I don't ride a motorcycle and I don't want anyone to lose their freedom to choose whether or not to wear a helmet. Today however I saw the aftermath of someone who decided to exercise their freedom.
My wife and I are on vacation and were driving around the lake in Coeur D'Alene, ID. It was a beautiful afternoon and we took pictures of the scenery around the lake. On our way back we were coming up on a marina and club and saw a car perpendicular to the roadway. Next to the car was a smashed Harley Davidson motorcycle. What we couldn't see was the rider. We jumped out as we were the second car on the scene and the crowd was gathering from the marina.
My wife is an RN and ran up to the car. A young girl around 25 was crying hysterically at the wheel of the car and another young lady was laying on the pavement, her head under the car.
She was unconscious, the side of the car caved in over a foot, the side window smashed and the pillar of the door distorted from where her head had made contact.
My wife reached out to check the pulse of her left arm and unzipped the leather jacket. Both her radius and ulna protruded from her wrist and she could not get a pulse. So she quickly jumped over to the other side and did the same and found a weak pulse.
Her breathing was very weak. I knelt down beside her and tried speaking to her to remain calm and help was on the way. Blood was pooling under her head and her breath was coming in gurgles.
Sirens and lights, cops and firemen you have all seen it. As we went from first responders to bystanders we noticed her actions. She began to "posture" as my wife described it. Motions the body takes when it receives a traumatic head injury. The police asked me to move the car off the road. The drivers door wouldn't open, I had to go in through the passenger door and climb across the broken glass, etc.
It put a grim reminder on how quickly life can change. We sit here tonight in a hotel room, not knowing the outcome, but sad that two lives have been so dramatically changed.
As it turned out, the car pulled out in front of the bike, didn't see it. Doesn't matter. A helmet might have helped, so please my friends, think about it.
My wife and I are on vacation and were driving around the lake in Coeur D'Alene, ID. It was a beautiful afternoon and we took pictures of the scenery around the lake. On our way back we were coming up on a marina and club and saw a car perpendicular to the roadway. Next to the car was a smashed Harley Davidson motorcycle. What we couldn't see was the rider. We jumped out as we were the second car on the scene and the crowd was gathering from the marina.
My wife is an RN and ran up to the car. A young girl around 25 was crying hysterically at the wheel of the car and another young lady was laying on the pavement, her head under the car.
She was unconscious, the side of the car caved in over a foot, the side window smashed and the pillar of the door distorted from where her head had made contact.
My wife reached out to check the pulse of her left arm and unzipped the leather jacket. Both her radius and ulna protruded from her wrist and she could not get a pulse. So she quickly jumped over to the other side and did the same and found a weak pulse.
Her breathing was very weak. I knelt down beside her and tried speaking to her to remain calm and help was on the way. Blood was pooling under her head and her breath was coming in gurgles.
Sirens and lights, cops and firemen you have all seen it. As we went from first responders to bystanders we noticed her actions. She began to "posture" as my wife described it. Motions the body takes when it receives a traumatic head injury. The police asked me to move the car off the road. The drivers door wouldn't open, I had to go in through the passenger door and climb across the broken glass, etc.
It put a grim reminder on how quickly life can change. We sit here tonight in a hotel room, not knowing the outcome, but sad that two lives have been so dramatically changed.
As it turned out, the car pulled out in front of the bike, didn't see it. Doesn't matter. A helmet might have helped, so please my friends, think about it.
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