THUNDER BAY — Getting kids to wear a bike helmet can make the difference between a relatively minor concussion and a life-changing traumatic brain injury.
Head injuries are a big public health concern, said Greg Mahood, chair of the Brain Injury Association of Thunder Bay and Area, at St. Paul Elementary School where bicycle helmets were provided to 150 students on Tuesday.
“We have distracted driving laws, for example, and we can be just as distracted on a bike. It can cause serious long-term effects and effects that are quite simply mitigated really easily just by wearing a helmet,” Mahood said.
“Kids are smart. I think that if you teach them at a young age and you get it really ingrained into their brains, into their minds, it becomes a habit for them, and then they're going to actually do it," said Duncan Macgillivray, a partner at White Macgillivray Lester LLP.
“It's kind of a generational shift for maybe their parents where they weren't wearing helmets when they were younger.”
The personal injury law firm provided the helmets and has been making annual donations since 2012.
Macgillivray said the firm deals with a lot of cases involving cyclists and see the effects that happen when a person is in an accident and isn't wearing a helmet.
The students not only got a bicycle helmet, but also a presentation on bike safety provided by Thunder Bay District Health Unit.
“This is all about bike helmet safety. We want every child in Thunder Bay and every person in Thunder Bay who's out there riding their bike this summer to be wearing a bike helmet to keep their head and keep their brain safe,” he said.
Nadine Campbell, Grade 5/6 teacher at St. Paul School, said her students are extremely active.
“They do ride their bikes all the time.
“It's really important for the kids . . . sometimes (they) don't want to listen to their teacher and they’ve heard them for the last 10 months. Having somebody new who's exciting and has new information, it captures their attention and they tend to pay attention more,” she said.
The annual event is part of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association’s Helmets on Kids province-wide initiative which will help distribute more than 4,000 bicycle helmets to school-age children in cities and regions all across Ontario.
