flew over in front of me I did not have a chance to miss (I had moved over but he flew down in my direction).
Our bikes were stuck together and as they were separated I sat down and took my helmet off. I saw 5 breaks in the liner of the helmet. They asked what I wanted to do and it was just to ride down to the starting point. The First Aid wanted to call an ambulance but I just rode home (I lived only two miles away and I was feeling OK).
After getting home I rode my bike to the hospital and they did a CT Scan at the Emergency Room and found a slight temporal bone fracture to my skull had occurred. It was not severe so I went home with the promise that I would see the brain surgeon to assure that it was all right. I showed him the film they had taken and it was determined to be not serious or dangerous. Then I showed him the damaged helmet (I had replaced it immediately). He said, "If you had not been wearing this you would be dead."
So, another positive story, from the same guy, on the life saving importance of wearing a helmet. I was knocked down twice by others and have miraculously survived, the second time only because I wore the helmet.