Steve Tilford badly hurt

[LegendRider]

http://stevetilford.com/2016/10/15/in-hospital/

[bcroslin]

Terrible. And the poster on Tilford's site buried the lead: he wasn't wearing a helmet.

He has a long recovery ahead of him and he'll have no choice but wear a helmet in the future. I hope he makes a full recovery.

[thwart]

Hope he's OK... no helmet...

Google 'frontal lobe syndrome'.

I won't say a word more.

[rnhood]

You make your bed, you sleep in it.

[peanutgallery]

Duuude?

Think it, don't say it. Can happen to any of us

You make your bed, you sleep in it.

[spoonrobot]

Jesus Christ some people. Like no one ever got a head injury while wearing a helmet.

[gemship]

You make your bed, you sleep in it.

Oh boy, I'm sure you didn't mean that. I'm gonna go easy on you because there are times I think the same thing but you know with all that's going on around us...life is so fragile.

[bewheels]

To put the entire quote about the helmet from the Tilford blog post...

Point of acknowledgment: My wife is making me say this, I do what she says 😉 Steve was not wearing a helmet. He may be pissed at us for posting this when he’s all better, but seriously, wear your helmets. We don’t know if it will change his decisions in the future, but please let it change yours. And please don’t focus on this point in the comments. Could’ve, would’ve, should’ve, but we just want Steve and Bill better

As he says, the focus is on wishing these well.

[pbarry]

Always appreciate ST's take on things. Hope the recovery goes well.

[weisan]

I actually don't remember who Steve Tilford is... Have to Google..

[Red Tornado]

You make your bed, you sleep in it.

True statement, but not the appropriate time to post it. Cold, man.

[pbarry]

I actually don't remember who Steve Tilford is... Have to Google..

Out of the loop-pal. ;)

[old fat man]

Hope he makes a full recovery.

However, do not even think of showing up to any of my group rides, Weeknight Worlds, etc without a helmet. I will not tolerate that in the group. It's not fair to the rest of us. Want to ride without a helmet? Do so on your own.

[soulspinner]

Admire Tilford. Put a lid on it....ymmv

[shovelhd]

Heal up fully, Steve.

[oliver1850]

I actually don't remember who Steve Tilford is... Have to Google..

That's 'cause you weren't wearing your helmet pal. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. If I'm going to crash, I'd rather have one than not. Steve's been a great competitor over many years, and a fixture at the local crit (20 years MOL). Hoping for the best.

[weisan]

Out of the loop-pal. ;)

got it now!
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/interviews/pez-talk-american-legend-steve-tilford/#.WAMCn-MrLnA

[572cv]

As one who went down in a Much Slower crash seven weeks ago, and had a concussion even though I was wearing a helmet, all I can say is 1) that it mitigated the injury and 2) I really wish Steve Tilford well in his recovery.

[Tandem Rider]

Tilly is the real deal, tough as they come. I raced against him for years, he's the most resourceful guy I know.

He'll be back on the bike sooner than you think and will be pissed that all people are crapping about is helmets.

[lucieli]

According to Steve's blog from the day of the crash, he donated 8 helmets to the Bicycle Coalition the night before. Kind of ironic. Best wishes for a speedy recovery for both Steve and Bill.

[doomridesout]

Steve is a fixture where I grew up in NE Kansas. Wishing him the best-- he's a tough guy but this is serious.

[fuzzalow]

As exhibited by far too many in the hobby of sport cycling: No hesitation whatsoever in throwing one of our own under the bus for one's own position of self interest.

Helmet zealots I am referring to you. Show no empathy, show no self restraint in supporting your position regarding helmet wear with circumstances from an accident you know nothing about.

Civility, decorum, even class - Naw, none of that applies to you here, you just wanna be right about something, even if its only in your own head. And brow beating about it is OK, 'cos somehow you're payin' for their stupidity in your share of higher healthcare costs! HaHa! Talk about stupid: explain to me again how aggregate healthcare costs work again?

Best wishes to ST in his recovery.

[Bruce K]

Deep breath there....

Let's try to keep it civil

I don't believe anyone is wishing him ill but the fact that he was not wearing a helmet is certainly pause for thought/discussion (but maybe in another thread)

If I caught the tone of the blog post correctly, it inferred that this might have been less severe if he had been wearing his helmet.

Let's try to focus this thread on Steve and move the helmet discussion to a new thread.

BK

[fignon's barber]

Get well soon ST. Raced a few Masters races against him a few years ago. Very tough. Respect.

And some of these helmet posts.......wow.

[Chris]

Deep breath there....

Let's try to keep it civil

I don't believe anyone is wishing him ill but the fact that he was not wearing a helmet is certainly pause for thought/discussion (but maybe in another thread)

If I caught the tone of the blog post correctly, it inferred that this might have been less severe if he had been wearing his helmet.

Let's try to focus this thread on Steve and move the helmet discussion to a new thread.

BK

Totally agree. This incident is a good reminder why helmet use is a good idea, not an opportunity to pass judgment or wish ill on a person who chose not to wear one.

[Peter P.]

Deep breath there....
BK

Well said. Thank you.

[goonster]

Totally agree. This incident is a good reminder why helmet use is a good idea, not an opportunity to pass judgment or wish ill on a person who chose not to wear one.

Yes, this specific accident is an excellent example of an injury that could be greatly mitigated by a helmet.

[bobswire]

Tilford updates Via http://stevetilford.com/
Friday night Assessment : Steve had a head CT that showed a crack in the skull, a small subarachnoid bleed with a very small (3mm) shift, and some frontal lobe contusions. He was admitted to the ICU overnight for monitoring. He was having a terrible headache and nausea/ vomiting. Bill has a collapsed lung (haven’t gotten the details on the side or severity.)

6:00am Assessment this morning: repeat head CT showed no change. This is good. He’s in a lot of pain, but this is to be expected.

9:30am Update: Update from Neurologist, Star-burst fracture in the back of his skull, evidence of a huge impact. Frontal lobe bruising is bigger than last night, as expected. More scans to come. Staying in ICU for a couple more days. Still very nauseous, vomiting, head ache. The Neurologist said it could be months of recovery and even some time in a rehab facility. Will know more as time passes.

12:00pm Update: Frontal brain contusion (bruise) is worse. Starburst fracture on occiput (back of head) with continued but stable subarachnoid bleed. If swelling worsens he may require a craniotomy (hole in head) to relieve pressure. This is serious friends, recovery may take time, too long for Steve I am sure.

2:00pm Update: Bill is up eating. Has a chest tube to take care of the lung, 4 broken ribs, should be out Monday.

6:00pm Update: Eating some Jello and a saltine, asking questions. Photo below.

11:30pm Update: Neurology check is good. Neck CT looks good but they have not yet cleared his neck. He has had lots of pain through the day 8/10. They just changed the pain meds and got the neck collar loosened and he is now sleeping. Labs look good. He will get another head CT in the morning. He seems much more like himself spirit is back, everyone is feeling much more optimistic while aware recovery will take time.
Bill is also doing much better.

Sunday 8:00am Update: Steves condition seems stable. His neurology exam is good he has no problem following order, understanding questions and answers but he is clearly in a fog. Likely he will be transferred to the floor, out of ICU today. He had a CT scan again this morning, it unofficially looks like the swelling us much better. I have added a few photos below.

Sunday 11:00am: This mornings scan looks good no progression with some regression of the lesion. Transferring out of ICU today. Possibly home on Tuesday. Lots of PT /OT / speech therapy. Things to watch for but unlikely : meningitis and hearing loss in right ear. The doctor is assuming a full recovery in 1 year. A repeat injury would be really bad.

Sunday evening: Steve was transferred to the spine and neuro floor (out of ICU). He got out of bed and showered, has eaten some broth and apple juice, pain is much better. Recognizing everyone, addressing by name, opening eyes when talking. All good signs.

Sunday sermon from his friends: Passing along advice from the doctor, everyone needs to make sure he never rides a bike without a helmet again. Not even just 1 mile to run tucker . There is a condition called second impact syndrome . This is super important over the next few years. It can occur from a much lower energy head injury and you die from that! Seth says it well here LINK.

Monday Morning: Bills update: Bill is doing great, I mean he has a tube in his chest connected to a machine but otherwise great.

Monday Morning, Steve’s update: I have updated the support section. Steve is looking so much better this morning. Been a huge improvement over last night even in the last several hours. He did great with the occupational therapist actually scored 26/30. At 4:30am Steve decided it was time for a shower. He disabled his bed alarm, rolled his IV stand into the bathroom and took one, he almost got away with it but for the noise from the water. He will not be going home until he can eat and drink without puking everything up . For the last 3 days he has not kept anything down. Solid foods are not even an option at this time .

[redir]

Darn it I knew I would not like what I read in this thread and well what do you know almost the first response.

Fact of the matter here is that no one, not you, not you, and not you, can possibly know the extent of his injuries if he had been wearing a helmet. IF he was wearing one and still got a head injury, a very likely story, then you all would be complaining about what? Or would it then be okay to just wish him the best, maybe even offer a prayer, and not use a tragedy to promote an ideology because you know, he was wearing a helmet.

*sigh

Best to you Steve on a speedy recovery - godspeed.

[pdmtong]

Firstly, I hope that Steve recovers.

Second, helmet or no helmet, we are reminded that our sport is one in which fun can turn to horror in an instant.

Bad things can happen quickly through no fault of or own - a crash in front, a wild animal, or that double pinch flat I had recently at 25-30mph down 8%.

Bad things can happen quickly through fault of or own - like the time years ago when I was new to road riding, turned to blow some snot out and veered myself the opposite way into a ditch with a resultant endo. bozo move for sure.

No one plans to crash - this is why they are called accidents.
The only people whom I insist wear a helmet is me, my wife and my daughter. Everyone else can make up their own mind.

[pasadena]

Sometimes the internet is a-ok
:beer:
Firstly, I hope that Steve recovers.

Second, helmet or no helmet, we are reminded that our sport is one in which fun can turn to horror in an instant.

Bad things can happen quickly through no fault of or own - a crash in front, a wild animal, or that double pinch flat I had recently at 25-30mph down 8%.

Bad things can happen quickly through fault of or own - like the time years ago when I was new to road riding, turned to blow some snot out and veered myself the opposite way into a ditch with a resultant endo. bozo move for sure.

No one plans to crash - this is why they are called accidents.
The only people whom I insist wear a helmet is me, my wife and my daughter. Everyone else can make up their own mind.

[Peter P.]

Hope he makes a full recovery.

However, do not even think of showing up to any of my group rides, Weeknight Worlds, etc without a helmet. I will not tolerate that in the group. It's not fair to the rest of us. Want to ride without a helmet? Do so on your own.

Makes me wonder: Did the group ride Steve was on require a helmet? If so, how did he skirt the requirement? Usually something as established as I understand the Kansas ride was, there's a mandatory helmet rule.

Does your group ride ever get people who try to skirt the helmet rule? How do you successfully prevent them from participating?

[unterhausen]

after reading his condition, I am feeling really lucky about the time I went over the bars in a sprint without a helmet. Lost a lot of blood, but the worst thing about it was them waking me up every two hours to make sure I wasn't dead. Lucky my friend was ok too, took him out in the fall. Back then we didn't wear helmets on easy rides, but there was an overriding imperative to sprint for yellow signs.

[oldpotatoe]

As exhibited by far too many in the hobby of sport cycling: No hesitation whatsoever in throwing one of our own under the bus for one's own position of self interest.

Helmet zealots I am referring to you. Show no empathy, show no self restraint in supporting your position regarding helmet wear with circumstances from an accident you know nothing about.

Civility, decorum, even class - Naw, none of that applies to you here, you just wanna be right about something, even if its only in your own head. And brow beating about it is OK, 'cos somehow you're payin' for their stupidity in your share of higher healthcare costs! HaHa! Talk about stupid: explain to me again how aggregate healthcare costs work again?

Best wishes to ST in his recovery.

Also good wishes to Steve and the other gent at the end of a really good post.

[mcteague]

As exhibited by far too many in the hobby of sport cycling: No hesitation whatsoever in throwing one of our own under the bus for one's own position of self interest.

Helmet zealots I am referring to you. Show no empathy, show no self restraint in supporting your position regarding helmet wear with circumstances from an accident you know nothing about.

Civility, decorum, even class - Naw, none of that applies to you here, you just wanna be right about something, even if its only in your own head. And brow beating about it is OK, 'cos somehow you're payin' for their stupidity in your share of higher healthcare costs! HaHa! Talk about stupid: explain to me again how aggregate healthcare costs work again?

Best wishes to ST in his recovery.

I wonder how much of this is a cover for our own fears. When someone has a bad crash, and was not wearing a helmet, it makes us feel a bit safer as we wear one. Thinking that would not have happened to us. Pointing it out in public in an attempt to validate our opinion. I find myself doing a similar thing when I read about motorcycle deaths in the paper. I catch myself thinking "I don't drink so that would not happen to me" or "I don't run red lights" etc. We know how vulnerable we really are and how little control we have. I am under no illusion that bike helmets offer all that much protection but they do help some. If others choose not to wear them, I think it is not a wise choice but it is theirs to make.

Tim