I had major brain hemorrhaging, cerebral contusions, massive swelling and spider fractures across the back of my skull.

--Ian Munro

ESPN.com: Can you explain the history of your head trauma?
Munro: Besides the twenty or so concussions that I have received, there would two major ones that rocked me. The first was a few years back and was brutal. It was the end of a good riding day and I tried a gap to ice on a kinked rail I had been looking at. I hung my back peg on an upright, instantly slamming me face first into the sidewalk with my arms behind me. That resulted in a crushed left eye socket, a massive concussion, broken nose, and twenty stitches above the eye and massive facial bruising. The second was the worst. It was a huge 180 gap into a street and I hung my front tire on a bush. This wreck almost killed me. I went straight to the back of the head, crushing the back of my skull. I laid there convulsing in a seizure. I was taken to the emergency room and intensive care where I remained in a coma. I had major brain hemorrhaging, cerebral contusions, massive swelling and spider fractures across the back of my skull. I was 30 seconds away from a craniotomy at on point. Eight months later, I had no taste or smell and had to re-balance myself. I had to practice speech and emotion control, and had to tell myself and believe in myself that I am stronger than this every day, cause I'm Ian Munro damn it.

What happened to you that prompted you to wear a helmet full-time?
Near death; when you are a grown man and your mom has to lower you into a bathtub because you're so mentally and physically destroyed that you can't even clean yourself. When you see how scared people are around you that care for you and how much they love you. When I knew in my first day of clarity that I could not wait to ride again and I could not ever quit even if the doc said I should never ride again, sucker. All that will put a helmet on your melon fast!

Chris ArriagaUprail ice prior to Ian's last head injury. He now wears a helmet full-time.

Has there been any lasting effects of your head trauma?
Yeah, for the first year or so after I would have a day where I would wake up and just be lost, disoriented, unbalanced and sick. It was brutal, it was the same feeling I had when still injured. The neurologists told me I had post-concussion syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder like soldiers in war. I also have had to deal with emotional imbalances and anger for a while. To this day I have a horrible memory, especially short term. Every now and then I stutter in my speech and have inaccurate smell, but I am riding better than ever and I'm still a charmer!

Do you continually see a doctor now about your past head trauma?
Not now, I did a bit of Neuro therapy and worked with the docs for a year and they wanted to keep me on seizure meds that I hated and would not re-issue my driver's license, so I stopped after a year. I've been a healthy killing machine since.

What are your thoughts about helmet use in BMX? Should more pros take responsibility and wear them or is it up to the individual?
Yes it is up to the rider; to me this is a ''blood in blood out'' sport. You have the freedom of doing any trick, riding any spot and wearing anything you want, it's freestyle. But, as far as the helmet goes, things have changed in riding. It's ten times crazier. The velocity of a double flip, or barspin gap to rail can kill even the toughest dude and you just don't know when you're going to slip up. Confidence in a rider can get the best of him, wearing sunglasses and no pads in board shorts with no helmet in sight and killing it. I wonder how cool that rider will feel when his mom helps him into the bathtub because he's too much of a veggie to do it for himself. Give a little blood, get a little blood, but never be that guy getting lowered into the tub, it really sucks. I think we should all wear em and prosper, but people thought that about girl jeans too.

Chris ArriagaAlley-oop pallet ride to 180, again prior to Ian's last head injury.

Why do you think BMX overall is experiencing more head injuries now?
Big money in contests, and literally relying on one giant foam pit trick to make that money. The foam pit, enough said. Street is at a new level and seems to be a popularity war, so people are hungry and slip up. Riding in general has progressed by leaps and bounds. It's at a gnarly level and that is a helmet level.

Has anyone heckled you for wearing a helmet?
No, I will give them a 'scared straight' speech at a high level of volume, then I will drop in and show them how to ride a bike like a man. And then I will make fun of them till they tear up in front of their oversized Cult shirt wearing, shoe string belt wearing buddies. Then I'll hit on their mom, become the kid's new dad and abuse him till he rides in a pink helmet with daisies on it. Yup.

HEAD TRAUMA ON ESPN BMX

• Head Injuries in Action Sports
• Part 1: Brian Yeagle
• Part 2: Jimmy Levan
• Part 3: Gary Young
• Part 4: Brian Foster
• Part 5: Van Homan