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Would you like an ambulance to go with those fractures?
This past weekend, I was at Rose House Museum doing an exhibit installation. On the way back to Picton, along County Road 8 near Waupoos Winery, I saw a couple cycling toward me. Not youngsters, maybe old enough to know better. Neither of them was wearing a helmet. I wanted to stop and tell them my story about cycling accidents, but I didn’t. The rest of Saturday I spent thinking about that couple. County Road 8 is a busy road. The posted speed limit is 60 km/h, but I seriously doubt that many drivers pay much attention to the suggestion.
My cycling accident story started at 7 a.m. on June 6 2011. LOML, our youngest son and I were in the Heart and Stroke Foundation Ride for Heart. As I remember, the weather was terrific. We’d raised enough money for the Foundation to be VIP riders. We had harassed our friends and family for donations and matched the contributions we received. We were pretty stoked. That morning, the three of us, and about 20,000 others, set off across the Gardiner Expressway and up the Don Valley Parkway. It was my second, 50-kilometre Heart and Stroke Ride. I was hoping to shave minutes off my previous ride. I’d spent almost a year getting ready for the 2011 Ride. I was ready for everything, except for the fellow who decided to pass without looking to see where I was. In a moment I was down—five kilometres from the finish. It all seemed to happen in slow motion, as if I were supposed to savour each microsecond of the crash. I knew I wasn’t going to walk away from it under my own steam. I felt my left shoulder hit the pavement, followed by the sickening crack of my helmet on asphalt and then the dull metallic clunk of my sweet Marin. I heard the noises of bones and plastic and metal breaking and bending. Someone lifted my bike from atop me. I tried to stand up and shake it off and managed to get out of the path of other riders. On June 6, 2011 I landed on my shoulder and head, next to an emergency medical team. When the uncontrolled shaking started, I knew I was in trouble. An EMT member asked, “Would you like an ambulance ride with those fractures?” Indeed, I finished the 2011 Ride of Heart in the back of an ambulance. The team at St. Mike’s Hospital was ready for all-comers that day. At that point I was the only cyclist who took advantage of their hospital-tality. After the triage, the X-rays and the fluids, the head trauma fellow visited briefly and said the bones would heal, but the helmet had saved my life. He may have referred to the helmet as a “brain bucket”. LOML and I made the trip home to Picton later that day, me sporting a spiffy sling to support my dislocated shoulder and broken collar bone with glorious bruises blooming all over. At the end of it all, I had three broken ribs and a cracked kneecap, in addition to the dislocation and busted clavicle. But, because of the helmet, I was A-okay from the chin up.
Enough of the ancient history. Time for the lecture. I urge you to always wear a bike helmet when cycling, even if you dream of cycling down a country road, or a trail, with the breezes blowing through your tresses. Yep, the helmet is going to make your hair look like you brushed it with a blender and, yep, your head is going to get a bit hot and sweaty. But I wear that hot mess as a badge of honour now. Did I say “lecture”? Well, here it is. Helmets will crumple and compress when you hit the pavement with your noggin, this means you MUST DISPOSE OF AND REPLACE your helmet after a crash. I don’t care how frugal you are. The helmet is garbage after an impact accident. Your cycling helmet is a safety device. It’s an “airbag” for your brain. You can’t reuse the airbag in your car after an impact accident. Next, you MUST replace you helmet every three to five years, no matter how little you’ve worn it or how much you paid for it. Check the product information for the expiry date. Buy the best helmet you can afford. Additionally, if the outer shell of your helmet is separating from the rigid foam liner, it’s time to kiss that baby goodbye. If the helmet is failing, it won’t protect you. And, if the outer shell of your helmet is significantly scuffed, get rid of it. A smooth outer shell helps your head slide across a rough surface. Believe me, you want the slide when you kiss the pavement. Finally, DO NOT DONATE your used cycling helmet to a thrift shop. An unsuspecting shopper might not know of the expiration date or, perhaps, the damage and be at risk thinking they’ve scored a sweet deal.
Helmets save lives. No two ways about it. I’ve been there. I have the twisted bike frame and a photo of the messed up helmet to remind me to cycle safe.
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