“It was worth every penny.”

On 22nd August 2010 I was testing my track bike ready for a track day at Cadwell after the BSB. I have no memory of what happened that day or the following 7 days as I am told I suffered a severe brain injury.

From the remains of the bike, the state of the helmet and the tyre marks my friend found, we reckon it was a tank slapper as there was a 50ft wiggly tyre mark and the bike was found in the ditch another 120ft up the road.

I owe my life to Arai as I have since been told by my wife and nurses that at first she was told I would not survive my injuries (Severe swelling of the brain, broken left hand, 7 broken ribs, loss of skin all up my left arm, left shoulder and back (my mistake for not having my leathers on I know) and broken left talus in my foot, basically all of my left side.

Then my wife was told after the first 24 hours that I could survive but may end being severely brain damaged due to the extent of the swelling around my brain, luckily for me it wasn’t bleeding (thanks to the protection of the Arai). After 7 days in intensive care I began to come around and was later moved to a high intensity unit where after another few days of confusion I began to remember who I was and realise where I was, but didn’t know why?

Apparently I am one of the small percentages who come out of a severe brain injury without any permanent brain damage. Although it has taken me over 12 months to recover and get back to some sort of normality, I am extremely lucky to be here alive and to be able to walk and talk.

From the marks on the helmet it looks as though I have had my head planted on the floor for some time and with a bit of pressure then whipped up again as there are no scuff marks around the grazes, and it has whipped the visor and vents off at some point.

I am without any doubt that should I have had a cheaper less advanced helmet on it would have cracked and I would not be here writing this testimonial. Thank you Arai for the years of research and development you have put into the helmet production and design. It was worth every penny.

I will from now only ever purchase and use Arai as I owe my life to them, plus they have some cool designs…

Thank you

Ian, UK