Nickle has put together a contest with Mile High Skates, Longboard Larry, Silverfishlongboarding and an Anonymous silverfish member are getting together to give away 5 Pro-Tec B2 helmets, thats five people that can win a helmet. All you have to do is write something telling us why you love longboarding and why you need a helmet. Much respect to Nickle for doing this. Nickle has more details and information about the background of the contest below.
This year has seen, in my opinion, the highest number of skate related deaths of any year I have been skating. I do not know how many of those were head injury related, but I am going to guess a high percentage of them were. I
I have learned my lesson about helmet usage in spring 2004. I fell while cruising between classes two weeks before finals. To this day, my memory ends in class, and begins again on an emergency room table already in a gown, while a doctor is putting staples in the back of my head. I do know this; I was not doing any aggressive or high-speed skating. In fact, the hill I fell on was the very hill I learned to ride on.
I ended up spending three nights in intensive care for a third degree concussion (memory loss), two skull fractures, loss of hearing in my left ear, and a broken collarbone. Due to my loss of memory, I was forced to withdraw from Spring semester, and give up all the work I had put into my classes. In addition, over $21,000 was paid to the hospital alone (thank God for health insurance). That number does not include the ambulance ride, which I do not remember, or after care treatment. My memory returned, but my hearing did not. I still can not hear in my left ear.
My point is that I would not wish this upon my most hated enemies. It was one of the worst, but most significant experiences I have ever had in my life. It was just as hard on my parents and friends as it was for me.
So, here is what what