ALT-17 Motorcyclists should always Wear Helmets – Agree
It was about 5:00 in the afternoon when I heard a knock at my door. My husband answered the door, and walked out closing the door behind him. I figured my aunt had arrived to drop off my cousin to stay and play with my son. But then my husband walked in looking down and he grabbed my hand and said he needed to speak to me about something important. I felt my heart sink and I said "is it my brother?" figuring somethig bad had happened and what popped into my mind was my teenage brother and how he loved to drive his new truck. He starred at me and said "no, it's your dad" my world came crashing down. I had just had a baby five weeks earlier and we already had two other kids and all I could think about was how much my kids loved their grandpa. What would I tell them? Ever since I could remember I would always say I loved and looked up to my dad so much that when he died I would die too. I felt like collapsing, throwing up, screaming every emotion known to man went through me that very moment but you would never have been able to notice because on the outside I was frozen, only my brain was functioning. All this happened like in one minute. My husband then went on to say that my dad was on his way home from work on his motorcycle when a car ran a stop sign and hit him hard, really hard. He also went on to say he was alive. I ran to my aunt who was standing in my front yard. She said she would take me with her to the hospital to see my dad.
My dad is the most hardworking man I know. Dad always gave his time and attention to anyone who needed it. Everyone I knew knew that my dad was as dependable as humanly possible. My dad had always worked his fingers to the bone for his family all while getting home from work and watering the plants, washing the dishes, making breakfast and dinner for all of us, washing clothes, and ironing for everyone in the morning. Even when I moved out and got married at eighteen my dad never showed his dissapointment in me like everyone else did. He had always been there for me, my brother and my mom.
I got to the hospital and there were all his brothers and sister, sisters-in law, my cousins and people from his work. They let me in to see him in the emergency room and I cried. I always saw my dad as unbreakable and there he was all broken up. I touched his forehead and told him I loved him and all he could say was don't worry, don't cry I am okay just a scratch or two. That wasn't true though. There my dad was in excruciating pain and he was trying to comfort me.
My dad had shattered his femur, broke his hip and his pelvis, burned his leg on the hot pavement and scratched up his arms.
With all this going on all my dad was worried about was taking his uniforms back into work and paying for the uniform he had gotten injured in so his employers wouldn't be paying for rented uniforms he knew he wasn't going to use for awhile.
My dad had gotten hit by a huge old model car and was thrown an extremely long distance. He messed up his leg becasue the handlebar of the bike got caught in is pant pocket. He was protected from all the other traffic in the intersection becasue at the time of the accident a majority of the traffic in that area were his co-workers who surrounded the area to protect him. My dad even flipped in the air. But do you know that as bad as this accident was his head never once hit the ground. Not once. My dad hit the ground and went into shock and started trying to twist his leg back into place. It so happens that my uncle who also works for the same employer but in a different location was coming out of work and happened to pass by the accident. This accident also occured on the street where my grandma and great aunt and cousins live. Everyone who saw what happened thought my dad was dead. My dad wasn't wearing a helmet.
No helmet. Man I figure God just loves my dad that much that he didn't even get a scratch on his head.
Believe me I think about that all the time. My dad is okay now, he's permanantly disabled and he's back at work but he is in alot of pain. I make it a point to stress to anyone I know who rides a bike that a helmet is so neccessary. I mean my dad was sooo lucky. I did go through a time when I was so mad that my dad could be so selfish as to risk his life like that by not wearing a helmet. Especially when his brother died of a broken neck in a motorcycle accident.
There is no reason not to wear a helmet. If something happens to you it just doesn't affect you. Think about how much you love your kids, grandkids, wives, husbands. It's painful to go through such horrible accidents and knowing something could have been done to prevent that. You might be a wonderful driver but there are crazy people out there. Take care of yourself for everyones sake. My dad was lucky. You may not be that lucky.
My dad still doesn't wear a helmet, but now he doesn't even ride his bike anymore. Something he once loved is now something that makes him cringe.
- The man who hit my dad presented fake insurance,didn't get tested for drugs or alcohol, didn't get arrested and only recieved a failure to yield ticket. This man had the nerve to never answer my dads plea for some kind of help with medical bills Then this man (who had been in trouble with the law before) had the nerve t show up at my dads front door and ask him to help him get this accident off his record so he could get his license back. I tell you, the world is full of crazy people so wear your helmet.
