Hello, my daughter is also a barrel racer and is 15. Last 2 years she has qualified for the NBHA worlds. This year, our state law stated we have to make our children wear helmets if they are gonna show in any 4-H event. I am one of the parents that has said this is stupid. She does not need a helmet. She knows how to ride. Well, today is Aug 31 and we are still in the hospital.
Yes she was wearing a helmet that I borrowed for the week of fair, because I was not wasting my money. We all teased her all week for looking like a dork with it on. Well, on Friday Aug 14, she was doing a race and her horse spooked. He took her for a rough ride and ended up throwing her into a gator. She went head first into it, and it destroyed the helmet.
She now has moderate brain damage and 9 broken vertebrae, but without the helmet she would be dead without a question. I thank God, and anyone else, that they passed that law in Ohio. It saved my daughter's life! She will walk again and she will ride again thanks to a helmet I was to cheap to buy. If you get a chance go to sanduskyregister.com and look up the stories of Kristen Wells and look at the helmet.