I saw the following on Facebook and thought it was something we could all learn from. Please, if you hit your head, take it seriously:
Last year while practicing for a L3 PSIA exam, I fell down the hill and smacked my head on the very hard man-made snow surface. I was wearing a helmet, skiing on a Blue run at a moderate speed; practicing parallel turns with my group. I must have hit a clump of ice and took an abrupt fall. I immediately experienced a severe headache. My colleagues all asked if I was ok. I said, “Yes,” that I just had a bad headache. I left my group of 8 other instructors with whom I had been skiing and headed for home. I did not seek medical attention. I thought I just had a headache. On the way home, I had a difficult time staying in my lane on the freeway. I did not ski for about a week, but then returned to finish the season teaching at a major resort here in Utah.
On April 13th, we had a big snowstorm. I headed to Brighton Resort to enjoy the new snow with friends who are expert skiers. Again, on an easy Blue run, covered with some of Utah’s finest powder, I had another fall. This time my left ski hit a submerged rock straight on. I did a forward 360-degree somersault. At the 180-degree point, my head hit the snow very hard. I continued my somersault, landed on my skis and continued skiing. Of course, I was wearing my helmet. I was skiing fairly slowly. The conditions were ungroomed chopped up snow. I met up with my friends who had taken a slightly different path down the mountain and did not see my fall. They asked several times if I was ok. Again, I told them I had a bad headache, but I was ok. We skied one more run and all decided we were done for the day.
I headed to my car, laboriously took off my boots and started the drive down the canyon. This time, I really had trouble staying in my lane and controlling my speed. As I approached the S-Curves in Big Cottonwood Canyon with a posted 25 mph speed limit, I noticed I was going about 75 mph. I slowed down in time to make it through the curves and continued home. I had a hard time finding my house as I approached my neighborhood.
I went in my house, went to bed and slept for about 4 hours. I woke up with a severe headache. I was starting to lose my ability to walk and control my hands. It was approaching evening. All the doctor’s offices were closed. I called a family member who is a doc in another state. He recommended I have my wife drive me to the local brand new hospital to the Emergency Room. We did that.
The ER doc, himself an experienced skier as well, sent me in for a CT scan immediately. After the scan he came to talk with me. He explained that I had two subdural hematomas, one from each fall. I learned later that the mortality rate for this particular type of injury is 60-80%. He explained my injuries were so serious that they did not even treat them at this hospital. He had ordered me an ambulance that would take me to the major regional medical center where they had a brain trauma and surgery unit.
Thus started a 10 month journey that has included two brain surgeries, 2 months in various ICU units and rehab hospitals, 7 months of home confinement, and 3 months of self-directed cognitive, speech, physical and occupational therapy and recovery.
The good news is I am nearly fully recovered. I am teaching again. I have learned a lot.
I did have three brushes with death. I spent countless thousands of dollars on medical care. If I, or my colleagues, had insisted that I go to the doctor after the first fall, my season would have been over for that year, but I could most likely have avoided the second more serious injury that nearly took my life.
The key messages I would like to share with this group from this experience are as follows: If you are skiing or bicycling with someone and they bang their head, take them to competent medical care immediately. Don’t let them talk you out of it. Neither you nor they are competent to decide how serious the injury might be. You can have a potentially fatal accident with a helmet on. If you can, get them a toboggan ride down the mountain. Skiing with a potentially life threatening injury is not a good idea. Also, there is a new safety standard for helmets known as MIPS. Helmets that meet the MIPS standard absorb part of the energy that would otherwise be absorbed by your brain. Get one for you and all your loved ones that ride on snow.
Last year while practicing for a L3 PSIA exam, I fell down the hill and smacked my head on the very hard man-made snow surface. I was wearing a helmet, skiing on a Blue run at a moderate speed; practicing parallel turns with my group. I must have hit a clump of ice and took an abrupt fall. I immediately experienced a severe headache. My colleagues all asked if I was ok. I said, “Yes,” that I just had a bad headache. I left my group of 8 other instructors with whom I had been skiing and headed for home. I did not seek medical attention. I thought I just had a headache. On the way home, I had a difficult time staying in my lane on the freeway. I did not ski for about a week, but then returned to finish the season teaching at a major resort here in Utah.
On April 13th, we had a big snowstorm. I headed to Brighton Resort to enjoy the new snow with friends who are expert skiers. Again, on an easy Blue run, covered with some of Utah’s finest powder, I had another fall. This time my left ski hit a submerged rock straight on. I did a forward 360-degree somersault. At the 180-degree point, my head hit the snow very hard. I continued my somersault, landed on my skis and continued skiing. Of course, I was wearing my helmet. I was skiing fairly slowly. The conditions were ungroomed chopped up snow. I met up with my friends who had taken a slightly different path down the mountain and did not see my fall. They asked several times if I was ok. Again, I told them I had a bad headache, but I was ok. We skied one more run and all decided we were done for the day.
I headed to my car, laboriously took off my boots and started the drive down the canyon. This time, I really had trouble staying in my lane and controlling my speed. As I approached the S-Curves in Big Cottonwood Canyon with a posted 25 mph speed limit, I noticed I was going about 75 mph. I slowed down in time to make it through the curves and continued home. I had a hard time finding my house as I approached my neighborhood.
I went in my house, went to bed and slept for about 4 hours. I woke up with a severe headache. I was starting to lose my ability to walk and control my hands. It was approaching evening. All the doctor’s offices were closed. I called a family member who is a doc in another state. He recommended I have my wife drive me to the local brand new hospital to the Emergency Room. We did that.
The ER doc, himself an experienced skier as well, sent me in for a CT scan immediately. After the scan he came to talk with me. He explained that I had two subdural hematomas, one from each fall. I learned later that the mortality rate for this particular type of injury is 60-80%. He explained my injuries were so serious that they did not even treat them at this hospital. He had ordered me an ambulance that would take me to the major regional medical center where they had a brain trauma and surgery unit.
Thus started a 10 month journey that has included two brain surgeries, 2 months in various ICU units and rehab hospitals, 7 months of home confinement, and 3 months of self-directed cognitive, speech, physical and occupational therapy and recovery.
The good news is I am nearly fully recovered. I am teaching again. I have learned a lot.
I did have three brushes with death. I spent countless thousands of dollars on medical care. If I, or my colleagues, had insisted that I go to the doctor after the first fall, my season would have been over for that year, but I could most likely have avoided the second more serious injury that nearly took my life.
The key messages I would like to share with this group from this experience are as follows: If you are skiing or bicycling with someone and they bang their head, take them to competent medical care immediately. Don’t let them talk you out of it. Neither you nor they are competent to decide how serious the injury might be. You can have a potentially fatal accident with a helmet on. If you can, get them a toboggan ride down the mountain. Skiing with a potentially life threatening injury is not a good idea. Also, there is a new safety standard for helmets known as MIPS. Helmets that meet the MIPS standard absorb part of the energy that would otherwise be absorbed by your brain. Get one for you and all your loved ones that ride on snow.
