COOS BAY - On his first day back at the Mingus Skateboard Park since smacking his head on concrete, Gregory Barber wanted to take things easy.

Still sore from his fall at the park, the Coos Bay resident recalled how he skated up a 10-foot-wall Sunday, attempted a "Rock 'n' Roll To Fakie" and on the way back down, clipped his board, and face-planted.



"My friends told me I was out for 10 seconds and that I was incoherent for 15 minutes," said the 21-year-old, who now has three stitches alongside his left eye.

He wasn't wearing a helmet.

After refusing an ambulance ride, Barber's mom drove him to Bay Area Hospital, anyway. Technicians scanned him through an MRI and took six X-rays of his shoulder, lower back and head.

"I'm definitely going to start wearing a helmet again," the 21-year-old said, "because I feel like somebody was looking after me and I don't want to risk it again."

Barber now tells others to wear helmets.

"All it takes is one time to really injure yourself," Barber said.

As an adult, Barber isn't required to wear a helmet, nor are any teens 16 and older. They skate at their own risk. The city, which operates the park, is not responsible for any injuries or death.

But, according to state law, a skateboarder, scooter rider or in-line skater younger than 16, who doesn't wear a helmet is committing a traffic violation punishable by a $25 fine.

That possibility doesn't seem to phase many skaters at the park. On Wednesday afternoon a number of them, including a few that looked like they were still in elementary school, zoomed around bareheaded.

Police Chief Rodger Craddock said two signs at the park suggest users wear helmets. One sign states the use of protective equipment, including helmets, knee, elbow pads and wrist guards is strongly recommended. "Bay Area Hospital is already too busy," it warns.

"It's not an enforceable rule for the adults," Craddock said. "Everybody is riding at their own risk."

Chris Owen, the owner of the Concrete Pirate - a skateboard and gear shop in Coos Bay - thinks all skaters at the park should wear protective headgear. But not everyone does, and the younger ones don't think it's cool. She added that had Barber worn his, he probably wouldn't have been knocked out.

"I wear a helmet and I'm 44 years old," Owen said.

Barber, who's skated for nearly 10 years, thinks there should be more parental supervision for the "younger generation."

Not everyone at the park on Wednesday was without gear or supervision. One little boy, 6-year-old Zakk Jensen, attempted to balance and roll around on his skateboard, as his grandma, Karen Heuckeroth, looked on.

Dressed in a long sleeve T-shirt, blue jeans, with kneepads firmly strapped to his limbs, the helmeted Zakk looked ready for battle, or a fall.

Heuckeroth said her grandson, who lives in Oroville, Calif., is visiting her in Coos Bay for the summer and often comes to the skate park to play. The retired nurse said she lets him, as long as he wears his gear.

"I know what falling on your head can be and what cracking your knee can be, which is major fixing," Heuckeroth said.

She doesn't feel police need to patrol the park, but they could check on it once in a while to keep kids on their best behavior. Other than that, it should be up to skaters to protect their own heads.

"They know how to read. They know their limits," Heuckeroth said.

Taking a quick break from skateboarding, Zakk agreed that wearing his gear is important "because it protects me."

"I never got hurt bad because of the gear," he said.