Bike Helmet Saves Doctor's Life

In July, Dr. Deborah Ehrlich was biking back from a pilates class in when a semi-trailer slammed into her, sending her flying off her bicycle at the intersection of Willow and Shermer roads.

Ehrlich broke multiple bones in her hip, leg and arm and spent three weeks in the hospital recovering. But because she was wearing a biking helmet, her head and, more importantly, brain were protected.

“It saved my life,” said Ehrlich, a pediatrician with offices in Deerfield and Libertyville.

The Northbrook resident says she has long been an advocate of bicycle helmets, noting, "I always ask every child if they have a helmet.”

Ehrlich had only recently taken up biking as a way to exercise when she was hit by the truck. After having surgery on her right knee, she had traded biking for running, her preferred exercise.

“I had just bought a brand-new bicycle,” she recalled. On the day of her accident, she decided to bike from her home to her pilates class for extra exercise.

Ehrlich was heading west across Willow Road about 10 a.m. July 19 when the semi-trailer’s driver, Andre Dukes, 44, of Joliet, made a right-hand turn on red, Northbrook Deputy Fire Chief Ron Schinleber told the Northbrook Star. He didn’t see Ehrlich coming across the intersection.

“That’s one of the most common accidents, from what I understand: a car making a right on red and not seeing the bicyclist on the side,” she said.

Ehrlich has filed a lawsuit against Dukes, but declined to discuss it.

That morning, Ehrlich remembered screaming her phone number over and over because she wasn’t carrying any identification and worried that she was going to become unconscious. Several drivers pulled over to help at the accident site, which was only a mile from her house.

“I was awake and alert the whole time,” she said. “But my helmet was completely crushed.”

Ehrlich, a doctor with , was taken to the Advocate hospital in Park Ridge. Her injuries included a broken pelvis and broken sacrum as well as a fractured left tibia, left upper arm and left wrist. She also sustained multiple lacerations.

Being on the other side of the doctor’s office has been eye opening, Ehrlich said.

“I’m learning a lot about procedures that I have sent my patients for, what it feels like to have them,” she said. “There are some very scary things that I have had to have done.”

Stuck at home recovering, Ehrlich hopes to be able to begin outpatient rehabitation this week, but doesn’t expect to be able to go back to work until January.

Experiencing the accident—and seeing her son survive a biking accident also while wearing a helmet—has made Ehrlich an even bigger advocate of wearing helmets.

“I just learned that 85 percent of the time, a helmet can literally save your life,” she said.

In Ehrlich’s case, her helmet was a godsend, according to Dr. Manoj Shah, director of trauma services at Lutheran General.

“The helmet truly saved her from a major head injury; I am sure of it,” Shah said in a press release. “It is obvious when you look at the pictures of the helmet, which was demolished.” 

In Illinois, 27 bicyclists died in traffic accidents in 2008 (the most recent year from which statistics are available), according to the Secretary of State's Office.

Nationwide, about 800 bicyclists are killed and another 500,000 end up in hospital emergency rooms each year, the Cleveland Clinic reports. Roughly two-thirds of those deaths and one-third of the injuries involve the head or face—and wearing a helmet significantly reduces the risk of a more serious injury.

“I’m so glad I was wearing mine,” Ehrlich said.

Here are some tips for buying and wearing a helmet properly, also from the Cleveland Clinic:

• Check for the seal of approval from organizations that certify helmets, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the American National Standards Institute or the Snell Memorial Foundation.
• Make sure the helmet fits securely, and does not move from side-to-side or up and down.
• The straps should form a V shape under each ear.
• After being involved in a bicycle accident, the helmet should be replaced--no matter how it looks.
• Teach children to wear a helmet every time they go out biking.