Neck Braces

This entry is part 4 of 22 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #10

Think about this

Kym Stock, from Portland in Victoria, sent us this. It’s important. Read it and think about what Kym is saying.

Kym Stock had a close call and wrote to remind us the importance of a neck brace.

Adventure Rider Magazine has been promoting the use of protective gear in some great articles, but there is one item I think all ADV riders over 40 should consider – a neck brace.

I used to think neck braces were for motocrossers and I didn’t think a sedate riding style like mine warranted wearing such an item.

While I was setting up a DRZ400 for the APC Rally I managed to prang at about 40kph in sand. While lying in the face-plant position with the bike on my broken leg I noticed pins and needles in my thumbs and fingers.

With my medical back-ground I knew I had sustained a neck injury, so I told my mate that I didn’t want to move.

The DSMRA guys I was riding with pulled the bike off my leg and called the ambos.

After a helicopter ride to The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, leg surgery and wearing a medical neck brace for six weeks, I was on the mend.

The doctors told me about Central Cord Syndrome (CCS) and that I had bruised the spinal cord at C4 and C5 level when the sand pushed my head back. The swelling put pressure on the nerves, which led to altered sensation.

Kym’s helmet after hitting a ’roo and landing on his head.

In my case it meant increased sensitivity to touch at my wrists, which I still have four years later.

They said I was lucky to only have minor damage.

I Googled CCS and the findings were sobering. After 40 years of age our spinal column narrows with bone growing inside the space for the spinal cord. On sudden impact or severe bending of the neck the soft cord gets squashed and bruised and nerve impulses don’t work so well.

I will list what can happen:

• Loss of motor control of arms and legs and muscle weakness
• Increased sensation of the skin – it feels like ants on the skin
• Loss of control of urination
• Difficulty breathing and swallowing

This is a sobering list of damage. My decision after two years, when my leg finally healed, was either to sell my bike and retire, or wear a neck brace and ride like an old man. I chose the latter.

I researched neck braces and chose an Omega S1 as the one that might work with my existing jacket and armour.

It took a while to get used to riding with the brace on. Now it doesn’t feel right without it.

Riding like an old man took a bit of an adjustment to attitude too, but was better than not riding at all! However, nobody told our local wallaby population. I was trying to be careful and one of them charged into my front wheel and put me onto my head again. Once I came to, I was happy to survive with no neck injury.

Five broken ribs, a collapsed lung, but no neck injury. So the Omega S1 has been crash tested by me.

Last week our local ADV rider group organised a road trip to Phillip Island to watch the Classic racing. We were to meet at a farm and leave the next morning. I received that call we all dread. My mate had crashed and had been airlifted to hospital. A week later we visited him in the spinal unit, and he displayed all the symptoms of CCS. I felt like crying. He has a long period of recovery ahead with no guarantee of what the future holds.

The city-based adventure riders have been great visiting him, as we live in a remote rural area. All of them have gone to look for a neck brace.

If you can raise awareness of the need for neck protection you would do your readers a service. Yours sincerely, Kym Stock