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RE: [RC] head injury--reassurance- helmet construction - heidiI had two falls last year that I landed on my head. First one, over the top of the horses head when she stopped abruptly, without warning, not wanting to go across and 12" water drain, landing on DIRT. I was wearing an ASTM certified helmet (Ariat), it CRACKED IN HALF! I decided at that point I needed to do a lot of homework on helmets and their construction. Don't assume that just because the helmet broke that it was not well-made or made of good materials. I had a helmet shatter in a freak fall as well--I came off of a turning saddle, lit on my chest, hands and knees (kind of curled up), and the impact to my head came from my HORSE, who reversed direction and tried to jump over me, but ended up clouting me in the head with a hind foot. My helmet was shattered from the center of the top all the way down the back--shell, foam and all. The blow was serious enough that even so, I lost consciousness for approximately a minute, and had short-term memory issues for close to half an hour afterward. (I did not go to the ER, but did call the ER and let them know about the accident, and had my husband monitor me through the night, in case my mental condition began to deteriorate, as was suggested by the original poster.) My point is that the materials of the helmet did exactly as they were intended--they took the brunt of the blow and responded through their own breakage instead of through breakage to my head! Had I not been wearing the helmet, this accident would most likely have resulted in skull fracture, and probably fatality. Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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