Last week, I took a spring break trip to go skiing with my son. It was gratifying to see that at least half of the people on the slopes were wearing a helmet. As I recall, it wasn’t that long ago there were no skiing-specific helmets.
It really strikes a chord with me that concussions are now part of almost every sport. The fact that people are wearing sport-specific protective gear means that there is an increase in awareness of the severity and frequency of head injuries.
Many winters ago, I sustained a concussion during a high school ski trip. I was racing a friend at a very unsafe speed. As we came off a particularly steep drop at full speed, there was a bright patch of sunlight on the course in front of us. The snow was soft and sticky from the warming effects of the sun, while the rest of the trail was in shadow. As I reached the compression at the bottom of the drop, the snow changed from frozen and fast to warm and sticky. My skis literally came to a stop. I flew forward and out of the front of the bindings, bouncing the front of my head on the colder, harder iced-over snow.
Back then we didn’t have concussions; we had what we called, “getting your bell rung.” I walked around for the rest of the trip in a daze, just a few ticks slower to respond than normal. I struggled to ski trails that would normally have posed no challenge to me. I also remember experiencing a funny kind of buzzing or ringing sound in my head for about a week.
I was lucky. I didn’t sustain an additional injury before the concussion resolved. But as I said, it was luck. If I had known what I know now, I would have approached that injury much differently. I certainly would not have continued skiing. I would have understood the importance of resting my brain for at least 72 hours before trying to advance to routine activity.
I like to think I can blame that incident on my sense of humor. When I make a bad joke, my kids remind me constantly, “Dad, you’re not funny.”
Who knows the comedy genius I might have been – if I’d only had a helmet.