Ava and I were hit by a car on our bike yesterday. It is still hard to even write those words...hit.by.a.car. Miraculously, we walked away with bumps, bruises and scrapes. The bike is a write-off. But we are alive and we were wearing our helmets. I am a very cautious person but all the caution in the world does not prevent the stupidity of some drivers. My advice is to always make eye contact with drivers and ensure that they see you. Even if you have right of way, even if your light is green and even though you are in the crosswalk, you need to make eye contact with the driver BEFORE you proceed. As we crashed to the ground my immediate thought was that no way was God going to take Ava from me after giving her the gift of hearing and all that we've been through. She didn't even cry. She was stunned. But thankfully, she was o.k. I noticed a welt on her forehead. No doubt from the helmet which saved her life I'm sure. There has been a lot of discussion on CIcircle (which is a discussion forum on the web for parents of children with cochlear implants) about bike helmets and how some parents have problems buying the right helmet to fit properly over the coils. Ava's helmet is a Bell helmet we bought at Walmart. We also used a Hanna Andersson pilot cap to wear under the helmet to help keep the coils in place. They look like this:
Ava's AV therapist informed me about a cool website which sells decorative accessories for hearing aids and cochlear implants. They are called Tube Riders and are sold by http://www.otocool.com/. I purchased 3 pairs - pink flowers, blue flowers and pink butterflies. They have really cool sport themed and animal tube riders for boys. Ava's older sister Lauren wears hearing aids so she was thrilled to wear the Tube Riders also. The tube riders have a small little rubber ring attached to them which you simply slip on the ear hook of the processor or the tubing of the hearing aid. Here are the girls proudly showing off their new accessories!
Oh my. So glad you are both ok!
ReplyDelete