Helmet saved my life: cyclist

Janet Bastians believes she would be dead if not for her bicycle helmet.

The Australind resident was knocked unconscious and suffered bleeding on the brain, a broken jaw and facial and shoulder bruising when she fell off her bicycle late last Friday night.

She hopes her story will encourage both cyclists and skateboarders to wear helmets every time they ride.

Ms Bastians remembers nothing about the low-speed incident, which occurred on the well-lit cycleway between the Australind Tavern and Cristal Global after riding home from a wedding with partner Claude Da Re.

"I think I hit the cycleway, did a somersault and fell with my head buried in the sand," she said.

"I had to be supported to breathe and had my helmet cut off."

Mr Da Re called 000 after helping Ms Bastians breathe because her helmet strap was pressing into her throat. Her first memory after the incident was being put into an ambulance when she was taken to Bunbury Regional Hospital.

She was airlifted to Perth's Fiona Stanley Hospital on Saturday before being transferred to Murdoch Hospital where she had an operation to pin her broken jaw.

Unable to chew for six weeks, she can only eat liquidised food.

Ms Bastians said she was always a careful rider and estimated she was only riding between 10kmh and 15kmh when she crashed.

"Doctors said I would have probably been killed if I was not wearing a helmet," she said.

"I want to make people aware when you're riding a bicycle or skateboard that you're so much better off if you're wearing a helmet."

Her bicycle and helmet escaped unscathed from the crash.

She was also wearing riding gloves which she believed saved her hands from injuries.

"I had to be supported to breathe and had my helmet cut off" - Janet Bastians