Watch this video (after the extremely annoying GE commercial) Bell Rung about football players getting their "bell rung". Towards the end of the video there is a short clip by Takeo Spikes and he says that the hits made him wonder if he would want his son to play. I had that epiphany over 30 years ago when I was being loaded into an ambulance after a bad crash when I was racing motocross that completely destroyed my helmet. The helmet was a 'top of the line' Bell full faced helmet and the only thing holding it together was the nylon chin strap.
During that ride I made the decision that if I had ever had kids (LOL, if I only knew I'd have 5 kids) that I would never have a dirt bike around so they would never be tempted to race. To this day I have several boxes of motocross trophies packed away in boxes in the attic that my kids have never seen.
That was in 1978. They only kept me overnight for observation and I went to school the next day. Two weeks later I was racing again and broke my 2nd helmet. I always took the "whoops" two at a time (some take 3 at a time now) and passed lots of guys that way. One guy moved over while I was in the air (it's impossible to stop or turn while in the air) and I hit him and my head slammed into the bike next to him. That one knocked me out. It also ruptured 2 discs in my back, fractured my hip and broke an ankle. It was also my last race.
I only mention this because that semester of school I received my worst grades I ever got. It was mostly blamed on missing some school (that time) and not studying hard because I was in pain. Now I have to wonder, was it really the pain and a few missed classes, or was it two violent blows to the head in less than 3 weeks? How hard to you have to hit a (back then $350 helmet) to have it literally break into two pieces? These were full faced helmets too. Based on what the medical profession knows now, it sure sounds like I most likely suffered 2 concussions; but the word "concussion" was never mentioned back then.
As I sit here, over 30 years later, enjoying several of these old 'healed' injuries come back, I have to wonder if I didn't sustain a couple of pretty hard concussions. Oh well, I never introduced my kids to motocross, or any other racing, and I'm here today. Still, it does seem odd that it's taken a minimum of 30 years for doctors to begin to notice what violent blows to the head does to the body. Anyone else suffer anything similar? I have some pictures of that 2nd crash published in a magazine I have stored with the trophies. Like those old trophies, they are probably best left where they are for now.
During that ride I made the decision that if I had ever had kids (LOL, if I only knew I'd have 5 kids) that I would never have a dirt bike around so they would never be tempted to race. To this day I have several boxes of motocross trophies packed away in boxes in the attic that my kids have never seen.
That was in 1978. They only kept me overnight for observation and I went to school the next day. Two weeks later I was racing again and broke my 2nd helmet. I always took the "whoops" two at a time (some take 3 at a time now) and passed lots of guys that way. One guy moved over while I was in the air (it's impossible to stop or turn while in the air) and I hit him and my head slammed into the bike next to him. That one knocked me out. It also ruptured 2 discs in my back, fractured my hip and broke an ankle. It was also my last race.
I only mention this because that semester of school I received my worst grades I ever got. It was mostly blamed on missing some school (that time) and not studying hard because I was in pain. Now I have to wonder, was it really the pain and a few missed classes, or was it two violent blows to the head in less than 3 weeks? How hard to you have to hit a (back then $350 helmet) to have it literally break into two pieces? These were full faced helmets too. Based on what the medical profession knows now, it sure sounds like I most likely suffered 2 concussions; but the word "concussion" was never mentioned back then.
As I sit here, over 30 years later, enjoying several of these old 'healed' injuries come back, I have to wonder if I didn't sustain a couple of pretty hard concussions. Oh well, I never introduced my kids to motocross, or any other racing, and I'm here today. Still, it does seem odd that it's taken a minimum of 30 years for doctors to begin to notice what violent blows to the head does to the body. Anyone else suffer anything similar? I have some pictures of that 2nd crash published in a magazine I have stored with the trophies. Like those old trophies, they are probably best left where they are for now.
