SAN DIEGO — Update as of October 30: Bradley Mootz died from his injuries the night of Thursday, October 26. Yvonne and Bradley were married for 33 years, grew up together went to school together, knew each other for 57 years, traveled together and loved life. Yvonne shared this story with CBS 8 to emphasize wearing your helmet on an e-bike even if it is just a short ride.
Below is the original story CBS 8 published October 3:
A split-second decision put a Leucadia man in the hospital in critical condition and now his wife is hoping his tragic accident can spread a message.
"You don’t think it will happen to you and you think, 'Oh, I can go 2 blocks and I'll be fine,'" said Yvonne Mootz.
Her husband of 33 years, Bradley Mootz, was only 2 blocks from his home in Leucadia when he suddenly hit a curb and went over the handlebars of his e-bike.
She is furious he was not wearing a helmet.
"They told me it wasn’t survivable and I about lost my mind. I yelled at him a bunch. I told him I was going to kick his butt. Idiot! One second to put on your frickin' helmet! What are you thinking! One second! One second and that was the decision he made," said Yvonne.
He broke his skull on the right side and has been in a coma for weeks.
"You doofus! It's like I just want to throttle him. If he was wearing his helmet he would just have facial fractured," she cries.
He just turned 69 years old and was just three weeks short of retirement.
"We’ve known each other our whole lives. You aren’t getting out of this marriage easy. I'm going to do whatever it frickin' takes to make you whole again," she cries.
She is hoping her husband’s accident will urge others to wear a helmet while riding e-bikes.
"What I really like to see is a law put in place that you have to wear your helmet on an e-bike. I can't imagine my life without him. I don’t want to see this happening to anyone else. Wear a helmet for Christ’s sake!" said Yvonne.
Bradley has been at a specialty hospital for a few days after spending weeks at Scripps La Jolla. He is still on a ventilator and dealing with pneumonia.
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