Personal Narrative-9/11: A Short Story

The Crash
Imagine you are riding home from school on a friday in the spring. The sun is shining there is a nice breeze and you are cruising along on your 21 speed. Then, all of a sudden you fly over your handlebars and plummet towards the sidewalk. That's what happened to me back in the 8th grade.
I probably would’ve been fine, but I wasn’t wearing a helmet. I hit the ground hard scraped my hands and knees. I looked up as my bike flipped over my head and the pedal hit me square in the forehead. I stood up and blood began to flow from my head. I started freaking out. All I could think about was how painful stitches were and I didn’t want to go through that again. My friends got off their bikes and helped me up. A kid nearby called 911 and a

mom ran out of her house and gave me a towel to stop the bleeding. I waited a few minutes for the ambulance to arrive. Finally they pulled up lights flashing and siren on. They put me in a neck brace and bandaged me up. The paramedics assured me, “You shouldn’t need stitches. The bleeding is pretty bad, but the cuts aren’t very big.”. The ride felt like it took hours but it was only a few minutes. When I arrived at Elmhurst Hospital the doctor in the emergency room told me that I wouldn’t need stitches. I was so relieved. Before they could do anything I had to have an x-ray and an MRI to make sure my wounds were only physical. My X-ray looked good and my MRI showed some minor swelling but there were no serious problems. They used some Cyanoacrylate to close up the cuts on my head and I was out of there in no time. I remember looking in the side mirror of the car when we left and laughing at my swollen face.
Aside from the fact that I couldn’t play lacrosse for a couple of weeks, and I had to walk the halls of sandburg middle school with a golf ball sized lump on my forehead, my injury wasn’t that bad. The pain was manageable and I started to look more and more normal as my face healed. However all of this could’ve bend prevented if I had just been wearing my helmet. Ever since that accident I have worn my helmet. Fortunately I haven’t been involved in any bike accidents since, but If I had I know I would’ve been safe.
It may have taken a traumatic crash and an expensive ambulance ride for me to realize how dangerous it is to ride a bike without a helmet, but now it is a lesson I will never forget. I will continue to wear my helmet for the rest of my life now that I understand the risks associated with riding without one. It is a lesson that I will remember, as a parent, and convey to my kids. Hopefully they can learn not to make the same mistake that I did.