Never Ride Without a Helmet!!!!

I was in Bognor last Wednesday with my son and two of his mates. It was his 11th birthday and we had a day of activities planned (Cafe, Bowling, Crazy Golf, Swimming, Pizza). They had been in Bognor since the previous evening having a sleepover and had beeen up since 5:00 am.

At 8:00 am they wanted to cycle the half mile along the promenade to the cafe. As we only had three helmets I insisted they wore them and I went without. Half way along the promenade one of the boys rear wheels came in contact with my front wheel and I went over the handlebars and head butted the tarmac (without the benefit of a helmet).

I remember seeing the wheels coming together and knowing what was going to happen then going into a dream state, floating thinking I am going to hit the tarmac any minute. It never happened? I couldn't see, hear or move and the only sensations were consciousness and floating.

Fortunately there was an off duty paramedic and a doctor walking along at that time who were there immediately and immobilised me, dealt with the boys and called an ambulance.

My steel Bennotto is a write off with the front forks and front wheel completely out of shape.

Slowly my senses came back. First hearing then feeling (ouch) then sight and movement. I could feel the blood dripping down my head.

The ambulance arrived, put me in a collar then used a special stretcher to scoop me off the ground. They then put me in a device that moulded to my shape and immobilised me. I was carted off sirens blaring to St Richards hospital in Chichester. There I was immediately assessed, x-rayed, doped etc. There was some talk of shipping me off to a specialist head trauma unit in Southampton but that never came about. The verdict was that nothing was broken and that there was nothing they could do but give me painkillers.

To make matters worse my wife was in the US on business. She telephoned at 8:30 am to wish my son a Happy Birthday. She got a very upset little boy crying because Dad had just been carted off in an ambulance. This obviously upset her business trip and at that time there was very little information.

In the afternoon the hospital released me to a neighbour who collected me. He had arranged for one of the boys mothers to collect us all and bring us back to London. By this stage I was stiff, sore, drugged up but reasonably awake.

The following day I awoke with concussion. I was sick, headache and spaced. I struggled to the doctors at the end of the road who told me to go straight to casualty. I got a cab to Kingston hospital where I was reasonably quickly admitted to the Major Trauma Unit and a CT scan of my head was done in between bouts of being sick and bringing up blood. A few hours on a drip, lots of drugs (pain, anti-inflammatory, anti-nausea, the usual) they told me I was staying overnight unless someone collected me.

There was family negotiations and my brother from St Albans who was working in The City came down and collected me and took me back to my home and stayed the night. My wife arrived back from the US the following morning.

I have been in bed ever since. The world is still spinning and if my heart rate goes up everything spins faster and throbs. The bruises are beginning to fade (the black eye and yellow shoulder), the scabs are drying out in my hair, and I can get short spells of consciousness which get longer day by day. The hospital says only time will tell.

In the meantime I am home not earning, not able to drive or do chores, not able to walk to the shops, and worst of all not able to enjoy the sunshine as I am shut in a dark bedroom asleep when my head lets me.

Monday I got up and overdid it and Tuesday was a nightmare . I stayed in bed all day. Wednesday was been better and Thursday has again improved. The doctor has signed me off for a fortnight telling me to come back if it hasn't cleared and he will issue another note.

I was supposed to be having an operation on my shoulder next week (rotator cuff) which I have been waiting for since January, however, I the aneathetist says that in view of the concussion and my health the operation will be deferred so I will have to continue to bear that pain for longer.

The Moral: Never ride without a helmet even if it is only to the end of the road!!!