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Monday, August 17, 2009

wear your fucking helmet...


as some of you know my sister fell saturday night and hit her head. no one knows exactly how she fell, including her, but she had a seizure when she hit the ground and was rushed to UAB's emergency room and eventually moved to the neural intensive care unit. she suffered a gnarly concussion and had bleeding inside her skull. she had surgery this morning to relieve pressure and to get excess blood off of her brain. she is completely lucid and can move all of her limbs. the lesson here everyone is to wear your god damned helmet. had she had her helmet on, much of this would have been avoided. perhaps she would have had a minor concussion but she wouldn't be in the situation she is now. if you don't have a helmet, BUY ONE. if you can't afford one, tell your mom. she will buy you one. i know they look lame and are not comfortable, but you know what is less comfortable? having a team of surgeons cutting open your head to keep you from dying.



i am as guilty as the next person when it comes to not wearing a helmet. and i am not judging anyone here. simply sharing an experience.

15 comments:

jjfantastic said...

i sure hope rebecca has a speedy and complete recovery!

it's been 10 years this month since i had a head injury from falling over on our tandem while slowly crossing rail road tracks - concussion, memory loss, nasty road rash on my face, but thanks to the helmet, nothing lasting and no surgery.

if i looked this bad and HAD a helmet on (http://monkey.org/~jj/jjbikewreck.jpg) i'd hate to see what i'd have looked like without one.

my thoughts are with rebecca and your family. we're pulling for her out here in oregon.

Denny, Alaska said...

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Cyclin' Missy said...

Get well, Rebecca!

ksteinhoff said...

Best wishes for a quick return to the bike with a brand new stylish helmet bought by your brother.

I've posted this a lot of times, but it's the experience my riding partner had after a similar crash and things I learned from it.

Magic foam hats won't protect you from all dangers, but they will mitigate damage.

mogley said...

Shit. It's crazy how fast things can change. Helmets have saved my life more than a few times over the years.

I'll spare any smart ass comments about not wearing a helmet...I'm sure the picture of your sister twists everyones stomach like it does mine.

I'm so glad to hear that she is heading in the right direction. Can't help but keep thinking about it. Best of wishes and thoughts are with her.

Jarrod said...

Point taken...
That picture hits me in the gut. Can't imagine how much worse it'd be if that were my sister.

Recover well and recover quickly Rebecca.

Richard said...

I hope she gets better. Yes, wear your helmet.

Dave Wyman said...

May Rebecca recover quickly.

Sometimes I think I don't need to wear a helmet. Still, I always wear a helmet.

ha1ku said...

Aw, sad face! *virtual hugs* feel better soon

Funride said...

Wish you fast and complete recovery Rebecca :)

All the best,
Ricardo

Sara T. said...

Keep the updates coming. I can not believe that is her. I just met her a few weeks ago and I saw that picture and well, i can hardly believe it. I will be glad when she is back to herself. If yall need someone to sit in the room with her, bring sodoku puzzles to her, tell jokes (ok, i am not very good at that part), just lemme know. oh yeah, i wore my helmet today in the torrential downpour along with my eye protection, it was a good idea x2. you only got one noggin.

K said...

Here's wishing Rebecca a fast recovery!!! I'm so glad to hear she's starting in the right direction.

-Kristina

Betty Mountain Girl said...

Best wishes and speedy recovery.

Unknown said...

Best wishes for a full recovery, Rebecca! I am rooting for you.

I've hit my head and face in two different bike accidents, and having on a helmet definitely helped me.

Bev said...

I am so sorry!! This crap sucks and I'm really sorry it happened to you. When things get crappy while recovering and rehabbing, just have patience. Lots & lots of patience.

I've had to recover from a couple major accidents and I'm not known for my patience. What kinda worked for me when I'd get frustrated or generally pissed off is reminding myself it could be WAY worse (then I'd imagine being paralyzed or blind or something to help put things in perspective.)

Take it slow and listen to your surgeon.

Here's to an uneventful recovery!