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My Experience After a Traumatic Brain Injury

Article Index
My Experience After a Traumatic Brain Injury
My Hospitalization
Back to Work After TBI
My Inpatient Psychiatry Experience
Back At Work Again
My Experience with the Medical Community
Why the BIC?
All Pages

WHAT HAPPENED?

I went bike riding on June 30, 1992 and I wasn’t wearing a helmet.  I had been looking at helmets at a bike shop in my local mall, approximately 2 miles round trip on my bike.  I had just gotten back in to cycling and the helmet I purchased with my red Schwinn road bike got misplaced in my move.

The helmet I was looking at was around $100.00. It was red, white and blue. No matter the cost of a helmet, they must meet specific standards. For current information about helmets visit the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute.  My brain injury cost me much more than a helmet.  I regret not purchasing a cheaper helmet until I could afford the helmet I wanted.

According to a witness, I got off my bike in the middle of an intersection, took one step and fell like I was shot. It's unclear why I lost consciousness; I may have had a seizure, although I did not have a known seizure disorder. I was under a lot of stress dealing with a difficult situation at my place of employment and I strongly believe I passed out from stress.

I had a Glasgow Coma Score of 4 at the scene (eyes opened to pain only).  A CT Scan and Spinal Tap revealed a subdural hematoma and subarachnoid hemorrhage.

I learned the hard way – literally – the importance of wearing a bike helmet.  The asphalt didn't give, but my head did resulting in two bleeds. It changed me and my life.

NOTE: My loss of consciousness could have happened while I was driving a vehicle, from the seat of my bike, or while standing over carpeting or my bed.  I would have preferred the latter.  Since, I have been thrown from my former bike (a Schwinn road bike) twice while wearing a helmet.  The first time my bike tires got caught in a dilapidated railroad track while crossing them at a 90 degree angle and flipping me off to the side of my bike.  My helmet hit the metal track cracking the right side of my helmet. A few months later, I went over the top of the handlebars cracking the top of my helmet. Was it a problem with my bike's fork after the railroad track incident or did my wheels get caught in something?  I'll never know.  I don't recall a period of time after I hit the ground.

LESSON LEARNED: If your bike is involved in an accident, have a bicycle technician check your bicycle for damage.