Wear your helmet, you socially conscious college student
Joanna Bernstein
Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: Forum
On Mar. 27, 2008 Josh Waggoner, a 17 year old rollerblader from Decatur, Georgia, died from a severe head injury he suffered while attempting to grind a handrail on his skates.
Josh Wagonner is the second stunt rollerblader to die from a head injury in the last decade. The other rollerblader, Richard Taylor, died several years ago when he tried to swerve away from a moving car while speed skating down a steep and curvy hill. Neither Taylor nor Wagonner were wearing helmets.
From ages 12-17, my life was about rollerblading. I skated my practice rail for hours on end every day after school, and the skate park was my sanctuary on the weekends. During my five years of rollerblading, I only wore a helmet for the first year and a half. Turning 13 years old meant not wanting to look like a little kid on skates anymore. Therefore, I buried my helmet in the bottom of my backpack.
It was harder to get away helmet-less at the skate park; so fortunately, my head remained protected there. From ages 14-17 I suffered three concussions, all of which (luckily) took place at various skate parks where I was required to wear my helmet.
I also suffered from several broken bones while street skating without my helmet. I broke my right ankle, my right leg, and fractured both my wrist and my tailbone.
While I also remained aware of the great risk that I was taking by not wearing my helmet when skating, I also managed to put the danger factor out of my mind, and convince myself that I was untouchable.
I'd think to myself: a broken bone here, a mild concussion there, I'm still alive today, and no one's keeping score.
I don't want to keep a helmet-less rollerblader/skateboarder death toll score on this campus, but sometimes I fear I may be forced to start.
Guilford's campus is filled with steep, winding brick paths that rollerbladers, skateboarders, and longboarders alike speedily zip down every day. And now that it's spring and the weather is lightening up, more skaters seem to be cruising down these paths every day. And it gets worse.
Josh Wagonner is the second stunt rollerblader to die from a head injury in the last decade. The other rollerblader, Richard Taylor, died several years ago when he tried to swerve away from a moving car while speed skating down a steep and curvy hill. Neither Taylor nor Wagonner were wearing helmets.
From ages 12-17, my life was about rollerblading. I skated my practice rail for hours on end every day after school, and the skate park was my sanctuary on the weekends. During my five years of rollerblading, I only wore a helmet for the first year and a half. Turning 13 years old meant not wanting to look like a little kid on skates anymore. Therefore, I buried my helmet in the bottom of my backpack.
It was harder to get away helmet-less at the skate park; so fortunately, my head remained protected there. From ages 14-17 I suffered three concussions, all of which (luckily) took place at various skate parks where I was required to wear my helmet.
I also suffered from several broken bones while street skating without my helmet. I broke my right ankle, my right leg, and fractured both my wrist and my tailbone.
While I also remained aware of the great risk that I was taking by not wearing my helmet when skating, I also managed to put the danger factor out of my mind, and convince myself that I was untouchable.
I'd think to myself: a broken bone here, a mild concussion there, I'm still alive today, and no one's keeping score.
I don't want to keep a helmet-less rollerblader/skateboarder death toll score on this campus, but sometimes I fear I may be forced to start.
Guilford's campus is filled with steep, winding brick paths that rollerbladers, skateboarders, and longboarders alike speedily zip down every day. And now that it's spring and the weather is lightening up, more skaters seem to be cruising down these paths every day. And it gets worse.
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