After surviving an ATV crash, this rider is among those calling for mandatory safety training
CBC
Don Eidse still isn't sure exactly how he ended up lying on the ground next to his rolled-over ATV.
While out for a ride on his all-terrain vehicle with friends on a remote trail in eastern Manitoba in 2020, he somehow managed to roll over while taking a seemingly routine corner.
What happened next was terrifying.
"The next thing I remember was being in an ambulance and they're taking my clothes off, they're taking my helmet," Eidse said.
"[Then] I'm in Health Sciences Centre and they're wheeling me around and … I'm getting dizzy."
He lost consciousness and was later diagnosed with a brain bleed. Luckily, the group of about 10 riders he was with knew what to do.
Among them was a paramedic who determined Eidse could be transported, so he was put on a side-by-side off-road vehicle and taken from the trail to the nearest road, where an ambulance picked him up.
Eidse, who is one of a growing number of people injured on ATVs in Manitoba, is also among those calling for mandatory safety training in the province for ATV users, so they have the best chance of avoiding problems or dealing with them if something does go wrong.
WATCH | Don Eidse describes his ATV crash:
He spent 15 years as an organizer for ATV associations in Manitoba, and took a course himself when he began learning how to ride an all-terrain vehicle.
"And I would say I wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for that course," he told CBC from Alberta, where he now lives.
Data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows that in the 10 fiscal years from 2013 to 2022, there were 1,703 hospitalizations associated with ATVs or other off-road motor vehicles in Manitoba, for an average of 170 hospitalizations per year.
Hospitalizations increased notably during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 205 in 2020 and 209 in 2021. That number dipped to 182 in 2022, but was still above the 10-year average.
Eidse said his own accident came without warning.
This First Person column is the experience of Shannon Flaman, who lives in Red Deer, Alta. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
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