Health & Fitness
Mom's Gratitude Sparks Reunion with Bike Helmet Angel
After suffering an accident herself, Betty Haller gave her bike helmet to a 13-year-old boy and may have saved his life.
More than 800 people in the U.S. died in bicycle accidents last year. Thank goodness, Betty Haller wasn't one of them. Because of her kindness to a stranger, 13-year-old Jared Todd, is also not one of those statistics.
Betty, of Washington Township, was cycling on the Macomb Orchard Trail earlier this month when she was hit by a car. Thankfully, she wasn't seriously injured, but while she was sitting at the roadside waiting for an ambulance, Jared came upon her on his bicycle, asked her if she was ok, and waited with her until the ambulance to arrive.
Betty noticed that Jared wasn't wearing a helmet and asked him why. He explained that he had spent all of his money fixing up the bike that his grandfather had given him. So, Betty gave Jared her helmet.
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“She said, ‘Don’t give this helmet to anyone else. You wear it when you go biking,’ ” Jared told WXYZ-TV.
“I remember the feeling I had and said ‘Thank God I had my helmet on,’ and then when he came along and he didn't have a helmet on. I felt I had to give it to him,” Betty said.
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The very next day, Jared wrecked the bike just feet away from where Betty had her accident. He flew over the handlebars and landed head first; or, rather, helmet first. He broke his arm in two places, but his noggin is intact. "I've crashed before, but never this bad," Jared told WXYZ.
Jared hadn't gotten the woman's name, and an effort between his mom, Joy Todd, WXYZ and Patch.com sparked a reunion on Tuesday.
“I owe her so much,” Joy said. “I am so grateful she did that for my son. “I think God puts people in the right place at the right time for the right purpose.”
Since the helmet was cracked in two places when he crashed, Jared will now need to replace it before biking again. Here are other tips about bike helmets:
- Adults, like Betty, should model good behavior for their kids and always wear their helmets.
- Start your kids wearing their helmets early.
- Make sure the helmet fits properly; it should not be able to be removed from your head without undoing the straps. Don't wear a hat under your helmet.
Photo by Andrew Malone via Flickr Commons
