A Near Death Experience...

Snowboarding. Who knew that this one sport could cause so much pain to the body.

Today was the day I had been waiting for four weeks, the day I'd finally try to begin to learn a sport I had always wanted to, snowboarding. First, I put on all of my "gear." As I made my way out to the bunny hill to begin my rough day, I looked up at the hill in shock. Little did I know, this was the hill that would take me to the emergency room days later? This was the hill that if it wasn't for that one $8 choice of renting a helmet, could have killed me...

So here I went, my first attempt up the bunny hill. I placed one foot on the snowboard, my left front foot, and strapped the binding. I placed my right foot on top of the board, and let the toe ropes slide through my freezing hands. As I slowly grasped the rope, I made it roughly five feet, then I fell. Being the kind of person that doesn't give up, I kept a positive attitude and decided to try again. Attempt two, I finally made it half way up the tow rope and got off like my instructor told me to. As I slid to the center of the bunny hill, I was about to take my first run down the bunny hill. After numerous tries, I got up and was just about to make my way down. If you think getting up with your snowboarding boots snapped into the binding of your board, try again. It's like getting up off the ground without using your feet, just your upper body.

"Im doing it!" was my first thought. But ten seconds later, I took my first fall. As my body hit the ground, my head hit first. Anyone watching could hear it a couple feet away. My head slammed into the ice, followed by my body. I layed there on the hill not wanting to get up, fearing what would happen when I did. I "shook" it off and went for another try. Over and over, my body would slam against the hill as I lost my balance and every part of my body started to hurt. I could feel my whole legs bruising, my head aching, and to make matters worse, I couldn't move my kneck. I fell face first hitting my head, back first hitting my head, and side to side hitting every part of my head possible. Barely being able to walk, my dad decided I needed to leave.

The next couple days were followed by headaches and constant pain in my head and whole body, and my parents decided a doctor’s visit was necessary immediately. I heard my mom talking to my dad about certain skiing and snowboarding incidents regarding closed head injuries with brain bleeding that resulted in death. The doctor rushed in an appointment and requested I come in immediately. I arrived barely being able to keep my eyes open, and focus on anything. The doctor said I would be rushed next door to the emergency room. Tears began to run down my face in fear of what could happen. I hadn’t had the best experiences with emergency rooms in the past two years, taking in account that I’d paid the nurses there “quite a few visits.”

I arrived and was placed into a wheel chair. I was rushed to a room and layed there on the stretcher bed as they began to hand me the strongest type of Tylenol they had. After laying there for close to two hours, I had to have a CAT scan. My body was layed on a small “stretcher” and went into a machine that took pictures of my head. Doctors came to the conclusion that I had feared since the beginning. I had suffered a concussion, a closed head injury. The headaches could last for weeks, and the doctors spoke the words I was hoping not to hear: “Looks like the season is done for you, kid.” They began to explain what could have happened to me if I didn’t have the helmet on. All of this was from serious falls on a bunny hill with a helmet; they explained after the first fall, I would have been out and completely unconscious, and if I would have continued and been lucky enough to not have been unconscious, I could have died. Who knew snowboarding was this dangerous? Out of this experience, all I have to be lucky for is that I was wearing a helmet.