Thoughts on wearing a safety helmet from our Community Fundraiser, Andrew Tee.
I read a post on Facebook this week from an old school friend that really made me think. I’d like to share with you what my friend Hilary said:“Have just driven by a young lady riding a horse on a busy main road with the strap to her riding hat flapping in the wind!!! Many a Saturday morning as a young girl was spent in my dads' office where he kept the crash helmets and riding hats of head injury patients. Each of them told a story and thankfully most had a happy ending. These helmets/hats are designed for a reason, to save lives but only if worn properly so DO UP THE STRAPS!!!!”
Hilary’s dad worked for years as a brain surgeon in Oxford. He spent his career dealing with people who had sustained head injuries from accidents and falls. He himself cycled daily into work for many years, “My dad used to cycle to work wearing an ice hockey helmet, he looked like a bit of an idiot but it saved his life at least once when he was knocked off!” said Hilary.
I responded to this message with my own tale of the week, seeing a young man riding through the centre of Oxford, a famously busy and quite dangerous place to cycle, holding his cycle helmet in his teeth by the strap!
It seems crazy that people will go to the trouble of buying a helmet, but don’t bother using it properly. Wearing a helmet that is not properly fitted or fastened is as good as not wearing it at all.
I think people underestimate how much of a difference wearing a helmet properly can make if you have an accident on your bike, fall off a horse, or get things wrong in the skate park. I have had several lucky escapes from head injury, and every time it has been a safety helmet that has saved me from injury.
I have spent years cycling into work and have had a couple of notable occasions where I’ve taken a trip across the bonnet of a car. Both times I landed head first onto the road, and both times my helmet took the force of impact. Both times it was properly fitted, and most importantly it was securely fastened by the strap!
If you’re going to be cycling, horse riding, skateboarding, skiing or snowboarding, it’s really important that you take proper care of your head and wear a good quality helmet that is properly fitted. I know kids don’t think it’s cool to wear a helmet, but we must remind them that’s it’s even less cool to end up needing the services of someone like my friend Hilary’s dad!
For information on the correct sizing and fitting of cycle helmets, have a look at the links and image below:
http://www.bhit.org/
Don’t forget, if you need a good quality cycle helmet you can support the charity by purchasing one from our eBay shop. The helmets are really good quality and we’re able to offer them at a reduced price, just for you! Click here to buy yours now.
If you’d like to talk about supporting the charity, please get in touch.
