Motorcyclists, Please, Always Wear Your Helmet

I struggle writing about this but it is something that I really want to talk about.

My boyfriend was in a motorcycle accident almost three weeks ago and although I have been through my fair share of traumatic events, this one hurt me to my core and broke my heart.

Before he walked out the door, we said "I love you" like we always do and I went to take a shower as he was going to clean up the garage. When I got out, I heard someone riding a motorcycle but Jacob never told me he was taking the bike out so I just assumed it was someone passing by.

That's when I heard it — a loud crash. I thought about it for a second but again, reassured myself it was not him. My heart dropped when I heard the front door swing open and the neighbor screaming for Jacob's dad. Time moved so slow when I realized what happened.

I ran out the front door and saw Joshua kneeling over Jacob screaming in his face for him to open his eyes and that's when it hit me...I might lose him. That feeling is completely indescribable and heart-wrenching — it brings tears to my eyes whenever I think about it.

Jacob's bike after his accidentKayla Lindberg

I have never run so fast in my entire life from the house into the street where he was. Honestly, most of it was just me holding his head and yelling for him to look at me. For the first few minutes, I was convinced that this was it: the love of my life was going to die and nothing would be the same for me.

After a while of talking to him and trying to get a response from him, he started to come to. He kept trying to get up, but he would cry in pain every time.

What seemed like an hour passed by the time the ambulance got there. It was really only like several minutes. My heart was beating out of my chest — I literally could not hold back my tears any longer. It makes me dizzy just thinking about it. The ambulance took him to the hospital, but I did not feel better until I saw him.

Seeing him in a neck brace with 20 wires attached to him with his arm all wrapped up in a cast made me cry. But, he was alive. That was the only thing that mattered to me. Jacob was alive — he was breathing and he was going to be okay. After almost a week in the hospital, he was able to go home, finally. Every day and night, his mom and I stayed by his side.

Honestly, this is not just me talking about how sad and how hard it was to see that. In reality, I just want to push an idea into everyone's minds.

I wrote this because I want people to realize how real these accidents are. Bikes are not always at fault. Jacob was coming around a blind turn, going the speed limit while a car was coming around the same turn at him. The car was going faster than it should have been. Jacob did everything right. He moved.

He tried to give the car enough room, so he wouldn't hit it while also avoiding a car parked on the side of the road. IT COULD HAPPEN TO ANYONE.

I am also really tired of people blaming motorcycles. If I was in a car, it would have gone the same way, except we would have hit each other. Everyone just needs to focus on the road and what is happening around them, so we can avoid senseless accidents.

WATCH OUT FOR MOTORCYCLES. For God's sake, LOOK FOR THEM. As the weather gets warmer, more bikes come out, so please just look.

If you are on a bike, PLEASE WEAR A HELMET. If Jacob was not wearing his helmet, his injuries could have been so much worse and honestly, he could have died.