come on...wear your helmet

This post is going to be a little story from my past...mainly in light of Speedracer's most recent post about wearing a helmet. This will be reason 421, 965 of why to wear a helmet. Maybe my dear readers aren't interested in a stroll down memory lane, but it does involve bike crashes, spine boards, puke, dogs, CT scans...do I have your attention? :-)

I've briefly mentioned it before, but I was in a decently bad bike crash when I was 15 years old. Looking back, I was sorta an idiot to get myself into the mess, but I tend to say 'yes' first and think later. I went up to the local ski hill in the summer with one of my best friends and her family to bike down the ski hill. They let you rack your bike on the chair lift and then ride it down. It was me, my friend, her brother and her exchange student biking while her parents and her little sister walked around. Now you have to understand, I don't think I had ever been on a mountain bike on actual DIRT. I road my dad's mountain bike around town...to and from tennis lessons in the summers, but DIRT? Never touched the stuff. So how I thought this might be a good idea is beyond me. Granted my parents didn't really have a say in it because they were flying back into the country this particular day so i must have been under the care of my college age sister. I probably just didn't tell her anything.

Anyway, we get there...load the bikes on the chair lift and then proceed to ride down. I do strongly remember thinking as we went down the hill: Dear God...don't let me die. I think I might die. Don't let me die.

I did manage to turn the bike out from under me a few times around some tight corners, scratch my knee up, but was doing fine over all...in all honesty. And then we got to the BOTTOM of the hill. The chair lift was in sight! I was so excited. My friend and I waited for her brother and exchange student and when they were insight we got back onto our bikes and started towards the chairlift. We weren't on a hill. We had made it down the hill. I wasn't dead...yet.

That was the last thing I remember...getting back on my bike to get started towards the chair lift. We weren't even on a hill by this point (ya catch that point?). The story goes that my friend got to the chair lift when the operator says: WOW...that looks bad. She immediately thinks it was her exchange student and freaks out, turns around and starts running and then she realizes it is me. She runs over to me and turns me over (OK...we were 15, maybe you aren't supposed to do that in first aid), and I...stop breathing.

I was wearing a helmet, but went over the handle bars somehow and manage to concuss myself. Here ....one of my best friends has me in her lap and I...have stopped breathing....for a second. Granted we were only 15, but she was all set to start CPR on me. This is why everyone needs to know how to do CPR...you never know when you need it. Fortunately I start breathing and she doesn't need to use it. And fortunately the bikers behind us happen to be the first aid rescue people for the ski hill. It is about this point that I do wake up.

I look up and from what I remember there is this beautiful man leaning over me. Now if you have ever had a concussion, you might know that that wonderful internal filter...um...can get a little shattered in the process and everything is discombobulated. It almost doesn't make sense why i wouldn't tell this man...that well...he's gorgeous. But somehow I do manage not to say something insanely stupid. HOW?? I will never know.

We go through the process of trying to piece together what happened and how much I understand of what has happened while in the background they are calling the main first aid station to come get me and take me to the front part of the ski hill where the first aid is set up. They bring a spine board, strap me on it and put me in the back of a car and take me to the first aid station.

Now keep in mind, my friends parents need to be found. They have been out walking with her little sister and dog for the day. Somehow they are contacted and head to the first aid station.

They take me strapped to the spine board in the back of a car to the first aid station and a woman explains to me that it is perfectly normal if I feel like I might get sick at any time that they will just 'flip' me over (cuz i'm strapped to the spine board) and there is a bowl underneath me to puke in. Nice and classy... I know. I think I have a few 'false flips' where they flip me over because I think I might puke, but end up just hanging there. That wasn't much fun.

In the meantime, my parents have been in Mexico on vacation and are flying in from Mexico on this day. My college age sister receives a phone call that sounds a bit like this: Um...your daughter has been in an accident. Should we life flight her down to the hospital??

My sister: DOES SHE NEED TO BE LIFE FLIGHTED DOWN??

The first aide people: Um...we don't know if that is totally necessary...we are still monitoring her vitals. We will let you know. (and they hang up).

My poor sister...she is trying to coordinate picking up my parents and then racing them to the hospital to meet me there and the first aid people have made the situation sound waaaaaaay more dramatic than it was. She pretty much thinks I'm dying at this point.

By this point I've been on the spine board for at least an hour or more. They are NOT comfortable things I tell you. I'm actually starting to feel pretty pukey and tell the nurse I AM going to puke an that I need to be 'flipped' over again.

RIGHT as they flip me, my friend's parents, sister and DOG come through the door while I am puking. Nice timing right? Upon witnessing me puke...what does the DOG do??? She....































PUKES!!!!!!!!! Yes folks...I made a dog puke!! Pretty foul, but pretty freaking hilarious too.

In the end I didn't need to be life-flighted to the hospital. Instead I got to have the beautiful man try to keep me awake the whole way to the hospital (since all you want to do with a concussion is sleep) while I was still strapped to the spine board in the back of a car. I was trying to bargin with him on the ride down...there were a few first aid people in the car with us. I kept saying: Just let me sleep for a minute. I'll be fine. Let me off the spine board. My back hurts.

No they wouldn't let me sleep or off the spine board. It was miserable.Upon arrival to the hospital I get my CT done to see if I broke my neck and the doctors first words were: You have all 4 of your wisdom teeth.

Gee...thanks, i already knew that. I just spent 4 hours on a spine board could you tell me if I broke my neck?

Thankfully in the end all I ended up with was a concussion and some scrapes. But WEAR YOUR HELMET!! I can only imagine how much worse this would have been if I hadn't been wearing it.