Along the beach where Tim Gates (inset) surfed and died, the crowd honoured his memory on Saturday with his family.
According to the articleTim Gates was teaching nippers last January when he was dumped by a freak wave, hitting his head on the board. He was dragged from the surf, but never regained consciousness.Now "dumped by a freak wave" is not a very clear description on what was really happened. Perhaps it was something of a larger than expected wave -- that just shows waves, even in very shallow area, can cause severe harms and resulted in tragedy in this case.
I can not help thinking this case was all because he was "hitting his head on the board" would a helmet might possibly saved his life by any chance? Do surfers wear helmets?
I don't like mandatory regulations, never have. But if some advisory suggestions might be able to save some lives -- why not ?!
1 comment:
There are helmets for surfers. I have a friend who used to surf competitively and said his parents made him wear one. Of course he hated it except for the one time he got thrown by a big wave, got stuck between two rocks, and would have drowned safe for his bright yellow helmet that was spotted by one of his companions.
Unfortunately, I think helmets for surfers, much like helmets for motorcyclists and bicyclists are often viewed as "uncool," so they're not worn as much as they should be.
As far as helmets for bicyclists, what drives me nuts is seeing parents who bicycle with their children, and the children DO wear helmets (a good thing) but the parents DO NOT wear the helmets (NOT a good thing)! I mean, what kind of example is the parent setting for the child with that? I can just see the argument that a child would make--"Why do I have to wear a helmet? After all, you and Mom don't wear one!" I totally believe in leading by EXAMPLE. After all, safety should be paramount...at ANY age!
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