It seems that I have watched more of my old high school classmates pass away then someone in their 80's watches their friends pass away. It's gotten to the point where I don't even care to know the number of these young people I've said goodbye to since my teenage years. Some of them happened to be friends of mine, others I did not know well or really even at all, but the loss always still seems to hit home, perhaps it is because of the young age of these people.
When it comes to this most recent loss, the loss of Scott, I did not know him well when we were in high school together. I knew who he was yes seeing as he ran within the high school's "popular crowd" but I did not know him on a personal level. I see the hurt of those around me though and I know it must be that he had an impact on the lives around him, the pain and the intense raw hurt is heartbreaking and I long to know what to say or do in order to bring comfort to those around me who knew him well.
Scott died because Michigan has passed a law which makes wearing helmets optional for motorcycle riders in this state and while riding his motorcycle he was hit by a car and airlifted to University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor. A comfort I try to hold for myself and his friends and family, is that he was taken to the best hospital in this state and was unable to be saved, which tells me that it was just his time to go, plain & simple. I know that doesn't bring much, if any comfort, but maybe that's just how it was intended to be.
The idea behind this helmet law in this state revolts me, especially after learning of this tragedy. It boils my blood that our Gov. Snyder would WILLINGLY sign this repeal of the helmet law into effect. Thankfully former Gov. Jennifer Granholm rejected signing this repeal TWICE during her term, a woman with brains! I have half a mind to send Gov. Snyder a copy of Scott's obituary letting him know that the loss of Scott's young life and Scott's blood are on HIS hands and his hands alone.
We may never know whether or not a helmet would have saved Scott's life, but it only could have helped, rather than him not wearing one and meeting an untimely end.
Maybe I shouldn't be saying this because of those around me grieving, but we cannot simply hold the law, or lack therof, at the fault of the loss of Scott. Scott was a grown man, 25 years old who knew better than to ride something as dangerous as a motorcycle without a helmet on. He made that choice himself and took that risk himself. This isn't to say I'm blaming Scott for his own death either, the entire thing was an accident. A simple, tragic accident that took away the life of a young man far too soon and shattered a family still reeling from the loss of another son back in 2008.
I did not know Scott well, but I still feel his loss on the level of a classmate and another young person. I hurt because those around me hurt and I hurt for the loss his family is feeling.
RIP - Scott Anthony Pohl
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