Helmet barely touched, no obvious damage. Has mips I think , though can’t really remember. The injury was a tear to the wall of m the carotid artery in my neck . Probably happened due to torque on my neck as back of my head bumped along the ground as I decelerated.
Belated response to this - Fox Proframe with MIPS, less than 12 months old and no previous impacts. For the first time since the day I crashed I have just inspectedit for damage - absolutely nothing, just a bit of Sandy dirt in the side vents near the top right off the helmet. It’s difficult to see how I sustained such serious injury; I guess it was the torque of this big heavy helmet on my neck that tore the artery wall
Sadly I already have one, but I am not stable enough to be able to use it yet, as it is somewhat wobbly on carpet - I used a lot of specialist neurological recovery exercise bikes(in rehab), used from my wheelchair.That is tough, and a bit scary! Healing vibes!
I strongly urge you to consider getting (buy, borrow, beg, steal) an exercise bike. They are safe and almost impossible to fall off from. I have had a few back injuries and although it was difficult to walk, I could usually pedal for 10 mins or so. Ten became twenty and so on. As well as feeling good I am convinced it speeded up my recovery. They articulate the spine, build fitness, improve mobility and boy does it feel good! Set it up so that you can look out of the window. Best of luck for a speedy recovery. Do not give in!
I tend to read most of the "accident followed by debilitating trauma" stories because I realise that it could easily happen to me! The main thing that I picked up is (despite all the depressing symptoms) to stay positive. Easy for me, I know, I'm not the one in a wheelchair. But some of the stories of rehab through positivity are awe inspiring.
Well I guess helmets save heads not necks.
Always horrible to hear stories like these from someone a similar age. The above is the same reason I have a Leatt 3.5 neck brace when riding my DH rig at our Bike park. Similar to why Hans devices are so important in motorsport.
Even worse, my mate is late 30's....
Hi,
Damn dude. Sorry about your injury. I lost a few friends and family members (cancer and old age respectively) recently and it’s really given me pause to think about my life and my own mortality. I think I waste a little less time now, and I defintiely want to work less and ride more. I don’t take big risks riding anymore (maybe never did) but I’m making small compromises here and there that favor safety over getting rad.Hi everyone. I used to contribute here actively a few years ago, but never got the money together to leap into eMTB, but continued to ride my traditional trail bikes. Unfortunately in February this year I fell on a trail at Rushmere country park after I took a wrong turning and went over a step down I did not have the skills for. I was wearing all the protective gear including a full face, and had no signs of head injury at the time, but it appears I may have sustained a carotid artery dissection which is an arterial tear where it bleeds into the wall of the arteryIn the crash ( though we will never know for certain as such injuries can happen spontaneously sometimesas well for instance during sneezing, or if you have a high BP!!!!) . A week later I got a bad headache and it turns out the resulting clot had moved to my brain. Luckily my wife came home at that point to find me on the floor of my home office having fallen, and called the ambulance. I’d ha a stroke and was taken under blue lights to Lister hospital inStevenage trwhere they gave me a clot busting drug, but unfortunately that did not work and I had as secondary bleed on the other side of my brain as a result, and I was taken to Addebnrookes in case I needed a decompressive craniotomy, which I did within 48 hrs. I came through that, but th spent ~4 months in hospitals and neurological rehab centres learning to walk again and working on getting more function back in my left arm. I am now back home, but remain significantly impaired ( especiallyy left arm, and will probably never ride again given my left sided weakness.. But I continue to do lots of rehab and am improving ( more slowly now whilst trying to work part time). This has been a devastating experience for me and my family, so all I say is ride carefully and make sure you have life cover and critical injury cover that meets yours and your families needs. These things do happen to relatively young people s as well as older individuals so make sure you have the correct cover for you in place ours has been a life saver.
Possibly.. I know it saved me from a broken neck when I went OTB on a 15 foot road gap at Chch adventure park. Helmet not so lucky.
