Pole Vault Fatalities Prompt Push for Helmets
A U S T I N, Texas, April 7 -- Extreme sports are in, and pole vaulting is at the peak of its popularity. An estimated 25,000 athletes now compete in the United States. In Austin this weekend, some of the finest men and women pole vaulters are hurling themselves as high as 19 feet in a nationwide competition
But it has been a terrifying year for the sport.
Last weekend, 17-year-old Samoa Fili from Wichita, Kan., died after hitting his head on concrete while trying to clear the bar.
In February, head injuries sustained in pole-vaulting accidents took the lives of 16-year-old Jesus Quesada of Clewiston, Fla., and 19-year-old Kevin Dare, a student at Penn State.
Dare's brother Eric, a top javelin thrower competing in Austin, said his brother didn't think wearing a protective helmet was "cool" and never used one. Eric Dare said his younger brother was thrown back when he was trying to clear the bar and fell on his head on the unprotected steel box where vaulters plant their pole to spring over the bar.
"If I could have my brother back for five minutes and say, 'Kevin, if you knew this was going to happen would you wear a helmet? Would you encourage everybody else to wear a helmet?' Without a doubt he would," Eric said.
Family Takes Up the Cause
The Dare family is now on a crusade to make it mandatory to wear protective helmets and to improve the padding underneath the bar.
Dare's father went on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America to plead with officials to take more safety precautions "In memory of Kevin, so families don't have to go through what we've been through," he said.
Several athletes at the Austin competition said they would not wear helmets unless forced. Right now helmets are optional, and experts say there is just not enough research on the benefits of helmets to make them mandatory.
But after three tragic deaths this year, the USA Track & Field, the sport's governing body, will be meeting next month to consider new safety recommendations. Many worried parents say the helmets should be on the top of the association's list.
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