Got brains? You need a safety helmet
when riding a bicycle, skateboarding, inline
skating or skiing. It's not just the
law, it is for your safety!
LOCAL HERO
(AND A SHORELINE
FIRE BICYCLE HELMET)
SAVE THE DAY!!!
Emma
Pirie and her parents were headed for family
bicycle ride on July 4 – aiming for some time on
the Interurban Trail, starting at about 160th,
near their home.
Things literally went downhill when 7 year
old Emma lost control of her pink 2-wheeler, and
headed straight down 160th, speeding towards
Aurora Avenue.
Mom and Dad watched
helplessly as she screamed for help. Then Joel
Cragin jumped into action. Joel is an employee
of Rich’s Car Corner, who just happened to see
the little girl in distress. He ran after the
careening bicycle. When he realized he was not
going to be able to catch her, he took a flying
leap and grabbed the back end of the bike. Both
he and little Emma slid partway down the slope,
coming to a stop just short of Aurora Avenue.
Miraculously, both were
unhurt except for scrapes and bruises. But had
Emma not been wearing a helmet, things would not
have turned out so well. The helmet was badly
damaged (see photo above). “Knowing that kind of
damage could have been done to her head just
frightened me,” said Emma’s mom, Sahara.
Shoreline Fire Community
Education Specialist, Melanie Granfors, praised
Joel for his actions, and asked that parents
everywhere take the story to heart. “We see so
many children riding bikes without helmets,” she
said. “Emma’s story demonstrates how a tragedy
can happen in a split second – one minute
happily riding along, the next second headed for
life-threatening injury. Helmets make a huge
difference in keeping bicyclists safe.”
Emma’s family created the
“our hero” plaque that Joel is holding – and
posed for a picture above the scene a few days
after the incident (see photo at right). “Joel is truly our hero,”
said Emma’s dad, Jim. “He acted so quickly,
without thinking of how hard he was going to hit
the ground – and literally saved our daughter’s
life.”
Emma was wearing a bicycle
helmet available to all Shoreline residents from
the Fire Department. Shoreline Fire sells the
low-cost ($10.00) helmet to the public by
appointment. Call Community Education at
206-533-6500.
