20 April 2012 is a day that will always stick with me. That morning I was on top of the world. I had just seen my son become National Champion. What a day.............. nothing could ruin this. About an hour later when it was my turn to race. I was feeling good. I was fit, strong, all was great, until a rider fell in front of me causing me to spear head first into the ground. The impact caused severe bleeding on my frontal lobe. I gave myself a stroke in other words. To this day I still have no memory of the next three days. I have no memory of the fall. The following 12 months I can only describe as a living hell. Memory issues (which I still have), behavioral changes, simple tasks became a challenge, depression, I could go on. Even writing this is getting to me emotionally. I still dont think that I am fully recovered from it either. After all that, one thing sticks in my mind.My doctor told me in no uncertain terms, YOUR HELMET SAVED YOUR LIFE! This is the reason why I am writing this. Parents, riders.......WAKE UP!! We find way too many kids with poorly fitted helmets or chin straps not done up. Tell me, what good is a helmet that could come off during a fall?? I have seen too many nasty injuries in my years that could have been avoidable if a simple chin strap was done up. The other thing about helmets. They are not shoes. There is no growing into them. They fit or they dont. Simple as that. There are many helmets out there that allow the padding to be changed to suit different sized heads without the need to change shells. Please copy this link to determine if yours or your childs helmet is the right size & fitted correctly. It is for motorcycles but it still applies to BMX. motorcyclenews/mcn/products/productsresults/helmets/2011/december/proper-helmet-fitment/ I hope I am getting my point across. If I am ruffling peoples feathers I really dont care. My concern is for the welfare of our riders. Parents check your young riders helmets for your own peace of mind. Do not send your lambs out to the slaughter. YOU ONLY GET ONE HEAD!! Rant over.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 00:48:31 +0000
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