Saturday morning at 5am we received an email that late Friday night, Urban Shaman's cousin M (age 19), who lives way up north in a tiny village, was a passenger on a snowmachine that was struck by a truck. The driver of the snowmachine did not survive. M was medvac'ed 1.5 hours away to the nearest metropolitan city with a major hospital. He arrived unconscious and with a leg broken in 3 places and the thigh bone shattered. Saturday saw him still unconscious, but with good-looking brain waves. However, he was not breathing on his own and was on a respirator. Today (Tuesday) he is in a drug-induced coma, has had 2 surgeries on his leg, and is breathing a little better. He's doing well despite still being in critical care.
I'm glad he's doing well, and while this is scary, what is even scarier and sadder is that neither snowmachine rider was wearing a helmet. They simply don't wear helmets at all up in that little village; similarly, carseats for children do not exist/are not sold up there, either. Children simply are held in laps, whether it is while in a car or on a snowmachine. It's a small enough town where the maximum speed limit anywhere is 35mph. But still, when you combine snow, late-night partying (no idea if alcohol was involved -- this is a dry town but it is not impossible to find a drink if you really want it), and even a speed limit as low as 35 mph, snowmachine versus truck is not a good thing.
So we're praying for a full recovery for M. And I'm left thinking about how long, and how many accidents it took before people started wearing helmets to ski/snowboard. Surely one is able to go faster on a snowmachine?
This just leaves me shaking my head.
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2 comments:
This is so sad. I'll be thinking of him and your family. I hope he has a full recovery. That's good that his brain seems to be doing well.
Holy crap. That's terrible. I'll hope for very quick recovery and a conversion to the Church of Helmet!!
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