Helmets or Heaven

Authors Note: This is a true story about a head injury I had a few months ago. It's a personal narrative about what had happened and how it happened.

You wouldn’t think helmets are as helpful as the really are. I would know for a fact, because since I didn’t wear one, my life had almost stopped within an instant.  It was during spring break that the incident happened. I was at my grandparent’s house for a few days relaxing and having fun. The weather was nice so my sister and I had brought our scooters and skateboards with since my grandparent’s house was on a road full of bumps and hills. Every few hours my sister and I would ride down the hills and come back home. I had brought a helmet with but I had never worn it while I was there. For the first few days we were there no accidents had happened.  Then the last day we were there my sister and I decided to go once more before we left. We had both gone past the first few hills and I decided we might as well go farther than we had gone before. It wasn’t much farther than normal but I thought it would still be exciting if we had both gone through the whole street. My sister and I went back and forth through the street and were about to head home, but that’s the last thing I remember from the accident.

(Most of the events in the following sequence were told by my parents and my sister to me because I cannot remember much of what had happened) As I laid on side of the road unconscious, multiple cars had rolled by and stop to see if they could help. A few cars stopped to check and offered me to ride to my grandparents house. I wouldn’t budge until the third car stopped and my sister said it was okay. We were dropped off at my grandparents house where I was placed on a couch in the living room. According to my sister, I was yelling and throwing pillows around the house. I was mad because of what had happened even though now I cannot imagine what had been done. My grandpa had given my an ice pack and I had thrown it across the room. They told me it was like I was possessed. I kept screaming and shouting until my Dad had came to pick me up.

I then woke up in my parent’s car without a clue of what had happened. My vision was blurred and hazy in which I didn’t know where we were going. We finally arrived at the Oconomowoc Hospital where I was seated in a cot and rushed to an x-ray room. It so happened to turn out that when they looked at my head had a more serious fracture than what we had expected. In that case, I was taken back outside into a ambulance without any evidence of what had happened. My vision was still fuzzy as if I was on drugs. The ride there was harsh since I was strapped to a cot while the road was full of bumps and hips the whole way there.

We finally arrived at Milwaukee Children Hospital where I was rushed to another head scanning room. They took several pictures of my head as my parents sat in frustration. It was about 3 hours of me waiting in the room while we waited for the x-ray scans to show up. I was only fed water and some soup since I could not eat whole foods. I could not hear out of my right ear since I had awakened from my fall. Plus, my head was also placed in a brace since the doctors didn’t know if my neck was okay or not. The brace was very stiff and difficult to lie down in. Finally the doctor arrived with the pictures of my head which had shown my skull had a fracture on the right side. Also, there was blood from my brain inside my skull and had leaked into my right ear canal which was why I could barely here. The x-rays looked bad and by that time it was about 10 o’clock. In which my sister and my mom had taken me to my room where I was place in a room with a few chairs, a bathroom, TV, and a monitor for the nurses. A nurse had came in and stuck a needle in my right arm so electrolytes and other fluids would run through my body so I would stay conscious. Then, I was placed where I was going to sleep while my head was still as stiff as a board. Just as I had gotten put in the correct position for the night, my soup from before had not agreed with me. Soup was splattered throughout the room, on the floor, on me, and on my bed. The nurse then said I would be placed in another room instead of cleaning it up for me. So I was then placed in another yet bigger room with the same supplies placed in the same position. My Dad laid in one of the chairs set out in the room and tried to rest while my Mom and sister had left. My neck was very irritated because of the brace therefore it was hard to sleep that night. It was also hard to position myself because of the needle in my arm, but it was about 12 until I finally drifted into a deep slumber.

I had awaken that day with my Mom and Dad ordering me breakfast over the phone for me while my neck felt like it was in a straight jacket. My arm had hurt from the needle as a nurse came in to check on me. She took my temperature and my heart rate which was perfectly normal. The nurse had also told me when I had to use the bathroom that I needed to go in a plastic cup so they could check if my urine was okay. As much of a pain as it was to drag the water holder that the needle in my arm was attached to, I still had to do it. My breakfast had then came in, which it was pancakes, milk, and a banana. I slowly ate the banana and drank some milk. I let that sit before I wanted to dive into the pancakes. Minutes after a few more swigs of the milk I had thrown up again. Except this time I was ready for it to happen so the mess had landed in a bucket. My stomach didn’t feel sick afterward, yet I just could not hold any food in. I didn’t even try to eat the pancakes but I then tried to sleep once again.

Later that day, I was woken by the same nurse with another check up. She was a little concerned about how I had thrown up and she said if it didn’t stop I may have something worse than they expected. While I was asleep, my parents ordered me some Gatorade and crackers for lunch. They still wanted me to eat but they didn’t want me to have too much. I ate the cracker and drank a little but that was about it. Shortly after that, I had to go to an ear exam to check on my hearing. I was brought into the room where a woman working there told me to put on headphones and every time I heard a beep from them I had to raise my hand. I did this for each ear several times until I had finished. While the results had came in my stomach was feeling queasy again. My dad grabbed me a trash can where I had thrown up again. The results then came in and my left ear was normal but my right ear had came in less responsive than what it should have been. They suspected this because of the blood in my ear, which was no surprise.

During Dinner all I had was water and quickly went to bed before I could throw up. My mom stayed with me that night so my Dad could stay at home. My neck brace was still on and painful. I almost resulted to ripping it off my neck since it hurt so much. I sat in my bed awake until the nurse came in to check up on me. She took my temperature and pulse which was normal like usual. She also asked me if I had any pain. In which my stomach hurt a little and my neck brace was tearing me apart it hurt so bad. Although the doctors said I couldn’t take it off until the next morning, she instead put Morphine in my needle that they had injected. It was supposed to relive pain instantly in which it had. My stomach had not hurt and my neck was not feeling as bad so that I was able to fall asleep that night.

It was Saturday as I woke up feeling better because of the Morphine. My breakfast that day was Jell-O and water which actually turned out pretty well. Minutes went by even though I had not thrown up. My parents had thought that today may be the day I leave this place. The nurse came in and was surprised that I had not spit up my breakfast. I was also relieved that she had taken my neck brace off which may have been one of the biggest reliefs in my life. My parents had rented the movie Skyfall for us to watch on the TV there. It was very good and while that played I had also taken a shower since I hadn’t since Thursday. Though the water was nice and refreshing, my right arm was covered up because of the needle inside me. Then lunchtime came around where I had gone down to the food court and got some ice cream. Since I was able to hold down my breakfast, the nurse had taken out the needle inside me. We arrived back at the room thinking we would be leaving soon. I was very happy to know. At the same time my hearing was starting to come back to me. After the nurse knew I could hold down food that day, we left around 2 o’clock. I then had gotten home safely in which I was happy I had left that place for good.

Now as dumb as helmets may make you look, they pay off in the end. If I knew wearing a helmet that day would save me from a visit to the hospital and not being able to play football that year, I would where one all the time. Helmets to me used to be no big deal until now. I had to miss out a week of school after I had left the hospital and couldn’t play sports. I hope that you wear a helmet next time you have the chance to while playing sports. Without them, the world would be nothing more than a concussion waiting to happen.