Helmet saves airman's life

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jim Fisher
  • 55th Wing Public Affairs
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. (AFPN) --  Airman 1st Class Michael Lashbrooks made a critical decision this summer. The veteran motorcycle rider decided to spend nearly $500 on a top-quality helmet to wear while riding his 2003 Kawasaki Ninja 636. Call it personal risk management or plain common sense -- it saved his life.

The scars on Lashbrooks' left forearm and leg, and the small crack on the helmet's chin bar hardly portray what can only be described as a catastrophic accident in Omaha, Neb., last August.

Lashbrooks was traveling north on U.S. Highway 75 when he lost control of his motorcycle and crossed the median into oncoming traffic, colliding with a van. He was in critical condition at a local hospital.

After 44 class-A mishaps involving motorcycles and as many fatalities over the last two years Air Force-wide, the message about Lashbrooks told the story of another tragedy in progress.

He missed much of what transpired over the few days following his surgery, as he drifted in and out of consciousness while a medical team worked to repair the damage. His injuries included compound fractures to the left arm, a fractured pelvis and three torn ligaments in the left knee.

His account of what transpired before he "blacked out" is harrowing. It began when he hit a slick spot on the highway.

"My back tire went to the right and sent me into the median," Lashbrooks said. He tried to regain control, but hit some mud under a bridge. "At that point, my body just shut down and I blacked out."

The bike shot into oncoming traffic, where he hit and deflected up and over the van.

The emergency medical technicians found him on the right shoulder of the southbound lanes of the highway. The high-speed impact with the van had vaulted him up and over the opposite side of the highway.

"I woke up on the ground looking up," he said. "I didn't feel any pain, and I was out again after being put in the ambulance."

Lashbrooks is expected to make a full recovery, though he still has three to five months of rehabilitation before he can return to duty. The impact with the van or the ground could have easily ended his life, his doctors said. In fact, they told the airman he probably would have sustained brain damage if he had been wearing a lesser-quality helmet.

Lt. Col. Bruce Copley, the Air Force Safety Center's chief of research and epidemiology, agrees. The results of a five-year study of motorcycle accidents involving Air Force members are conclusive -- helmets save lives.

"We're talking about human damage," Copley said.

According to the long-term study, 13 people out of 70 involved in class-A motorcycle accidents, where death or permanent injury result, since 1999 were not wearing helmets. In less-severe class-B and -C mishaps, more than 45 percent of the 678 documented mishaps involved helmetless riders, Copley said.

But helmets are not the only important safety measures for riders. Traffic and road conditions make motorcycle riding an inherently dangerous activity. Like many riders, Lashbrooks has had several close calls in the past because of inattentive drivers and less-than-perfect road conditions, he said.

"There are so many blind spots, and if you're not doing everything you can to operate safely, it just makes it worse," he said.

Lashbrooks said he will return to riding after recovering from his injuries. He currently logs up to six hours per week of physical therapy and is ahead of schedule for his recovery. He has been down at times because he misses the active lifestyle he had before the accident, but for the most part he remains positive and grateful.

"I'm lucky to be alive," he said. (Courtesy of Air Combat Command News Service)