Helmet saved my life, says teenager after horror crash
ATEENAGER who suffered a series of horrendous injuries when she fell off her bicycle says her helmet saved her life.
Shayla Herbert was riding down a steep hill to catch up with her brother-in-law and cousin when she flew over the handlebars.
The 14-year-old suffered a bleed to the back of her right eye, a fractured nose, nerve damage to her teeth and a tear in her liver.
A Welsh Ambulance Service paramedic, who came to the schoolgirl’s aid, told the family that Shayla would probably not be alive if she had not worn her helmet.
Shayla said her mum, Sue, insisted that she wear the helmet or she would not be allowed to go on the family bike ride on May 6.
“Just before leaving the house we were getting ready and I said to my mum, ‘I don’t want to wear my helmet – I look like an idiot.’ My mum said ‘If you don’t wear it, you’re not going on the bike ride’. I tried to give valid reasons why it was not needed, but reluctantly I listened.”
The family were two-and-a-half hours into the bike ride, which took them through Cwmcarn Forest in Abercarn, near Newport, when disaster struck.
“We were about five minutes away from home and we decided to take a short cut,” added Shayla.
“Just before going down a very steep hill, my mum told everyone not to go too fast. But did I listen? No. I was going down the hill I was trying to catch up with my brotherin-law and cousin.
“The next minute I was on the floor covered in blood screaming in agony.”
Shayla’s mum, Sue, from Abercarn, said the extent of her daughter’s injuries was “horrific”.
“It was very frightening” said Sue. “I had only just finished my paediatric first aid training and never did I think I would have to use it on my own child.
“There was blood everywhere and her brother-in-law was holding her head not knowing if her skull was still together. At one point she didn’t know who we were. That was scary.”
Shayla, who said she cannot recall anything that happened one hour before or after the accident, was taken to A&E at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff. She was then transferred to the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital.
Both Sue and Shayla praised both the Welsh Ambulance Service and the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital for their expert care.
“During our stay at the hospital, all the doctors and nurses were very kind and caring. They kept us up to date on Shayla’s wellbeing,” Sue said.
“No words can really express how amazing the care that the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital staff have given.”
Despite being discharged from hospital just a week after the incident, she still needs checks on her right arm and teeth which have not fully healed.