Boy healing from brain injury after e-scooter crash warns others of possible dangers
Shawn Dunkley doesn't remember his last e-scooter ride, or what sent him flying into the air before crashing to the ground, cracking his skull in two places.
But the 12-year-old and his mother, Crystal Dunkley, say they want to warn others about the dangers of riding electric scooters, particularly without a proper helmet.
"I don't remember any of the crash, but what I do know is the next day there was a dead raccoon found, so I probably hit it when I was going a little bit faster than I should have," Shawn said.
The Grade 8 student at Nicholas Wilson Public School in south London was in a coma for two weeks after the Aug. 1 accident. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and has to wear a neck brace while he recovers. Later this week, the family will be going to the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto.
"It was sheer panic for the first 72 hours after the crash," Crystal said, standing metres from the spot where Shawn crashed a family friend's e-scooter and was helped by passersby who called 911. "We didn't know if he was going to live and if he did, if he'd be severely disabled."
Shawn said he's grateful to be alive.
"I can't jump, I can't run. Like, I just physically don't know how anymore. I'm just happy to be alive," Shawn told CBC News.
E-scooter injuries on the riseAs e-scooters become more popular, hospitals across the country are reporting more injuries caused by crashes, particularly if a rider is not wearing a helmet. A pilot project in Ontario, which runs until 2029, allows cities to determine where and how e-scooters are used.
The pilot program is in place while officials determine if provincial rules are adequate for e-scooter use. In London, they're allowed on streets with speed limits of 50 km/h or less, in bike lanes, and on multi-use pathways such as the one that Shawn was riding on. They're not allowed on sidewalks, and the speed limit is 24 km/h.
"We've definitely seen an uptick in e-scooter injuries and anecdotally, we have noticed significant head injuries associated with e-scooters," said Dr. Rod Lim, the head of pediatric emergency medicine at Children's Hospital in London.
The number of e-scooter-related injuries treated at the children's and adult emergency rooms in London went from six in April, nine in May, and 11 in June, according to numbers provided by the London Health Sciences Centre, which had just started keeping track of monthly numbers in April.
"Any time you're adding force, which in this case is speed, to an injury with the head, it's important to use the proper safety equipment," Lim said. "In the case of e-scooters, the acceleration they can obtain is very fast.
"It's the difference between biking and biking down a very, very steep hill. If you fall when you're going down a steep hill, your injuries are going to be more severe. The difference with the motorization of the scooter is that you're always riding down a steep hill, but people don't realize it or think that way."
Lim said he would not recommend e-scooters for anyone under 16. Those who do ride them should always wear a helmet, he added.
It's a message that Crystal and Shawn Dunkley also now preach.
"It's not something I really thought about before," Crystal Dunkley said. "With anything motorized, we need to be looking at dirt bike helmets or motorcycle helmets. The small bicycle helmets might help a bit, but our best protection is something made for motorized vehicles, and definitely age restrictions.
That might not sit well with daredevil Shawn, but Crystal Dunkley says family and friends who have heard about her son's ordeal are now re-thinking getting e-scooters for their own children.
"I know people who don't want anything to do with them," she said. "They tell me they were going to get them for their kids for Christmas, but not anymore, because they see the horror that we went through with Shawn being in a coma for 12 days and intubated for 14 and the uncertainty of what the outcome would be."
cbc.ca
