Forget vanity

[pecunium]

Natasha Richardson is dead. It was, probably, preventable.

1:Wear a helmet. Right there, she probably walks away from it. You may think helmets make you look silly. You may think they make you look scared. You may think they make you look less than completely competent.

Who cares? Really, why should you care?

I ride horses. I wear a helmet. I ride a bicycle. I wear a helmet. When I ride in a military vehicle, I wear a helmet. When I do technical climbing on live rock, I wear a helmet. When I rappel, I wear a helmet.

When I've fallen off of horses, and bicycles, and rocks... I've been lucky enough to only need to replace the helmet. It's pretty cruel of me. My friends and family miss out on the chance to visit me in hospital. I don't get to become an activist for those who are paralyzed; going before Congress to argue for more research.

You know what else they miss out on? My early death.

All I do is stimulate the economy by spending the money for another helmet; and providing more data to the manufacturers, so they can improve them (if your helmet maker does a deal, where they sell you a replacement at a reduced rate for returns of damaged helmets, do it. If they don't, send it to them anyway).


The second thing which was done wrong was to refuse medical attention.

Head injuries are deceptive. One can feel fine, and have a depressed fracture. The blood build pressure on the brain until, all of a sudden one falls down and dies. A concussion can be similarly fatal, hours after the injury. If you see stars, think about seeing a doctor. If you were traveling faster than your legs can propel, don't think about it, do it.

Comments

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

This is something I struggle with, getting back on the bike. I'm 52 years old; when I was riding a bike as a kid, nobody bothered with helmets. And we rode all over the neighborhood, and down some pretty damn busy main streets, and I never knew or heard about any injury more serious than a skinned knee.

Intellectually, I know I need to wear a helmet. Physically, it's not even uncomfortable. Emotionally... I hate the damn thing. I wear it more often than not, but it's a struggle every time.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I grew up without one (and am alive now only because of luck, and a really hard head).

Think seat belts. Think condoms. Think of anything where the benefits outweigh the risks, and for which the rules changed between when we learned to do a thing, and the present (when I was a kid, seatbelts weren't in every car, and when I started having sex, herpes was the big deal, as AIDS wasn't really on the radar).

I still feel silly wearing a helmet on the bike. I almost feel silly wearing one on a horse. That's after at least one fall which would have crippled me (I did a pile-driving landing onto head and shoulder) and another which would probably have put me in hospital, instead of on bed-rest for a week.

Please make it all the time.

[starwatcher]

.
I never knew or heard about any injury more serious than a skinned knee.

But that's the thing -- statistically, our chances of needing that helmet for any individual ride are slim. But we never know when that .00whatever chance will catch up with us.

I was bucked of my young, not-as-well-trained-as-I-thought horse several years ago; landed flat on my back with my head impacting the ground. When I picked myself up, the back of my helmet was split through in three long cracks. But note: I picked myself up and walked away. Helmetless, I think I'd be permanently disabled... if not dead.
.

[commodorified.livejournal.com]

What pecunium said. Please. Your brain is a precious thing, which makes many people's lives better.

[affreca.livejournal.com]

Please wear a helmet. If you'll accept anecdotes from a stranger, I have several.

I never got to know my father because he was in a bicycle accident when I was an infant. He fell off his bike and hit his head. He was braindead by the time he got to the hospital. My ex roommate was luckier. He lived, but he ended up with a concussion and doesn't remember anything of that night.

My husband, however, was wearing a helmet when he had his bicycle accident. He ended up with a compound fracture, but his head was fine.

yes

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I'm in this place, too. And every time I say so, I get the same chorus of statistics and anecdotes that came up following your comment. And yeah, they're probably right, but I just wanted to say I know exactly how you feel, and if the replies you got seem to miss your point, then yeah, I know how that feels too.

Yet I do wear a helmet when I bike. I have always been annoyed and not convinced by the statistics and anecdotes and well-meaning persuasion, but I wear the helmet because my children's other parent is brain-injured and it doesn't seem right to risk them having the both of us disabled that way.

K. [so for me, the personal reason is the one that counts, and not my response to the persuasion chorus]

Re: yes

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

The chorus doesn't bother me -- in a way, it's flattering to know that people care enough to say something. And there are ways to look at helmet-wearing that make sense to me. I try to think of it as like doing computer backups; you don't need them often, but when you do, you REALLY need them. (Of course, I'm lazy about doing computer backups too, but at least that line of thought is something my back-brain considers valid.)

[zeeth_kyrah]

As a child, I never wore a helmet. As an adult, I always do. I don't like the style of my bicycle helmet, and I think that my motorcycle helmet makes me look like a bobble-head toy, but I'd rather look dumb than end up damaged or dead.