To The Editor:
My husband and I would like to thank the observant and empathic women who stopped by the side of the road, on September 18th, 2017, when they witnessed my husband take a dive over the handlebars of his bicycle, after hitting a large rock in the road. They stayed with him and asked him leading questions which caused them some alarm when he just kept repeating the same sentence over and over and they sought help from the Rincon Valley Fire Department, which, fortunately, Brad had his accident in front of! The caring gentlemen from the Fire Department came and assisted my husband, who was grinning from ear to ear in spite of the multiple abrasions all over and cracked bicycle helmet. The women, who had stopped to assist, encouraged my husband to call me about the accident and I immediately jumped in my car to head to the fire station. My husband was fortunate in that an aide car had pulled into the fire department about that time, and they came to assist and advised that he go have his head checked out as he could not remember who the current president was and, as I was vacillating, a fireman stepped in and suggested that it would be best that he go via ambulance.
To make a long story shorter, my husband, Brad, is recovering nicely and his CT scan of his head was negative, as were his x-rays of his neck and shoulder. Due to the multiple abrasions and bruises, he appears to walk currently like one of the actors in the zombie movies! I shudder to think what might have been the diagnoses and results of his exams had he not been wearing a bicycle helmet. We are frequently disturbed when we observe riders not wearing helmets and would like to encourage everyone to wear them, no matter how experienced a rider they are! My husband has been riding for years and has logged many miles, yet one misplaced rock caused a major bicycle accident. I must stress that he also uses headlamps, bike lamp, and taillights so that he is seen easily as he does tend to ride very early in the morning and frequently rides at least 20 miles per day and more on weekends.
I would also like to take this opportunity to point out, for those of you who are tired of bicyclists being out and about when you are driving to work, that some of the bicycle enthusiasts you observe may have health problems which require exorbitant amounts of exercise to keep diseases like diabetes under control so they do not have to rely on medications to completely control their blood sugar. My husband is one of those people. Bicyclists are trying to take care of their health, they are not on the road to just, “get in your way” while you are driving to work. Please have empathy for them and help them to be safe by following the rules of the road and giving them the space they need. Keep them safe and keep yourself safe when you ride bicycles as well!
Again, we cannot say thank you enough to those two women (you know who you are, but we, unfortunately, do not) who stopped to help my husband, the fantastic response and caring attitudes of the firemen at the Rincon Valley Fire Department, and the gentlemen who transported my husband via ambulance. Our gratitude also goes to the caring individuals who assisted my husband at the Banner University Medical Center in Tucson who rendered care. Obviously, they render care saving lives daily and our appreciation for those in the health care field is abundant.
Sincerely,
Vicki and Brad Scott
