Joe “Scratchmaster Joe” Martinez informs us that his fellow Seattle graffiti/visual artist and business partner Nko Reynolds (a co-founder of the Free Sheep Society and a member of experimental-theater company Implied Violence, which won a Stranger Genius Award in 2008) was injured in a bicycling accident yesterday. Nko is in “serious but stable condition” at Harborview Hospital. Martinez’s missive is below.
UPDATE: Martinez says that Nko is responding to verbal commands and recognized his mother, wife, and him, who visited Nko at the hospital.
Nko suffered a significant head injury, as he was not wearing a helmet. This injury required [him to] undergo brain surgery. The surgery was successful in stopping the epidural hemorrhage that was putting his life at risk.
The extent of his injuries is unclear; however, he has the use of all his limbs. Unfortunately, he has yet to respond to verbal commands. Upon admittance to the hospital he was able to recite his name and instruct medics to contact his wife Anna, so this shows some promise.
The staff will try to extubate him soon, and then we’ll know more of his motor function and cognitive abilities.
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Dave Segal is a journalist and DJ living in Seattle. He has been writing about music since 1983. His stuff has appeared in Gale Research’s literary criticism series of reference books, Creem (when...
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77 replies on “Seattle Artist Nko Seriously Injured in Bike Accident”
Jesus Christ, wear your fucking helmets people.
No sympathy. If the pleasure of the wind blowing through you hair is worth the risk of not wearing your helmet, then so be it. But don’t expect sympathy.
Helmets are for nerds!
@3 So are brains.
My aunt suffered serious, permanent brain damage from a bicycling accident because she wasn’t wearing a helmet. I wouldn’t wish that fate on anyone, and I hope he makes a full recovery. Please wear helmets, people. You don’t want to end up like that.
OOOOOHHHHH NOOOOOOO!!!! This couldn’t have happened to a sweeter person, this is a horrible thing to happen!!! OHH my GOD, why would you be so nasty about this happening?!?! I hope he pulls through.
Just to throw it out there, smashing your face on the pavement, breaking your jaw and shattering your teeth is not all that much better than landing on the rest of your head. But the only bicyclists who wear full face helmets are BMXers. Apparently out of the need to look cool, as far as I can tell.
And please, no Darwin Awards. Francis Galton, not Charles Darwin, believed in all that “improving the human gene pool” nonsense. Call it a Galton Award, if you must. Or Nietzsche Award, maybe. But Darwin hated it when people talked like that.
Or better yet, say it in the original German, Lebensunwertes Leben.
What were we talking about again?
Whyyyyy, people, would you not wear a helmet? What’s it going to take to get people to wear helmets?
Peace and best wishes to this guy, though. I sincerely hope he pulls through and also hope his accident serves to scare others into wearing a helmet.
What is this, like the 10th accident in the last 30 days?!
And supposedly WA State is the number one for bicyclists?
Dear Sunday Trash-Talkers:
Wearing a helmet is always a good idea but there’s no promise he wouldn’t have sustained the same massive brain injuries had he been wearing one. Were you at the scene of the accident? Were you at the ER? Do you know your ass from your elbow when it comes to neural damage?
Didn’t think so.
Save your casual, cheap sanctimony and send good wishes to a good man and his family–they’re clearly suffering more than any of you finger-wagging goofballs.
That is all.
@7 Actually I would happily take all of that over brain damage.
Hope he makes a full recovery. We all do things that are not the safest, maybe once, maybe all the time, but that doesn’t mean we should die or suffer in such ways because of them.
Dear NKO – please get better soon.
Why are we not surprised that a
“Stranger Genius Award”
wasn’t wearing a helmet?
My dad who works in health care would always call motorcyclists without helmets “organ donors” because when they crash badly and end up in the ER, their head injuries are what kills them, and the rest of their organs are pretty serviceable.
Wear your helmet even if it makes you look like a dork. Isn’t half of being cool being a dork ironically? Am I doing the cool right?
@10
1. I don’t think anyone is trash talking. If anything, this is an appropriate time to talk about the importance of wearing helmets.
2. I think its pretty obvious that his injuries stem from the fact THAT HE WAS NOT WEARING A FUCKING HELMET.
Get off your high horse.
3. If you don’t like whats being said, turn off the comments.
Brendan,
Sending good wishes via blog comments or magic thought waves or on little scraps of paper addressed to Master Yoda does not transmit supernatural healing vibes through the energy field that binds all things. Ten billion people thinking positive thoughts will have absolutely zero effect on the odds that he will get better or worse.
(Now a helmet, that would have shifted the odds in his favor, am I right? Just saying… )
Praying for you,
Brendan, as you say, he may have suffered the same injury if he had been wearing as helmet. And if he had, he’d have my sympathy.
Part of living a full life involves taking some risks. That is why I think it is reasonable to hike, ski, walk outside at night, and ride a bike, even if bad things might happen.
But there are lots of things that strike me as too big a risk for the pleasure they bring. Like riding without a helmet, eating fugu, hand feeding bears (as seen on slog), or even climbing Everest.
If someone makes a different judgment than I do, then fine. But I don’t enjoy the chorus of onlookers surrounding the victim, demanding sympathy. I’m looking at you Brendan.
I feel for his family, who didn’t ask for this guy to act like an ass, but for him, he made his own bed. And now he is in it.
I very much hope he’s okay.
But goddammit, people, wear a fucking helmet.
And, Brendan, helmets prevent or reduce the overwhelming majority of head injuries. If you wear a helmet and still get a head injury, you are extremely unlucky. If you don’t wear a helmet, you are extremely stupid.
HEY EVERYONE
do you ever NOT FASTEN YOUR SEATBELT because you are just like going outside to move your car or going a quarter mile to the grocery store, even though you normally do?
shit happens.
we know nothing about NKO’s normal helmet-wearing habits (i, 99.9% of the time, wear a helmet, but due to habits from being a dumb 18 year old occasionally i will leave a friends’ house without it and then get home, realize i don’t have it and be really grateful i didn’t crash like this) or the accident itself. i am completely with brendan on this one. sometimes something super tragic happens, and it could’ve been preventable, but it doesn’t remove from the tragedy. and hey, maybe he would’ve STILL GOTTEN BRAIN DAMAGE–perhaps milder, but still brain damage. or maybe someone would’ve damaged his helmet (it’s pretty easy to do) and not told him, and it would’ve made no difference. we don’t know, because that didn’t happen.
and i have friends who have been totally fucked by bike accidents with and without helmets. it happens. it sucks either way.
10
Brendan,
Were you at the scene of the accident?
Were you at the ER?
Do you know your ass from your elbow when it comes to anything?
Didn’t think so.
Save your casual, cheap sanctimony.
That is all.
@19, no, I always were my seatbelt, even when driving a quarter of a mile,
You are right it is still a tradgedy.
And (following your example and using all caps here) IF HE WAS WEARING HIS HELMET, MAYBE HE WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN HURT AT ALL!
We can’t know what would have happened if he had been wearing his helmet. But we do know, his chances would have been much, much better.
@19
“do you ever NOT FASTEN YOUR SEATBELT because you are just like going outside to move your car or going a quarter mile to the grocery store, even though you normally do?”
No, I don’t. I was in an accident and the seatbelt saved me from at least serious injury, if not death. I always wear my seatbelt. And I always wear my helmet when biking.
I’m confident that everyone who comments on this post hopes Nko fully recovers. It is too late to tell him to wear a helmet, but this is EXACTLY the right time to remind everybody else who reads this to wear a helmet. So, ya know, the next person doesn’t suffer the same fate.
Pooh-poohing basic safety, sarahlloyd, just increases the chances of you or one of your friends getting your head cracked open.
sure, he should have been wearing a helmet, but god damn, the lack of sympathy on here is ridiculous. so much for ‘community’, i suppose (or maybe i’m not on here enough to realize that these sorts of comments are typical). get well soon.
Genius Award? Sounds like a Darwin winner.
@22: harsh. harsh. i was recently saved by a seatbelt too, just like a month ago. i still have the hickey-like scar on my shoulder. i think the summary of what i was saying is, we’re not all 100% on this stuff 100% of the time, so i really don’t see any reason to remove sympathy–not that safety isn’t important. i’m sorry you didn’t see the gray area i was trying to clarify.
also, 22, did you read the whole post? it sounds like you just read the first paragraph before responding.
@22 I’ve been in a number of car accidents(they’re kind of my thing) and in one in particular, a delightful one that involved the car rolling for a hundred yards in the desert, no seatbelt would have equaled certain death so I always wear one as well. I even feel weird sitting in my car with the engine off without one on.
@23 Looking for community in the comments section here, the Seattle Times, or most internet sits is not the best idea. Community requires a lot more than reading the same post or living in rough geographical proximity.
But really sympathy only really matters when you know the person. A bunch of people saying nice things(or mean ones) on the internet is irrelevant.
This isn’t “tragedy”, it is hubris.
I find it pretty sick the way some people on here demand that “this might have happened even if he hadn’t worn a helmet.”
The simple fact is that wearing a helmet can prevent or lessen head injuries and there is simply no reason not to wear one.
No. Single. Reason.
If the rider in question chose not to respect himself by wearing a helmet, why should I?
And on a personal note: 25 years ago, a car plowed into me while I was riding. I wasn’t wearing a helmet. I was in a coma for two days, had a serious concussion that kept me foggy for months. I didn’t expect any sympathy from anyone, because I quickly realized how stupid I’d been. The worst part is that I have no memory of that night. The driver’s story didn’t quite jibe w/ how I would act, but there was nothing I could do about it. He was the only witness.
I shouldn’t rag on the guy too much. At least he was kind enough to call for an ambulance (this was before cell phones, folks, which meant he had to drive a mile & then come back.) He could have taken off & left me to die. No one would have been the wiser. So thank you, Mr. Kind Wrestling Coach Returning From a Meet. I was pretty groggy when you visited me in the hospital, but I truly appreciate your help.
Sure, I may have still gotten a concussion. It was a pretty bad accident. But I would have avoided the coma, and I might have even been able to remember what happened.
I didn’t ask for sympathy then, and don’t expect me to dole it out now to someone who could have avoided his head injuries by simply wearing a helmet. I hope he gets better, and is able to enjoy his bike like I have done. There’s nothing “cool” about not wearing a helmet. It makes you look like a total dumbfuck, especially when they have to operate on your brain after an accident.
It’s pretty hard getting a helmet over those natty dreads.
Once less tagger on a fixie.
The phrase “asking for sympathy” is strange to me.
There’s no need to douche at everyone reading the thread about wearing a helmet. That point came across pretty loud and clear in the facts of the bike crash and brain damage. Posturing about how you, Mr. and Ms. Tough Guy, will not be bestowing your precious sympathy on future brain injurees? That will at best make no difference and a worst make helmetless bikers think “Oh yeah? Screw you and your sympathy, I’m a free man.” instead of “Maybe I have not fully considered the odds or seriousness of head injury.”
Best wishes for a return to functioning for Nko and his loved ones.
you fucking asshats. You don’t think that guy is lying in a fucking hospital bed thinking “fuck, i should’ve worn a helmet?!” You don’t considering getting fucking brain surgery is enough punishment for not wearing a fucking helmet? You’re using somebody on the verge of death to pick at “fixies” or “taggers?” Fuck you guys and your pathetic attempt at contributing something;anything to the world. You’re grasping at straws to find your “reason” for being on this planet, aren’t ya? There is no excuse for you. disappear.
Nko, I’m hoping for your full recovery, sorry humans are sickeningly horrible sometimes.
@31: Man, you sure showed all those people on the internet.
I agree with Ben @32, @31 you totally said what needed to be said, and now there is nothing more to say. Well done. Let’s shut down this thread and call it done.
roland of the gilead won it in 31 comments, fair and square.
Please make it clear what you’re talking about whether it’s a bicycle or a motorcycle. Bike is nebulous and could be either.
Why don’t people wear helmets when they are driving or riding cars? Over 50% of head injuries in this country involve car accidents.
Why don’t pedestrians wear helmets? They are most at risk for fatal accidents on our streets — and of course head injuries are very common.
Unfortunately, a helmet is not a panacea for safety. It may help somewhat some of the time, but it cannot make inherently unsafe activities safe. For the record, there is no firm evidence anywhere that conclusive proves that helmets are as important as they are assumed to be — unlike seat belts, a common example cited. Just saying.
By the way, I wear a helmet most of the time. Wear them, sure — but you better not fucking assume that you are less likely to be seriously injured because of that. THAT attitude is what gets people brain damaged!
There is serious and substantive debate about the merits of helmets. Bicycle helmets are not well designed for serious impact (like over 12 mph; my average speed on the level is 17, and I’m a stumpy woman), and they tend to give riders a false sense of security. There is even some evidence
that head injuries among cyclists have actually increased as helmet use has.
We tend to see helmets as a great panacea, but the truth is they are nothing more than a patina of safety and their absence an excuse for finger-pointing. One cyclist I know eschews bicycle helmets altogether and wears an equestrian one, arguing that any helmet designed to preserve the noggin of a person thrown off an animal running 55 mph is better than a crappy cycling helmet.
I wear one when I ride, because it’s a snappy fashion statement and the social norm, but I have no illusions about its efficacy. I didn’t wear one during the two years I lived in Nicaragua, despite there arguably being more danger, because it wasn’t the social norm and – again – I have no illusions about their efficacy. You do what you can to minimize risk, but at some point you have to take a chance.
I, for one, ache for this man. A dear friend of mine, age 16, also suffered a TBI (traumatic brain injury) when he fell off his bike last fall, and watching the slow recovery process – especially since he didn’t have insurance – has been excruciating. My heart goes out to Nko and his family, and I sure as hell won’t sanctimoniously blame him for this tragedy. No one deserves this.
Of course, there’s also that study that showed that motorists left more passing distance when passing a bicyclist that wasn’t wearing a helmet:
Points to @37. Best wishes for a quick and full recovery Nko. You didn’t deserve this crash.
Two questions for the helmets are everything crowd – I wear one for the marginal edge it might give me, but also have no illusions about how well they work because:
If bike helmets are so great, how come the places cycling is safest (e.g. Holland & Denmark) are the places where essentially no one wears helmets? (Thus helmets must be a distraction when it comes to making cycling safer – cause they barely exist where cyclist is safest – Duh!)
If bike helmets are so great, how come cycling fatalities per cyclist didn’t decrease in places where helmet use was mandated like Australia after essentially everyone started using them? (Look it up – it’s not exactly subtle data.)
Care about the safety of cyclists like Nko? (They’re saving *you* and me money every time they ride instead of drive – so you should care.) Then fight for:
* better enforcement of speeding laws on city streets
* better cycling infrastructure (bike blvds, proper bike lanes, cycletracks on busy streets)
* better driver and cyclist education
Yelling “wear your helmet” at an injured cyclist is like yelling “where was your chocolate?” at a divorced friend. It misses the point and it makes you look *both* clueless and heartless to those in the know, too.
And I also second that sick feeling in the stomach. A guy I know was driving his pickup in Greenlake and was t-boned by a speeding driver in a Camry. The frame of his truck was driven into his head – he survived but was never the same. A great guy and he didn’t deserve what happened to him, either. This isn’t funny stuff 🙁
The fucking asshat is the guy that puts “He should have worn a helmet” against “I hope he recovers.” That would be you, roland. I don’t think anyone here *isn’t* hoping for his recovery. But some people recognize that he could have taken some responsibility to avoid severe head trauma by doing something very simple & easy.
Oh, I also like the “Because helmets aren’t 100% safe, let’s not bother w/ ’em” attitude. Yeah, that’s real smart reasoning power, there. It sure works for the religious right when they condemn std/pregnancy-prevention education.
Brendan, you are wrong, wrong, wrong.
We can say DEFINITIVELY that he would NOT, in ANY WAY, have sustained head injuries this serious if he was wearing a helmet.
The only way that would have happened would have been in an accident SO SERIOUS that he would have died from his injuries. We can see that this is not the case here.
@ elenchos, bike accident victims almost never suffer serious, traumatic head injuries via impacts to the face. Falling cyclists, or those hit by cars, tend not to land straight on their faces. They may get serious contusions and the like, but they’re not rendered into vegetables by their facial injuries. And I’ve never heard of a cyclist fracturing a jaw in an accident. I’m sure it’s happened a few times, but I’d bet the rate of incidence is rare.
I caught up to a buddy of mine cycling one day. He was not wearing a helmet. He didn’t feel the area we were riding in was that dangerous. I just asked him to imagine his ex-wife explaining to his two daughters why daddy was now a drooling moron. He later thanked me and I have not seen him riding without one again.
No wearing a helmet is probably not going to help you if you get run over by a truck. It is not going to protect your teeth. You can even break your arm while wearing one. However, if your head hits the ground during a wreck it can save you from huge financial bills, long and painful rehab, riding a short bus to school, traumatic brain injury and even death.
And #31 is a bitter fucking child. He did not win anything. People frequently learn from other’s mistakes. This is one of those times. If by saying, “Hey, look what happened to this guy and it probably would not be nearly as bad if he had been wearing a helmet” prevents it from happening to one other person, it is worth saying.
People frequently make bad decisions in life. There is nothing wrong with others pointing them out as examples.
“This is sad when a bicyclist is hit by a car”
How do you know the car wasn’t hit by the cyclist?
You don’t think that guy is lying in a fucking hospital bed thinking “fuck, i should’ve worn a helmet?!”
No, I don’t. I suspect he’s probably only thinking, “NNNNNNNGGGGGHHHHHH *blink* UUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAGGGGGGNNN *dribble*”
I no longer care whether other bicyclists wear helmets or not. It’s their bodies, their lives. I just know that when I was broadsided by a car running a red light, my head evidently struck one or both of the windscreen and/or the pavement when I came to rest. I was wearing a helmet. I was hospitalized for over a week with initially critical injuries. But my head was OK. My ribs and lung, on the other hand? Not as lucky. But at least I can think about it and reckon what could have happened to me if my nerdy brain was free to roam onto the pavement.
Sure beats baby food and adult diapers for the rest of my life.
@44: Oh, I should also add how wonderful it is to have the mental faculties to ride a bike again.
i rode around amsterdam and heidelberg without a helmet and it was glorious. but seattle, no. i’ve been hit twice.
good thoughts, nko.
@37 and @39
Are you really arguing that that data on helmet safety is iffy? Are you out of your fucking minds?
Thanks @37. Totally right on.
Good fucking luck to the rest of you if you think a bit of plastic and styro will protect your dome, not with the speed you get on any of the downtown hills.
I believe in good vibes. So I’m sending them.
Wow. Unbelievable. A dear friend, Darling Boy, devilish bartender, and Amazing Artist whose art we all have eaten up like tasty tacos is lying in a hospital bed. Shame on all of you.
If folks would like to weigh in on the necessity/choice/efficacy of wearing helmets, take it to Craigslist. Im sure there is a forum for that. I know this is sad and scary and something of a momento mori , but please Angels, let’s not get into victim blaming. It’s so 1989. I’ll bet nko was also wearing a short skirt and fishnets and therefore deserved everything he got. that saucy mink.
can we please redirect our focus?
nko, nko, it doesn’t take a life threatening bike wreck for me to think of you. All my witchy voodoo priestess intention is heading your way. Heavy deeds, heavy hearts. Your name is with me always.
@49 Actually this is more of a place to discuss news more broadly and less of a place to offer personal messages. If anything those should be taken somewhere other than the comment section on a blog.
You happen to know the subject of this post, but I am sure there are people who know everyone who appears in a Slog post. Should we not make general comments on those as well or is this somehow different?
“Implied Violence …has been a minor obsession of mine for several years.” -Brendan Kiley
Interestingly, the Stranger has been proverbially sucking the dick of Implied Violence (this fool’s art troop) for years, even showering them with the Genius Award.
LOL Frizzelle, Shmader, Kiley, etc..
Doesn’t take a genius to wear a fucking helmet, if you ask me.
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Jesus Christ, wear your fucking helmets people.
No sympathy. If the pleasure of the wind blowing through you hair is worth the risk of not wearing your helmet, then so be it. But don’t expect sympathy.
Helmets are for nerds!
@3 So are brains.
My aunt suffered serious, permanent brain damage from a bicycling accident because she wasn’t wearing a helmet. I wouldn’t wish that fate on anyone, and I hope he makes a full recovery. Please wear helmets, people. You don’t want to end up like that.
OOOOOHHHHH NOOOOOOO!!!! This couldn’t have happened to a sweeter person, this is a horrible thing to happen!!! OHH my GOD, why would you be so nasty about this happening?!?! I hope he pulls through.
Just to throw it out there, smashing your face on the pavement, breaking your jaw and shattering your teeth is not all that much better than landing on the rest of your head. But the only bicyclists who wear full face helmets are BMXers. Apparently out of the need to look cool, as far as I can tell.
And please, no Darwin Awards. Francis Galton, not Charles Darwin, believed in all that “improving the human gene pool” nonsense. Call it a Galton Award, if you must. Or Nietzsche Award, maybe. But Darwin hated it when people talked like that.
Or better yet, say it in the original German, Lebensunwertes Leben.
What were we talking about again?
Whyyyyy, people, would you not wear a helmet? What’s it going to take to get people to wear helmets?
Peace and best wishes to this guy, though. I sincerely hope he pulls through and also hope his accident serves to scare others into wearing a helmet.
What is this, like the 10th accident in the last 30 days?!
And supposedly WA State is the number one for bicyclists?
Dear Sunday Trash-Talkers:
Wearing a helmet is always a good idea but there’s no promise he wouldn’t have sustained the same massive brain injuries had he been wearing one. Were you at the scene of the accident? Were you at the ER? Do you know your ass from your elbow when it comes to neural damage?
Didn’t think so.
Save your casual, cheap sanctimony and send good wishes to a good man and his family–they’re clearly suffering more than any of you finger-wagging goofballs.
That is all.
@7 Actually I would happily take all of that over brain damage.
Hope he makes a full recovery. We all do things that are not the safest, maybe once, maybe all the time, but that doesn’t mean we should die or suffer in such ways because of them.
Dear NKO – please get better soon.
Why are we not surprised that a
“Stranger Genius Award”
wasn’t wearing a helmet?
My dad who works in health care would always call motorcyclists without helmets “organ donors” because when they crash badly and end up in the ER, their head injuries are what kills them, and the rest of their organs are pretty serviceable.
Wear your helmet even if it makes you look like a dork. Isn’t half of being cool being a dork ironically? Am I doing the cool right?
@10
1. I don’t think anyone is trash talking. If anything, this is an appropriate time to talk about the importance of wearing helmets.
2. I think its pretty obvious that his injuries stem from the fact THAT HE WAS NOT WEARING A FUCKING HELMET.
Get off your high horse.
3. If you don’t like whats being said, turn off the comments.
Brendan,
Sending good wishes via blog comments or magic thought waves or on little scraps of paper addressed to Master Yoda does not transmit supernatural healing vibes through the energy field that binds all things. Ten billion people thinking positive thoughts will have absolutely zero effect on the odds that he will get better or worse.
(Now a helmet, that would have shifted the odds in his favor, am I right? Just saying… )
Praying for you,
Brendan, as you say, he may have suffered the same injury if he had been wearing as helmet. And if he had, he’d have my sympathy.
Part of living a full life involves taking some risks. That is why I think it is reasonable to hike, ski, walk outside at night, and ride a bike, even if bad things might happen.
But there are lots of things that strike me as too big a risk for the pleasure they bring. Like riding without a helmet, eating fugu, hand feeding bears (as seen on slog), or even climbing Everest.
If someone makes a different judgment than I do, then fine. But I don’t enjoy the chorus of onlookers surrounding the victim, demanding sympathy. I’m looking at you Brendan.
I feel for his family, who didn’t ask for this guy to act like an ass, but for him, he made his own bed. And now he is in it.
I very much hope he’s okay.
But goddammit, people, wear a fucking helmet.
And, Brendan, helmets prevent or reduce the overwhelming majority of head injuries. If you wear a helmet and still get a head injury, you are extremely unlucky. If you don’t wear a helmet, you are extremely stupid.
HEY EVERYONE
do you ever NOT FASTEN YOUR SEATBELT because you are just like going outside to move your car or going a quarter mile to the grocery store, even though you normally do?
shit happens.
we know nothing about NKO’s normal helmet-wearing habits (i, 99.9% of the time, wear a helmet, but due to habits from being a dumb 18 year old occasionally i will leave a friends’ house without it and then get home, realize i don’t have it and be really grateful i didn’t crash like this) or the accident itself. i am completely with brendan on this one. sometimes something super tragic happens, and it could’ve been preventable, but it doesn’t remove from the tragedy. and hey, maybe he would’ve STILL GOTTEN BRAIN DAMAGE–perhaps milder, but still brain damage. or maybe someone would’ve damaged his helmet (it’s pretty easy to do) and not told him, and it would’ve made no difference. we don’t know, because that didn’t happen.
and i have friends who have been totally fucked by bike accidents with and without helmets. it happens. it sucks either way.
10
Brendan,
Were you at the scene of the accident?
Were you at the ER?
Do you know your ass from your elbow when it comes to anything?
Didn’t think so.
Save your casual, cheap sanctimony.
That is all.
@19, no, I always were my seatbelt, even when driving a quarter of a mile,
You are right it is still a tradgedy.
And (following your example and using all caps here) IF HE WAS WEARING HIS HELMET, MAYBE HE WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN HURT AT ALL!
We can’t know what would have happened if he had been wearing his helmet. But we do know, his chances would have been much, much better.
@19
“do you ever NOT FASTEN YOUR SEATBELT because you are just like going outside to move your car or going a quarter mile to the grocery store, even though you normally do?”
No, I don’t. I was in an accident and the seatbelt saved me from at least serious injury, if not death. I always wear my seatbelt. And I always wear my helmet when biking.
I’m confident that everyone who comments on this post hopes Nko fully recovers. It is too late to tell him to wear a helmet, but this is EXACTLY the right time to remind everybody else who reads this to wear a helmet. So, ya know, the next person doesn’t suffer the same fate.
Pooh-poohing basic safety, sarahlloyd, just increases the chances of you or one of your friends getting your head cracked open.
sure, he should have been wearing a helmet, but god damn, the lack of sympathy on here is ridiculous. so much for ‘community’, i suppose (or maybe i’m not on here enough to realize that these sorts of comments are typical). get well soon.
Genius Award? Sounds like a Darwin winner.
@22: harsh. harsh. i was recently saved by a seatbelt too, just like a month ago. i still have the hickey-like scar on my shoulder. i think the summary of what i was saying is, we’re not all 100% on this stuff 100% of the time, so i really don’t see any reason to remove sympathy–not that safety isn’t important. i’m sorry you didn’t see the gray area i was trying to clarify.
also, 22, did you read the whole post? it sounds like you just read the first paragraph before responding.
@22 I’ve been in a number of car accidents(they’re kind of my thing) and in one in particular, a delightful one that involved the car rolling for a hundred yards in the desert, no seatbelt would have equaled certain death so I always wear one as well. I even feel weird sitting in my car with the engine off without one on.
@23 Looking for community in the comments section here, the Seattle Times, or most internet sits is not the best idea. Community requires a lot more than reading the same post or living in rough geographical proximity.
But really sympathy only really matters when you know the person. A bunch of people saying nice things(or mean ones) on the internet is irrelevant.
This isn’t “tragedy”, it is hubris.
I find it pretty sick the way some people on here demand that “this might have happened even if he hadn’t worn a helmet.”
The simple fact is that wearing a helmet can prevent or lessen head injuries and there is simply no reason not to wear one.
No. Single. Reason.
If the rider in question chose not to respect himself by wearing a helmet, why should I?
And on a personal note: 25 years ago, a car plowed into me while I was riding. I wasn’t wearing a helmet. I was in a coma for two days, had a serious concussion that kept me foggy for months. I didn’t expect any sympathy from anyone, because I quickly realized how stupid I’d been. The worst part is that I have no memory of that night. The driver’s story didn’t quite jibe w/ how I would act, but there was nothing I could do about it. He was the only witness.
I shouldn’t rag on the guy too much. At least he was kind enough to call for an ambulance (this was before cell phones, folks, which meant he had to drive a mile & then come back.) He could have taken off & left me to die. No one would have been the wiser. So thank you, Mr. Kind Wrestling Coach Returning From a Meet. I was pretty groggy when you visited me in the hospital, but I truly appreciate your help.
Sure, I may have still gotten a concussion. It was a pretty bad accident. But I would have avoided the coma, and I might have even been able to remember what happened.
I didn’t ask for sympathy then, and don’t expect me to dole it out now to someone who could have avoided his head injuries by simply wearing a helmet. I hope he gets better, and is able to enjoy his bike like I have done. There’s nothing “cool” about not wearing a helmet. It makes you look like a total dumbfuck, especially when they have to operate on your brain after an accident.
It’s pretty hard getting a helmet over those natty dreads.
Once less tagger on a fixie.
The phrase “asking for sympathy” is strange to me.
There’s no need to douche at everyone reading the thread about wearing a helmet. That point came across pretty loud and clear in the facts of the bike crash and brain damage. Posturing about how you, Mr. and Ms. Tough Guy, will not be bestowing your precious sympathy on future brain injurees? That will at best make no difference and a worst make helmetless bikers think “Oh yeah? Screw you and your sympathy, I’m a free man.” instead of “Maybe I have not fully considered the odds or seriousness of head injury.”
Best wishes for a return to functioning for Nko and his loved ones.
you fucking asshats. You don’t think that guy is lying in a fucking hospital bed thinking “fuck, i should’ve worn a helmet?!” You don’t considering getting fucking brain surgery is enough punishment for not wearing a fucking helmet? You’re using somebody on the verge of death to pick at “fixies” or “taggers?” Fuck you guys and your pathetic attempt at contributing something;anything to the world. You’re grasping at straws to find your “reason” for being on this planet, aren’t ya? There is no excuse for you. disappear.
Nko, I’m hoping for your full recovery, sorry humans are sickeningly horrible sometimes.
@31: Man, you sure showed all those people on the internet.
I agree with Ben @32, @31 you totally said what needed to be said, and now there is nothing more to say. Well done. Let’s shut down this thread and call it done.
roland of the gilead won it in 31 comments, fair and square.
Please make it clear what you’re talking about whether it’s a bicycle or a motorcycle. Bike is nebulous and could be either.
Why don’t people wear helmets when they are driving or riding cars? Over 50% of head injuries in this country involve car accidents.
Why don’t pedestrians wear helmets? They are most at risk for fatal accidents on our streets — and of course head injuries are very common.
Unfortunately, a helmet is not a panacea for safety. It may help somewhat some of the time, but it cannot make inherently unsafe activities safe. For the record, there is no firm evidence anywhere that conclusive proves that helmets are as important as they are assumed to be — unlike seat belts, a common example cited. Just saying.
By the way, I wear a helmet most of the time. Wear them, sure — but you better not fucking assume that you are less likely to be seriously injured because of that. THAT attitude is what gets people brain damaged!
There is serious and substantive debate about the merits of helmets. Bicycle helmets are not well designed for serious impact (like over 12 mph; my average speed on the level is 17, and I’m a stumpy woman), and they tend to give riders a false sense of security. There is even some evidence
that head injuries among cyclists have actually increased as helmet use has.
We tend to see helmets as a great panacea, but the truth is they are nothing more than a patina of safety and their absence an excuse for finger-pointing. One cyclist I know eschews bicycle helmets altogether and wears an equestrian one, arguing that any helmet designed to preserve the noggin of a person thrown off an animal running 55 mph is better than a crappy cycling helmet.
I wear one when I ride, because it’s a snappy fashion statement and the social norm, but I have no illusions about its efficacy. I didn’t wear one during the two years I lived in Nicaragua, despite there arguably being more danger, because it wasn’t the social norm and – again – I have no illusions about their efficacy. You do what you can to minimize risk, but at some point you have to take a chance.
I, for one, ache for this man. A dear friend of mine, age 16, also suffered a TBI (traumatic brain injury) when he fell off his bike last fall, and watching the slow recovery process – especially since he didn’t have insurance – has been excruciating. My heart goes out to Nko and his family, and I sure as hell won’t sanctimoniously blame him for this tragedy. No one deserves this.
Of course, there’s also that study that showed that motorists left more passing distance when passing a bicyclist that wasn’t wearing a helmet:
http://www.helmets.org/walkerstudy.htm
Points to @37. Best wishes for a quick and full recovery Nko. You didn’t deserve this crash.
Two questions for the helmets are everything crowd – I wear one for the marginal edge it might give me, but also have no illusions about how well they work because:
If bike helmets are so great, how come the places cycling is safest (e.g. Holland & Denmark) are the places where essentially no one wears helmets? (Thus helmets must be a distraction when it comes to making cycling safer – cause they barely exist where cyclist is safest – Duh!)
If bike helmets are so great, how come cycling fatalities per cyclist didn’t decrease in places where helmet use was mandated like Australia after essentially everyone started using them? (Look it up – it’s not exactly subtle data.)
Care about the safety of cyclists like Nko? (They’re saving *you* and me money every time they ride instead of drive – so you should care.) Then fight for:
* better enforcement of speeding laws on city streets
* better cycling infrastructure (bike blvds, proper bike lanes, cycletracks on busy streets)
* better driver and cyclist education
Yelling “wear your helmet” at an injured cyclist is like yelling “where was your chocolate?” at a divorced friend. It misses the point and it makes you look *both* clueless and heartless to those in the know, too.
And I also second that sick feeling in the stomach. A guy I know was driving his pickup in Greenlake and was t-boned by a speeding driver in a Camry. The frame of his truck was driven into his head – he survived but was never the same. A great guy and he didn’t deserve what happened to him, either. This isn’t funny stuff 🙁
The fucking asshat is the guy that puts “He should have worn a helmet” against “I hope he recovers.” That would be you, roland. I don’t think anyone here *isn’t* hoping for his recovery. But some people recognize that he could have taken some responsibility to avoid severe head trauma by doing something very simple & easy.
Oh, I also like the “Because helmets aren’t 100% safe, let’s not bother w/ ’em” attitude. Yeah, that’s real smart reasoning power, there. It sure works for the religious right when they condemn std/pregnancy-prevention education.
Brendan, you are wrong, wrong, wrong.
We can say DEFINITIVELY that he would NOT, in ANY WAY, have sustained head injuries this serious if he was wearing a helmet.
The only way that would have happened would have been in an accident SO SERIOUS that he would have died from his injuries. We can see that this is not the case here.
@ elenchos, bike accident victims almost never suffer serious, traumatic head injuries via impacts to the face. Falling cyclists, or those hit by cars, tend not to land straight on their faces. They may get serious contusions and the like, but they’re not rendered into vegetables by their facial injuries. And I’ve never heard of a cyclist fracturing a jaw in an accident. I’m sure it’s happened a few times, but I’d bet the rate of incidence is rare.
@ Emor, you’re an ignorant fool. No studies, my ass.
I caught up to a buddy of mine cycling one day. He was not wearing a helmet. He didn’t feel the area we were riding in was that dangerous. I just asked him to imagine his ex-wife explaining to his two daughters why daddy was now a drooling moron. He later thanked me and I have not seen him riding without one again.
No wearing a helmet is probably not going to help you if you get run over by a truck. It is not going to protect your teeth. You can even break your arm while wearing one. However, if your head hits the ground during a wreck it can save you from huge financial bills, long and painful rehab, riding a short bus to school, traumatic brain injury and even death.
And #31 is a bitter fucking child. He did not win anything. People frequently learn from other’s mistakes. This is one of those times. If by saying, “Hey, look what happened to this guy and it probably would not be nearly as bad if he had been wearing a helmet” prevents it from happening to one other person, it is worth saying.
People frequently make bad decisions in life. There is nothing wrong with others pointing them out as examples.
“This is sad when a bicyclist is hit by a car”
How do you know the car wasn’t hit by the cyclist?
No, I don’t. I suspect he’s probably only thinking, “NNNNNNNGGGGGHHHHHH *blink* UUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAGGGGGGNNN *dribble*”
I no longer care whether other bicyclists wear helmets or not. It’s their bodies, their lives. I just know that when I was broadsided by a car running a red light, my head evidently struck one or both of the windscreen and/or the pavement when I came to rest. I was wearing a helmet. I was hospitalized for over a week with initially critical injuries. But my head was OK. My ribs and lung, on the other hand? Not as lucky. But at least I can think about it and reckon what could have happened to me if my nerdy brain was free to roam onto the pavement.
Sure beats baby food and adult diapers for the rest of my life.
@44: Oh, I should also add how wonderful it is to have the mental faculties to ride a bike again.
i rode around amsterdam and heidelberg without a helmet and it was glorious. but seattle, no. i’ve been hit twice.
good thoughts, nko.
@37 and @39
Are you really arguing that that data on helmet safety is iffy? Are you out of your fucking minds?
Thanks @37. Totally right on.
Good fucking luck to the rest of you if you think a bit of plastic and styro will protect your dome, not with the speed you get on any of the downtown hills.
I believe in good vibes. So I’m sending them.
Wow. Unbelievable. A dear friend, Darling Boy, devilish bartender, and Amazing Artist whose art we all have eaten up like tasty tacos is lying in a hospital bed. Shame on all of you.
If folks would like to weigh in on the necessity/choice/efficacy of wearing helmets, take it to Craigslist. Im sure there is a forum for that. I know this is sad and scary and something of a momento mori , but please Angels, let’s not get into victim blaming. It’s so 1989. I’ll bet nko was also wearing a short skirt and fishnets and therefore deserved everything he got. that saucy mink.
can we please redirect our focus?
nko, nko, it doesn’t take a life threatening bike wreck for me to think of you. All my witchy voodoo priestess intention is heading your way. Heavy deeds, heavy hearts. Your name is with me always.
@49 Actually this is more of a place to discuss news more broadly and less of a place to offer personal messages. If anything those should be taken somewhere other than the comment section on a blog.
You happen to know the subject of this post, but I am sure there are people who know everyone who appears in a Slog post. Should we not make general comments on those as well or is this somehow different?
“Implied Violence …has been a minor obsession of mine for several years.” -Brendan Kiley
Interestingly, the Stranger has been proverbially sucking the dick of Implied Violence (this fool’s art troop) for years, even showering them with the Genius Award.
LOL Frizzelle, Shmader, Kiley, etc..
Doesn’t take a genius to wear a fucking helmet, if you ask me.