when I was younger and (more) stupid I got hit in the head without a helmet on. Was so lucky to just have a broken cheekbone, and seeing this just makes me feel even luckier.
It pretty much ruined my cricketing career. Whenever I came back to bat I had this nervous twitch where I would back away a little, causing me to constantly get bowled or move away just enough to get the edge. I stuck at it for a couple years before it frustrated me enough to give up. I had gone from opening with an average of 40+ to being lower order with an average of about 5.
After the incident the college introduced the rule that every player had to wear a helmet. Sensible really.
A couple of years later I was at work with a guy, and we'd worked together for a year. For some reason that day something clicked and I asked him
did you ever play for x college - "yes",
did you open the bowling? - "Yes".
Did you ever bowl a bouncer and hit someone in the head - "...yes...",
that was me! - "holy sh*t!"
We became good mates (we kind of were already, it's amazing it took a year for us to discover this)