It’s no secret that Canadians love skating, and it’s also well-known the rink is a risky place to play.
One Ontario-based organization is doing its part to reduce the likelihood of brain injuries occurring on the ice by providing helmets free to anyone who shows up to a sponsored rink without one.
Troy’s Run Foundation is starting its helmet loaning program a little further to the east, basing its first site in Port Aux Basques, NL, where the founder’s brother lives and works as a paramedic.
The foundation’s founder knows firsthand how debilitating a brain injury can be, having suffered one in a car accident nearly 15 years ago.
“You really need to have a law in place, a rule in place at your local arena that said, ‘If you want to take part in public skating, or coaches at hockey games, you’ve got to have a helmet if you step on the ice,'” says the founder, hoping to spread this idea of mandatory helmet use on the ice to communities throughout the province and the country.
Brain injuries are a common injury
Unfortunately, this common sense idea meets with some resistance.
Many people operate under the assumption that brain injuries are something that happens to other people, people who are not as familiar with the ice. This simply isn’t the case.
Brain injuries can happen in many places, including recreational settings.
Troy’s Run Foundation‘s program providing helmets partners with Canadian Tire and CCM Hockey, hoping to reach as many people as they can to increase helmet use on the ice.
While the rink is just one place these injuries occur, brain injuries can happen anywhere a person can receive a sharp blow to the head. In some cases, without even hitting your head.
Brain injuries regularly occur in car accidents and industrial accidents, too, and in many cases, change the quality of life for those that suffer them.
If you or someone you know has received a brain injury, you deserve to know if there are possibilities for compensation for your loss.
