The helmet sat under her scooter seat, but Ashley Groves decided not to wear it.
She didn't know that a short scooter ride would end in an accident, a coma and head injuries that could have left her dead or disabled.
Groves, a senior health education major, is fully recovered from her November 2007 accident. She shared her story with a crowd of about 100 Thursday night at the Reitz Union Amphitheatre during the kickoff event for the Scooter-Helmet Awareness Campaign.
The weeklong campaign, sponsored by health education student organization Eta Sigma Beta, seeks to encourage students to wear their bicycle and scooter helmets, as well as educate students about scooter laws.
During the event, local group The Chris McCarty Band performed. Student Body President Jordan Johnson and UF President Bernie Machen's wife, Chris, also spoke. The Dazzlers, Albert and Alberta also stopped by.
Machen walked up to the stage doing the Gator chomp as the Gator Marching Band played. She carried an orange and blue scooter helmet with the word Gator on it.
"This is my husband's helmet," Machen said. "He never gets on the bike or the motorcycle without one."
Machen also helped out with the raffles at the event. Five scooter helmets and two pairs of sunglasses were handed out to members of the crowd.
Holly Turner Moses, an undergraduate adviser for the department of health education and behavior, said coupons for helmet and local restaurant discounts will be passed out during the week to encourage students to wear their helmets.
Banners reminding students to wear helmets will also be posted at heavily trafficked scooter parking lots, Moses said.
Wendy Alderman, president of Eta Sigma Beta, said the Alachua County Sheriff's Office, the Gainesville Police Department and the University Police Department will also be enforcing scooter laws, which require riders under 21 to wear helmets.
Alderman said she was involved in a scooter accident last spring. Although she only had bruising and muscle damage, the accident scared her. Alderman teamed up with Groves after hearing the story of her accident.
"What she has been through is what really keeps me going" Alderman said.
