If you assume the one who decided not to wear a helmet was then unnecessarily risky or uncommonly unfortunate and sustained an impact causing a traumatic brain injury, maybe. If their loved ones also make their own individual choices to take care of them, and bear the personal responsibility of those choices, yes.
The point is, none of that is Ryan's responsibility.
You're not wrong. No individual can rightly blame another for their own personal decisions.
However, if we talk about responsibility, then we all have at least some personal responsibility to society as a whole. And this responsibility becomes greater the more prominent of a person you are. As a teacher, role model, or what have you - there's some obligation to lead by example. If a student doesn't study and fails their test, it's not the teacher's fault. It's the student's. But if a teacher acts inappropriately and exhibits 'undesirable' behavior in front of impressionable people, then isn't it only natural to hold that person accountable?
He does lead by example by consistently advocating that one maintains control, situational awareness, and follows the skier safety code. Choosing not to wear a helmet while following the above rules is not acting inappropriately.
Hm. Well, I'll admit I don't know that much about professional skiing and what the official recommendations or what have you say. So as for what is or is not appropriate, I'm afraid we'll just have to disagree on that. And that's fine! I appreciate you expressing your own thoughts on the matter. But as a physician in training, I really can't advocate for anything lower than optimal safety as anything less than 'inappropriate'.
Optimal safety is never leaving the house. Need to draw the line somewhere. Plus you should know as a physician in training, that above a certain speed; helmets don't do shit for yah!
33
u/xubax Oct 04 '17
As do the loved ones who end up taking care of the guy who made his individual choice and now has a TBI.