Wear protection please

A friend of the family was long boarding down a long hill. He and his friends have done it many times. Well, friday evening he went down. Hard. He wasn't wearing a helmet. He's been in a medically-induced coma since Friday evening. At this point, they don't know the extent of his brain injuries. The docs suspect if/when he wakes, he won't be the same guy.
He was about 20. He had his whole life ahead of him.
Have fun, but be safe out there folks.

I've always said "If you're doing stupid E36 M3, wear the stupid helmet". Hopefully he gets out of this lucky, or at least his friends learn something from it.

Oh, wow. Sorry to hear of this. My dad pounded it into my head to ALWAYS wear a helmet on my dirt bike, one day I endoed and landed on a concrete block half buried in sand. The helmet had a hole in it and cracked like an egg but I was able to walk away.

You only think you look dorky the first couple of times you wear it. After that it is like a seabelt, you feel naked without it

Truth is, I never wore a helmet while mountain biking. Even after I took a spill that knocked me out for a few seconds. My parents never told me to, but I was into biking in the 90's when only dorks wore helmets. I'm glad I never regretted it. My kids do any time they are on a bike.

I was 6/7 years old or so, and my parents wouldn't let me ride a bike without a helmet, years before they became compulsory for bike riders in Western Australia. I wear one all the time when snowboarding now; I've fallen riding up a T-bar on a snowboard in a white-out (caught my back edge on a lip I couldn't see) and smashed the back of my helmet so hard I had a headache afterwards. I hate to think the damage an innocous scenario like that could have resulted in. I'm a professional; I (and my family) need what little brains I have.

mad_machine wrote: You only think you look dorky the first couple of times you wear it. After that it is like a seabelt, you feel naked without it

Exactly. I always, always ride a horse with a helmet on, just wouldn't feel right without. Came off over a cross country jump one time, cracked the helmet and had a bit of a concussion... can't imagine what it would've been like bare-headed. Sorry to hear about your family friend. Hoping he has a full recovery.

Sorry about your friend. I grew up when riding amything on the street a helmet was optional. I am amazed I survived some of the stupid E36M3 I did.

I hope your friend makes it

Here's some stupid for ya. I cringe every time I go into SC and see bikers on the highway with nothing but sunglasses on their noggin.

Lesley wrote:

mad_machine wrote: You only think you look dorky the first couple of times you wear it. After that it is like a seabelt, you feel naked without it

Exactly. I always, always ride a horse with a helmet on, just wouldn't feel right without. Came off over a cross country jump one time, cracked the helmet and had a bit of a concussion... can't imagine what it would've been like bare-headed. Sorry to hear about your family friend. Hoping he has a full recovery.

John Wayne and Clint Eastwood never did that …

So sorry for your friend.

Always wore a helmet on a horse as a kid, but it took until my 30's to wear one on a bike and my 40's to wear one snowboarding and skiing which was really nuts. The great thing is helmets have come so far in the last 30+ years that they have gone from being uncomfortable to wear to not even noticing them.

And lets face it, even a helmet doesn't always work. Ask Schmacher.

never wore one in all the thousands of miles I rode on a bike as a kid … (I don't think TdF riders wore them back then) .. but as clumsy as I feel on a bike now, I think I'm going to go buy one

Adrian_Thompson wrote: So sorry for your friend. Always wore a helmet on a horse as a kid, but it took until my 30's to wear one on a bike and my 40's to wear one snowboarding and skiing which was really nuts. The great thing is helmets have come so far in the last 30+ years that they have gone from being uncomfortable to wear to not even noticing them.

Most people do not think they need to wear one while skiing or snowboarding.. it's just snow, right? All that fluffy white stuff can cover some pretty hard junk

Very sorry to hear that. I hope he pulls through. He and his family will need lots of support.

When I was about 11 I was skateboarding down way too big a hill on way too small a board. This was almost 40 years ago and there were no common lids except motorcycle helmets, and I wasn't wearing one. I still remember watching the glass from my specs scatter across the road from pavement level. I ended up with a serious concussion and 8 stitches. I got lucky and there was a cosmetic surgeon near the emergency room, or I would have a bigger scar on my forehead than I do now.

I hope for the best of luck and medical science for your friend.

I used to ride down the long hill by my house on longboards and inline skates all the time. And sledding in the winter. Rarely with a helmet. The one time I ate it hard I broke my wrist. I had a friend riding on a sled that hit his face on a mailbox when he lost control of the sled.

Its a sad story DrBoost, when I was around his age I never wanted to wear my helmet either. As kids we never really stopped to think "what could happen here if things go wrong?" and now I think that before I am doing anything with a potential risk.

Hopefully some good news comes soon for him and his family.

wbjones wrote:

Lesley wrote:

mad_machine wrote: You only think you look dorky the first couple of times you wear it. After that it is like a seabelt, you feel naked without it

Exactly. I always, always ride a horse with a helmet on, just wouldn't feel right without. Came off over a cross country jump one time, cracked the helmet and had a bit of a concussion... can't imagine what it would've been like bare-headed. Sorry to hear about your family friend. Hoping he has a full recovery.

John Wayne and Clint Eastwood never did that …

Cowboys don't jump gigantic fences.

An exgirlfriend had a son that was so accident prone on a bike that she made him wear a fullface motorcycle helmet.

Man that sucks. Hope he recovers.

To be honest, I thought this thread was going to be about something completely different...

Well, the latest news os that he's still in the coma, but may be respondingto his moms voice with a twitch, but they aren't sure. His blood count has dropped and he's on a treatment to help him produce red blood cells. That's the last I've heard. Thanks all for the well wishes. This just sucks.
And as far as the thread title, that was intentional. I figured the more people that open and read this the better.

" If you're going to ride, put a helmet on that thing." Hope this ends well for him, head injuries are hard to call.

still thinking of your family friend.. hope he pulls through

mad_machine wrote:

Adrian_Thompson wrote: So sorry for your friend. Always wore a helmet on a horse as a kid, but it took until my 30's to wear one on a bike and my 40's to wear one snowboarding and skiing which was really nuts. The great thing is helmets have come so far in the last 30+ years that they have gone from being uncomfortable to wear to not even noticing them.

Most people do not think they need to wear one while skiing or snowboarding.. it's just snow, right? All that fluffy white stuff can cover some pretty hard junk

I just recently bought a helmet for skiing. I've never worn one or really fell that hard... but still... for the Zamboni ice conditions we tend to have on PA slopes... plus, it seems like it would be warmer and easier to deal with than hats.

The two helmets I've broken riding cross-country and the two full-face helmets I've beat the piss out of racing/riding downhill are enough to always make me wear a helmet on my bikes. I even picked up a Leatt neck brace for DH riding, since I've been itching to race DH again this year. I'm not as flexible and don't bounce or heal like I used to. Still... the thing to do these days is to go 'the full Aussie' and wear a minimum of protective gear when riding DH: full face helmet and knee pads.

But when you're young, you're invincible. Other than when I was racing BMX (where they were required), I never wore a helmet.

mad_machine wrote: still thinking of your family friend.. hope he pulls through

Thanks. They tried to take him out of the coma today and he became VERY aggressive and violent. They had to restrain him and put him back under. I don't know what the heck that means.