June is Brain Injury Awareness month
Helmets prevent acquired brain injuries
By Isabelle Southcott
One day Oskar Daum was cycling to work. It was 1980 and people weren't in the habit of wearing bicycle helmets. Something happened and Oskar lost control of his bicycle and fell. He hit his head on a rock and was bleeding from one ear.
Oskar's son Herb Daum remembers his father's accident only too well. "He was medevaced to Vancouver and spent weeks in hospital before finally coming home."
Oskar never recovered from his bicycle accident. "He tried to go back to work but he was incapable and so he retired early. He was completely changed, his character, his personality traits were all amplified."
And it wasn't for the better. Oskar was different and difficult after the accident. He was also paranoid.
He was only 59.
"Dad couldn't function properly. It ruined his life. It ruined his family's life."
Fifteen years after his accident, Oskar slipped into a coma. No one knows why but one day, a support worker found him alone, unconscious in his house. "When he came out of it he was a completely different person," says Herb. "He wasn't high functioning but he was now as gentle as could be and everybody liked him."
Had Oskar been wearing a bicycle helmet on that day in 1980, his life would have been different. "He wouldn't have had a brain injury," says Herb bluntly.
"The greatest gift you can give yourself or your children is a helmet," says Debbie Dee, executive director of the Powell River Brain Injury Society. "Helmets prevent over 80% of injuries received in an accident involving a bicycle. Not looking cool is no excuse. Not looking cool is laying in a hospital bed hooked up to machines with tubes in and out of every opening in your body."
Dee went further to say that when children wear helmets and parents don't it sends a negative message. "If the parent is involved in an accident what will happen to the children? Will they be forced to grow up too quickly and look after their parents? Think before you ride: ALWAYS wear your helmet."
Like his father, Herb rides his bicycle. Unlike his father, Herb wears a helmet. "I always wear helmets because our family was so greatly impacted by Dad's accident."
It's a good thing that Herb wears a helmet. Two summers ago, Herb was involved in a serious bicycle accident, which caused him to fall. "I was badly injured, I couldn't ride for a year because of a shoulder injury," says Herb.
My helmet cracked and a rock, the size of a grape, embedded in the temple area of the helmet.
"If I hadn't been wearing a helmet I don't think I'd be alive today," says Herb.
These days Herb wears his "brain bucket" helmet when riding.
Because Herb has firsthand knowledge of just how devastating a brain injury can be, he gets upset when he sees a kid on a skateboard without a helmet or a family cycling without bike helmets.
"I think its stupid not to wear a helmet. We have laws but you can't fix stupidity with laws."
If you are going to cycle with your family be a good role model to your children and loved ones and wear a helmet," says Herb. "Wear it for their benefit if not for your own because they are the ones that are going to be hurt if you have an accident."
If you don't have a helmet or you can't afford a helmet, visit the Brain Injury Society. "We have helmets like the one Herb is wearing in the photo plus many others and will gladly donate one to you. We also sell, barter and trade volunteer hours for helmets," Dee added.
You should know:
- Traumatic brain injury is the result of a blow to the head or spinning forces on the brain. Common causes include motor vehicle crashes, falls or assaults.
- Non-traumatic brain injury is caused by illness such as meningitis and encephalitis; anoxic events when oxygen to the brain is disrupted. The brain can also be damaged from tumours, hydrocephalus and substance abuse.
- Every year in Canada, over 11,000 people die as a result of a Traumatic Brain Injury.
- The leading causes of TBI are falls, motor vehicle crashes, bicycle crashes, and sports related injuries.
- TBI is the leading cause of death and disability among children.
- Brain Injury can vary from mild (concussion) to severe (deep coma). Annually, 6,000 Canadians become permanently disabled after a traumatic brain injury.
