A Helmet Can Protect You from Brain Injury

Ontario winters can be harsh, but there are measures you can take to protect yourself from the elements. For starters, you would never consider going outside without a warm jacket, gloves and a toque, and it is only common sense to ensure your vehicle is winterized and ready for all weather conditions.

Surprising, a number of individuals fail to see the importance of head protection while participating in winter activities. If you are planning to engage in activities like skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling and hockey, it is essential to wear the proper helmet to protect against potential brain injuries.

Effects of Brain Injuries

Severe brain injuries resulting from winter activities can be devastating and cause permanent, irreversible brain damage to the injured person. A hypoxic brain injury or cerebral hypoxia is a condition that refers to a severe decrease of oxygen supplied to the brain, even though there is sufficient blood flow. This condition may be caused by a blockage in the respiratory tract or airways brought about by head trauma.

As is the case with other brain injury trauma, damage to the frontal lobe can occur as a result of a winter sport injury. The brain injury can impair the person’s ability to physically and mentally function on a day-to-day basis for the rest of his or her life. Brain injury symptoms include: cognitive impairments, speech impairments, memory loss, reduced or complete loss of the ability to work or care for oneself and/or a decreased quality of life.

Due to the frequency and severity of brain injuries, many provinces are implementing helmet laws to prevent the risk of head trauma to individuals while engaging in sports and recreational activities. Below are brain injury facts that have been collected by the Northern Brain Injury Association and Brain Injury Society of Toronto.

Brain Injury Facts

• Every single hour, 20 Canadians will suffer a brain injury
• 1 in 3 Canadians is directly impacted by brain injury in some way
• 1 in 200 people in Canada suffers a brain injury each year
• 90% of all brain injuries would never have happened if money was invested in education and prevention
• Brain injury is the leading killer and cause of disability of Canadians under the age of 40
• 30% of all brain injuries are sustained by children, many of them occur while participating in sports and recreational activities
• Young males are twice as likely as young females to sustain brain injuries
• In Ontario, 92% of men and 100% of women who sustain a brain injury NEVER return to full-time employment
• Brain and spinal cord injuries impact more than half a million Ontarians each year and cost the province between $2 and 3 billion each year

Ontario Injury Lawyers Recommend Helmets to Prevent Head or Brain Injury

Sometimes, even when you take all precautions, accidents still happen. Our Ontario injury lawyers have experience dealing with cases involving hypoxic brain injury, traumatic brain injury, head concussions and other head injuries. We work with many trusted and respected medical experts and health care professionals that can assist in the litigation process, from assessment to trial.