Rick Castiglione, a former news anchor and current documentary producer whose work airs on CTV, had a recent brush with a potential brain injury that could have turned out far more tragic than it did.

Castiglione and his wife, Danielle Aubry, have enjoyed horseback riding for twenty-five years, and neither has ever had an accident. Last month, however, a loose buckle led to Aubry being tossed from her horse onto the ground, where her helmet hit the ground with what Castiglione describes as a sickening crunch.

“I thought it was a branch cracking, ” he said. “It wasn’t…She was out cold, and not moving. I was thinking this is no good—I was thinking the worst.”

In an open letter he wrote to Redwood Meadows Emergency Services, thanking them for responding to his wife’s accident, Castiglione—who admits he wasn’t wearing a helmet that day, and who hasn’t worn a helmet while horseback riding for years—wrote:

”It took only a few seconds to realize why smart people, like my beautiful partner and best friend, wear helmets when they participate in activities that pose a danger to their heads. People much smarter than me apparently.”

Aubry, the executive director of Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse, suffered six broken ribs, a broken collarbone, a broken shoulder blade, and a punctured lung, but despite being knocked out she suffered no brain injury at all.

All thanks to her helmet.

Not all preventable brain injuries are grounds for a personal injury suit, but if you or a family member has suffered a brain injury that could have been prevented if others had taken proper care, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact Cuming & Gillespie LLP today for a free consultation.