Speech Final: Isabel Bandoroff

Isabel Bandoroff

TBI and Helmets

12/9/15

Our brains are the most precious and sensitive parts of our bodies, so why do we take such little precautions to protect them? 1.7 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury every year - this is unacceptable (brainline.org).  Now, a traumatic brain injury or TBI is an extreme external force that possibly leads to short or long term damage. Most of the side effects include deficiencies of cognitive processes such as trouble thinking or remembering, and severe cases can lead to loss in control of motor function (traumaticbraininjury.com).  So how does this happen? What are the leading causes? Car accidents and falls (cdc.gov - digital image).  We can’t do much to prevent those; however, 21% of TBIs are due to sports related injuries, and this is something we can change (aans.org and traumaticbraininjury.com)

Cycling trumps the charts in sports related Traumatic Brain Injuries, and yes - that includes football.  In 2009, about 85,000 adults were rushed to emergency rooms around the U.S after sustaining a TBI due to cycling alone. This is nearly double that of football (47,000).  This same trend can be seen in kids 14 and under: 40, 000 brain injuries as a result of a bike fall or crash (aans.org). Children’s brains are still developing, so when they sustain a traumatic brain injury, the consequences are extreme. TBI in children is far more serious than in adults for two reasons: 1. Their brains are developing and injury can stunt that development and 2. Often times their setbacks don’t appear until years later. Adults know what their challenges will be instantly or within a few weeks or months, this means they can take the initiative and tackle their obstacles head on. For children, it’s a waiting game and no one is sure how to exactly cope with the trauma (biausa.org).

Cycling isn’t the only sport or activity that causes TBI, skiing and powered recreational vehicles are extremely dangerous activities as well. Whereas the aforementioned 85,000 adults went to the ER in 2009 because of cycling head injury, 27,000 visited because of a PRV head injury, and 17,000 went from skiing or snowboarding (aans.org). Recreational skiers on average can get up to 10-60 mph on the slopes (skiing.about.com). Even I have reached about 40 mph while skiing and using my ski tracks app. At these speeds, a fall on hard, compact, and sometimes icy snow can be devastating no matter how much precaution you use.

So what is the solution, how do we crack down TBI and decrease it? It’s simple: wearing helmets.

83% of cyclists who died due to brain injury were not wearing helmets - imagine how much better their chances would have been had they been protecting themselves. If the majority of people who died from bike accidents had been wearing helmets, then I would write the issue off. I would say, “It’s just a dangerous activity, there’s no solution”. But this is not the case, there is something that can be done that is not being done. When you are a parent: stress the importance to your children of wearing a helmet and that it can save their life. When you are an adult: be a role model and wear them yourself. Young bikers and Skiers: demonstrate a concern for your well being and protect your brains on the slopes or in the bike lane. Helmets decrease the risk of sustaining a TBI by 85% - this is outrageous. How could you not wear a helmet when it betters your chances by 85% (helmets.org).  Whether you’re skiing, cycling, or hopping on a dirt bike or atv: put on a helmet.

One of the main arguments against wearing helmets is a human’s tendency to think that nothing bad will happen to them, or that they’re invincible. This is what psychologists refer to as the Invincibility Fallacy (momma moberg/year of AP Psych).  And in today’s world, pop culture has put an emphasis on young people's’ resiliency. Songs like Titanium with lyrics “I’m bulletproof, nothing to lose.. I am titanium” leave the audience with the notion that they are in fact bulletproof. And how can we not feel this way? People’s logic is “Oh I’m careful and safe, I won’t crash so I don’t need a helmet”. NEWS FLASH PEOPLE: YOU ARE NOT INVINCIBLE.  First off, countless accidents occur where the victim is innocent, it isn’t always your fault. Often people are the collateral damage of other’s recklessness and mistakes. You cannot control other people on the road or the slopes, so instead be proactive and protect yourself. Secondly, professional cyclists, skiers, snowboarders, and motocross-freestylers crash all of the time. And they are professionals, if they can slip up and crash - so can you.  Take Kevin Pearce for example, he was a professional snowboarder and training for the Vancouver Winter Olympics. He crashed on a training run on a half-pipe in Park City, trying to land an incredibly dangerous trick. He sustained a traumatic brain injury and to this day, he still struggles with double vision, impulsivity, and memory problems. Had Kevin not been wearing a helmet, he would have died on impact. The helmet saved his life (The Crash Reel).

Helmets are not a guarantee, people still injure their brains while wearing them and can die from the trauma. But as of now, they are the only methods we have to protect our brains - other than completely stopping dangerous activities, and this will never happen. So we have to take full advantage of them, because a little protection is better than none at all. As much as we would like for it not to be true, accidents happen all the time and are out of our control. We have to take the initiative.

When I was younger, my parents always told me to wear a helmet and they wouldn’t let me go ride my bike without one. So my friend and I would leave the house with helmets on, but take them off and hide them in a bush before we started riding- they weren’t cool. I think that if my parents had told me more how important they were, and that if I got in an accident it could protect me significantly, I would’ve been much more inclined to listen. I myself am a fashionista, but looking back even I can admit that looking fabulous is not worth my life and I’d rather endure some helmet hair and judgemental looks than a traumatic brain injury.

Works Cited

"The American Association of Neurological Surgeons." AANS. N.p., Aug. 2014. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <http://www.aans.org/patient%20information/conditions%20and%20treatments/sports-related%20head%20injury.aspx>.

"Bicycle Helmet Statistics." Bicycle Helmet Statistics. N.p., 30 Sept. 2015. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <http://www.helmets.org/stats.htm>.

"Brain Injury in Children." Children and Brain Injury. Chicago Digital, n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <http://www.biausa.org/brain-injury-children.htm>.

The Crash Reel. Dir. Lucy Walker. Perf. Kevin Pearce and Family. HBO, 2013. Documentary.

Doyle, Mike. "You Won't Believe How Fast Olympic Skiers Go." About.com Sports. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <http://skiing.about.com/od/skiingtip1/qt/How-Fast-Do-Skiers-Go.htm>.

"Facts About Traumatic Brain Injury." Facts About Traumatic Brain Injury. WETA, n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <http://www.brainline.org/content/2008/07/facts-about-traumatic-brain-injury.html>.

Leading Causes of TBI. Digital image. CDC. USA.gov, 12 Jan. 2015. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <http://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html>.

"What Are the Effects of TBI?" TraumaticBrainInjurycom. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <http://www.traumaticbraininjury.com/understanding-tbi/what-are-the-effects-of-tbi/>.