BIKE HELMETS.....Do YOU wear one??

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Replies

  • jrbb03092
    jrbb03092 Posts: 198 Member
    My husband and my daughter definitely wear helmets when biking and I used to...

    As the result of a massive concussion suffered while ice skating (I wore a helmet when playing hockey but not when leisure skating because we grew up doing it that way), I am no longer allowed to play any sports or do anything where I could have another severe brain injury.

    I lost my balance, fell backwards, bounced the back of my head off the ice (as in smack with the first hit, up and then smack again). I had a huge hematoma on the back of my head, massive headaches, weeks of not being able to sleep, spent months on painkillers, feeling dizzy all the time, etc. It took me a good year to feel anywhere near back to normal. And to this day, I have occasional sharp stabbing (like someone has plunged a knife into the back of my head) pains, cannot lie down on my back without tilting my head and cannot stand to have anyone touch the back of my head (even a simple haircut leaves me with several days of pain).

    A few days after that happened to me, Liam Neeson's wife, Natasha Richardson, died after falling on a bunny slope while skiing and hitting her head in much the same way.

    My plea to everyone... wear a helmet. Make your kids wear a helmet and wear one too. It's not going to stop the egg from being scrambled, as my neurologist said, but it'll stop it from cracking.
  • Packerfan23
    Packerfan23 Posts: 225 Member
    Yes, absolutely! At first it was because I was making my kids wear one, but now it is as second nature as buckling my seat beat and I would feel like I was missing something if I did not wear it. I figure for the amount of $$ they are, it is cheap insurance! It sure beats a ambulance or helicopter ride to the hospital! :happy:
  • banks89202
    banks89202 Posts: 270
    Harley Davidson (yes)
    Normal Bicycle (No) lol
  • rocksred
    rocksred Posts: 11
    Yes, I wear a helmet. It only takes once and it could be life altering. My mom tried out my bike several years ago at our church parking lot. I told her to wear my helmet. She said she didn't need to, she would only be on it for a couple of minutes. Well, she decided to take it up the slight hill and ride it down it. Unfortunately she didn't remember to check which brake was which. It was horrifying to watch as she started down the hill and then hit the wrong brake and catapult herself over the handle bars. I had to take her to the hospital and she ended up needing a couple of laser eye surgeries. She if very lucky she didn't lose her eye site. It only takes that split second for something to go wrong. It is so worth it to have a least a little protection.
  • cmcollins001
    cmcollins001 Posts: 3,472 Member
    Motorcycle = No
    Bicycle = No (not that I ride one often enough to count)
    Stationary Bike = No, but I probably should
  • kateblue72
    kateblue72 Posts: 113
    Yes I do .... now. Never wore one as a child, nore when my kids were small..... not sure how I managed to set a good example there, fortunately they never asked - LOL?? It is the law in our province, and I grew up on country roads, so never really thought they were necessary, and seemed restrictive. However, now I ride everywhere, in and out of the trafic and woods. Seems like a good idea to protect a very important part of my body ... now older and wiser? Even managed to get my husband ( who's 8 years older than me), to be a convert... and he was one of those kids that got away with everything, and lived to talk about it! :smile:
  • kiittenforever
    kiittenforever Posts: 478 Member
    Yes.. Recently bought one
  • jenjersnapco
    jenjersnapco Posts: 206 Member
    Yes, I wear a helmet always as does everyone in my family. My husband's life was saved by a bike helmet. He broke his jaw and a few ribs but is still here to tell the tale.
  • hawkeyegal1995
    hawkeyegal1995 Posts: 2,009 Member
    Never ride without one. Been over the handlebars once after a kiddo ran in front of me on the road. I'm also a social worker for persons with traumatic brain injuries so I see the impact every day. Tell others that they are working at being my consumers by not wearing one.
  • simplydelish2
    simplydelish2 Posts: 726 Member
    Helmets save lives! I wear one always - bicycle, motorcycle, ATV, snowmobile....whatever I ride. I've even been known to wear my ATV helmet when I ride my bicycle if I've misplaced by bike helmet.

    Better to crack a helmet - and I've seen them cracked all the way through - than crack your head.

    No excuses - wear a helmet!
  • terraskye
    terraskye Posts: 370 Member
    I didn't when i lived in Edmonton, well ok sometimes I did but where we live now its mandatory that all ages wear a helmet so I do
  • bjhazelman
    bjhazelman Posts: 5
    Always!
  • trijoe
    trijoe Posts: 729 Member
    HELL YES!

    You think I want to end up like your air lifted person? Oh no no no no...

    I wear one always A-L-W-A-Y-S. My wife wears one. My daughters wear theirs. NOBODY is allowed on even a razor scooter without a helmet, no exceptions. My family's way too important not to. Now put the period down and end this discussion.

    Yes. Discussion ended.
  • kokaneesailor
    kokaneesailor Posts: 337 Member
    Yes I do. I have used up all my nine lives, therefore I don't wish to tempt fate.:smile:
  • wild_wild_life
    wild_wild_life Posts: 1,334 Member
    Every day. And I sold my bike 6 months ago. :laugh:

    But seriously, YES.
  • musicmama19
    musicmama19 Posts: 1 Member
    I thought I would share a story with you....
    My 63 year old Mom is a triathlete and was training on her bike on June 16, 2011 when she had an accident. She was biking just outside of our town and on her way back her handle bars came off and she flew into the ditch going 29 miles an hour. She was an experienced biker, but accidents happen to everyone. After her accident, she suffered a broken collar bone, and her whole right side of her body was battered, bruised, scraped, and road rashed. She also suffered a serious concussion and her helmet looked like it had been chewed up by a dog down the whole right side. This helmet saved her life. She was told by her orthopedic surgeon that without it, she would have died. Helmets are essential for all ages. "Looking cool" doesn't do you much good dead. We are soooo grateful everyday for her helmet, and everyone in our family wears one now. Not just our children.
  • tzanotti
    tzanotti Posts: 1 Member
    Never did either until my nephew crashed and got banged up. He had a helmet so things would have been much worse without a helmet. Went out the next weekend and picked one up for my wife and I. First time I have ever worn one. That's all it took for me. The choice I guess is get air lifted or get banged up. I'll take the later.
  • dq_diva
    dq_diva Posts: 66
    ALWAYS!! The ground is too far away .....
  • michelle4911
    michelle4911 Posts: 1
    yes, I always do & I live in a rural area. But people drive crazy, so for safety, I wear one.
  • skcornett
    skcornett Posts: 169 Member
    Yes, I always wear my helmet. I ride in my neighborhood and on trails in my community but I think it is necessary. I don't trust other drivers, or myself going downhill.
  • projectxreborn
    projectxreborn Posts: 204
    YES, PLEASE WEAR A HELMET. I never wore one when I was a kid and stupidly, stupidly did not
    think of one before letting my 10 year old son go out on a group outing ...he was on a super
    saucer (those round blue sleds) and ended up spinning into a tree. He was taken by ambulance to
    a bigger city hospital where we found out he had fractured his skull (it was so bad it was in splinters
    on the right side) bleeding on the brain and was in a coma. The doctors did not expect him to live
    at all and gave a last ditch effort by removing almost half of his skull so his brain could swell as much
    as it needed to. Our son was dying before our eyes...the only thing that saved him was God. There
    is no way he would have survived otherwise. My son had people praying for him around the world.
    He had to have his skull rebuilt and hematomas removed from his brain and was on life support
    for nearly a week. He was able to come home after three weeks...the doctors were amazed at how
    well and how fast he recovered. God is awesome. I was amazed when the brain surgeon told us
    that he didn't even make his kids wear helmets...but that he would start now. Please, please
    make your kids wear the helmets and wear them yourselves...life is too precious to take a chance
    with. I will never forgive myself for not thinking of it at the time.
  • stubbysticks
    stubbysticks Posts: 1,275 Member
    ALWAYS. Now that I'm logging more miles & trying to do them faster due to race training, it's not really a matter of "if" I have some type of accident, but "when." Obviously I try to ride as safely as possible & stay on trails vs. streets, but that's not always an option & I can't stop as quickly as a car can. Plus my helmet is pink & matches my bike, so...
  • piinchi
    piinchi Posts: 172 Member
    Heck yes I do. Won't get on a bike without one. You only get one noggin, protect at all costs!
  • gaydonna
    gaydonna Posts: 1 Member
    I have always wore a bike helmet "JUST IN CASE". It happened - that dreaded accident last summer.doing 30 miles per hour going down a hill and flew off the bike. Knocked out for 7 minutes or longer, with multiple shoulder injuries. The concussion was bad and a year later I still have problems with memory. PLEASE WEAR A HELMET ALWAYS. and tell all your friends. The surgeon told me that without the helmet they would have been doing a crainiotomy on me. NO FUN - Have fun and be safe.:::smile:
  • Derpina7
    Derpina7 Posts: 552 Member
    I should :/, I barely ride a bicycle though, wanted to look into getting one of these though!
    http://prote.in/feed/2012/08/the-invisible-bike-helmet
  • shoby68
    shoby68 Posts: 30
    I wear a helmet all the time.. Even with the helmet on, I have had a concussion mountain biking (I live on the North Shore in Vancouver BC which has some of the nastiest (sp) downhill trails around.
    Last year we found a lady on the road that had fallen off her bike, she couldn't remember her name, what happened etc..., and she wasn't wearing a helmet.
  • theplacesyoullgo
    theplacesyoullgo Posts: 1
    I work in a brain injury center. Helmets are a must. You would never believe the horrible and life changing injuries you could receive as a result of a minor bike accident.
  • runbyme
    runbyme Posts: 522 Member
    I'm not proficent at riding a bike and so if I did, I would sure wear a helmet and advise anyone in my proximity to wear one too! :blushing:
  • kadmom23
    kadmom23 Posts: 2 Member
    YES ABSOLUTELY! I know too many people who have crashed-my 17 year old nephew actually had a severe concussion from crashing on his bike-on a wooded trail when his head hit the ground. My boyfriend has crashed several times his son has also crashed-pretty much everyone I know who rides regularly crashes eventually.

    Protect your head! It's not a big deal to wear a helmet. Also, make sure you fit it properly to your head.
    Good luck!
  • noogie98
    noogie98 Posts: 451 Member
    ALWAYS ~ I wouldn't be here today if I didn't. I was thrown from the back of a motorcycle when I was 19 years old, while on a long distance trip. Long story short, my Bell helmet saved my life. My helmet was cracked in two, which would have been my skull if not for the helmet. The doctors at the hospital told me that I was very lucky to be alive. It would have been my brain splattered all over the pavement on the side of the road where I landed if not for my helmet.

    So, yes, I vote for helmets for all. It scares me when I see I see anyone riding a recreational vehicle without one!! :heart:

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