Nicolas Flores, the poster artist for this year's Winter Spanish Market in Santa Fe, went snowboarding at Sipapú on Sunday afternoon without a helmet.

Now the 17-year-old is entering his fourth day in a coma at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center after his snowboard flipped and he hit a tree.

"I wish they would pass a law requiring young people to wear helmets," said his father, Billy Flores, who said he and his wife have tried to get their son to wear a helmet. "I would hate for another parent to go through this or worse. Something ought to be done by the ski resorts to make them wear helmets."

"Seeing my son like this is not easy," said Flores, a bear of a man with dark circles under his eyes, as he sat in a hospital waiting room.

Nicolas, a senior at Monte del Sol Charter School, isn't paralyzed, and doctors told the family he has a 90 percent chance of a full recovery. He has a little bleeding on his brain and a partially collapsed lung, Flores said.

Nicolas started snowboarding a couple of years ago. A talented artist and an avid outdoor athlete, he has a stubborn side, as teens often do. "The better they get at something, the braver they get," Flores said.

Flores said he and his wife, Angela, had argued frequently with Nicolas about the need for him to wear a helmet. "We figured if we bought him one, he wouldn't wear it," Flores said. "He would tell us nothing is going to happen, no one wears them, and it isn't a rule anyway."

New Mexico ski areas require snowboarders to have their boards tethered to their legs or they aren't allowed on ski lifts. The requirement is part of the New Mexico Ski Safety Act. But nothing in the act requires helmets for snowboarders or skiers.

Larry Buynak, safety director for Ski Santa Fe and Sandia Peak Ski, said helmets are encouraged but not required. He said visitors can rent or buy helmets at the ski areas.

"We do believe as a company we should make helmets available, but we leave it to personal choice whether they wear them," he said. "Our stand is we encourage everyone to educate themselves on the benefits and limitations of helmets."

Buynak, a skier, said he always wears a helmet. He has seen helmet use increase and thinks almost half the skiers and snowboarders on the slopes now wear headgear.

Buynak said he requires his four daughters to wear helmets when they are skiing, snowboarding or riding on the back of his motorcycle. "As a parent, I require my kids to wear them," Buynak said. "I kind of gave them a choice. If they want to ski on my ticket, they have to wear a helmet. If they don't, they have to buy their own lift ticket."

His daughters understand the need for headgear, especially two of them who are soccer players and have both suffered concussions in that sport.

Delfy Peña Roach, director of the Brain Injury Association of New Mexico, said people just seem laissez-faire about protecting against brain injuries until it happens to them. "I just don't think people take getting hit in the head seriously," she said.

The nonprofit association is an information and referral center for people who suffer brain injuries, and has volunteers who have survived such injuries act as mentors to others.

Roach said they have had people come in with multiple brain injuries from riding a bike without a helmet, and "they still won't wear a helmet."

New Mexico now has two laws requiring helmets for people under age 18, but they apply to off-road vehicles, snowmobiles, bicycles, tricycles and skateboards. Neither appears to include snowboarding or skiing.

Flores would like to see a law requiring helmets for snowboarders and skiers under 18. He knows that will make him unpopular with teens, but he figures a lot of parents will support him. "It's every parent's worst nightmare," he said.

Until the accident, Flores was worried about their younger son Matthew, 13, who wears a helmet when riding bulls or playing football but wanted to snowboard without one, like his brother. Flores thinks this accident may change his mind.

Flores said he took some of Nicolas' snowboarding friends to see him at the hospital, covered in tubes, and, until Tuesday afternoon, hooked up to a machine that helped him breathe. "We said, 'Now are you going to start wearing your helmet or do you want to end up like him?' " Flores said.

The teen has plans to study psychology at The University of New Mexico. Now Flores worries whether his son will recover in time to graduate with his class.

Flores' retablo of St. Nicholas was chosen as the poster image for the 21st Winter Spanish Market in Santa Fe, which opens Dec. 12. "He was supposed to sign copies of the poster for people on Saturday," his dad said, more than a measure of sadness in his voice.

Contact Staci Matlock at 986-3055 or stmatlock@sfnewmexican.com.

BRAIN INJURY INFORMATION
To contact the Brain Injury Association of New Mexico, call 888-292-7415.