One thing a lot of people have asked or maybe have wondered about is whether or not Adam was wearing a helmet when the accident happened.
He was.
Ultimately, we believe that it just wasn't part of God's plan for Adam to die. His life has still has a purpose and God has a plan to use this circumstance. The helmet played a pretty important factor in saving him from a traumatic injury to his head, and quite possibly even saved him from having a funeral last week.
One of the trauma nurses that also engages in education regarding safety and the importance of wearing bike helmets saw the helmet when Adam came into the hospital. She took it into her possession and wanted to keep it to use to show others how important it is to wear a helmet. The helmet itself can take on a lot of damage and prevent the wearer's head from taking on the damage.
We tracked her down on Monday and she was happy to show it to us (I'm sure she would've given it to us if we wanted it. We don't really need to hang onto a bloodied and broken helmet though).
This journey would be even more difficult if we were having to struggle with a brain injury, on top of a spinal cord injury. Adam and I have spent a lot of time together these past several days. More than we've had in quite some time. I take so much comfort in being able to converse and share together what is going on in our heads and being able to talk through things.
[Update: I sent an email to Schwinn's customer service thanking them for making a helmet that did its job and protected my husband's head from a traumatic head injury. They explained that they have a nationwide campaign called, "Helmets on Heads" where they tour the country speaking with schools regarding the importance of wearing helmets. They asked for a picture and permission to share Adam's story. They also said they would like to send us a new helmet so that when Adam has recovered he'll have another one.]
