Saved by the helmet: Talkeetna youth's story underscores safety message

Talkeetna 10-year-old Peyton Sliker was wearing a new helmet he won during Iron Dog — and his family credits it with protecting him from worse injury after a recent crash on the lake in front of their home. Photo courtesy Ed Sliker

THURSDAY, March 14, 2024 — Peyton Sliker doesn’t remember every detail of his massive get-off while snowmachining on the lake in front of his family’s Talkeetna home on Sunday, March 3. It happened so fast. One minute, he was slowing down while taking a corner on the oval, and the next, he was trying to heft his 78 pounds into the sled to keep the ski down and the sled stable.

 Instead, he was thrown from the sled and landed face first, busting through a hard crust of snow on the lake’s surface.

 Fortuntely, Peyton was wearing a brand-new helmet that possessed two qualities: It fit him properly, and he had it strapped on correctly. The impact broke off the chin guard,which  absorbed the majority of the hit and saved Peyton from more serious injuries.

 “I’m glad I was wearing it,” said Peyton, 10, who was recovering at home after eye surgery to repair lacerations that were dangerously close to his lash line. “The one I had before is kind of beat up; it was my sister’s, and it’s old.”

 Sliker’s story is a cautionary tale to parents and youth alike: Helmets save lives. More specific: Properly fitting and securely attached helmets save lives. And this helmet – given to him just two weeks prior – did just that.

 “The helmet definitely did the job,” said Ed Sliker, Peyton’s father, who recently completed the 2024 Iron Dog Expedition Class as part of Team 83. It was during Iron Dog’s halfway banquet and ceremony on Feb. 21 that his son won the helmet, one of 15 provided through a collaboration with Alaska Safe Riders, Wasilla-based nonprofit Helmets on Heads and the Norton Sound Health Corp. Injury Prevention Program.

Team 14 racer Casey Boylan with two other helmet winners during the 2024 Iron Dog halfway ceremony and banquet on Feb. 21. Alaska Safe Riders, Helmets on Heads and Norton Sound Health Corp. Injury Prevention Program collaborate with Iron Dog’s own helmet program to provide free helmets and safety gear to youth throughout the state. Photo: Taylor Booth

 “We had just got in Nome, and (Team 14 Pro Class racer) Casey Boylan pulled his number,” Ed Sliker said.

 Katie Hannon, who heads up the Norton Sound Injury Prevention Program, said the influence that racers like Boylan have on the region’s youth is immeasurable.

 “I do helmet observations year-round in the villages, and a lot of times, my observations in the summer are low,” she said. “But during Iron Dog season, the kids are more motivated to wear their helmet. They are inspired by the racers.

 “I grew up in Koyuk, which is a triple checkpoint for Iron Dog, and it is such a big thing for Koyuk,” she continued. “Growing up we used to leave school and walk up to the gas pumps to watch the racers come by. The racers are their role models. I think they are very encouraged by seeing them wearing their helmets.”

 Most manufacturers recommend replacing a helmet at least every five years, and sooner if it is heavily used. And Iron Dog Race, Inc. is doing its best to help. In its fifth year, the Iron Dog helmet program has been funding hundreds of helmets for youth across Alaska with one goal: safety. It also has partnered up with Alaska Safe Riders, Helmets on Heads and Norton Sound IPP to spread the safe-riding message and ensure that as many young riders as possible have all the safety equipment they need. In 2020, Iron Dog launched the safety program by giving out roughly 250 economy-priced helmets to youth along the race trail. Every year since, they have fine-tuned the program, attracted more and more sponsors, and this year distributed an impressive 550 helmets, along with goggles and headlamps.

 Hannon said since working with Iron Dog’s helmet program, she has seen a change in the way children in the 15 villages she covers view helmet safety. 

 “When I first started, I did some data collection and when I went into classrooms and asked how many students wore helmets, not many would raise their hand,” she said. “Now, a lot of them even own their own helmets. A lot of kids now have easier access to helmets, thanks to Iron Dog, so that’s not the barrier anymore. It’s more about teaching kids that helmets are a good thing to wear whenever they are riding.”

 This collaboration among helmet safety advocates plays a pivotal role in the annual effort. For some kids, this is the first helmet they have ever owned.

McGrath’s Jerry Greenamyre is one such example. In March 2022, the then 11-year-old received one of 44 helmets handed out at McGrath School just a few weeks earlier, during the running of Iron Dog 38. Before receiving the helmet, Jerry said he wore a thick hat while riding, like many other kids in his community. 

He and a buddy were riding through town when a moose darted out in front of him, and he couldn’t stop in time to avoid a collision. He hit the moose and landed in a snowbank, his new full-face helmet absorbing the contact. He was shaken up, but his head – and his helmet – were fine.

“It’s a pretty cool helmet,” Jerry said at the time. “It’s like white, black, grey, with some red. It has an Iron Dog sticker on it too.”

Sliker said his children have been wearing helmets since they were old enough to ride, but he is thankful that his son had on something new and that fitted properly.

“I’ve never seen the damage to a helmet that this one had,” Ed Sliker said. “I’ve lived in Alaska my whole life, and I’ve seen a lot of wrecked helmets before, but nothing like that.”

 Immediately following Peyton’s crash, his 14-year-old sister Jayden rushed over.

 “She was asking me if I’m OK, and to open my eyes, and see how many fingers she was holding up,” Peyton said. “I don’t remember pain; I was just like numb, so I didn’t really feel it.”

 Ed Sliker said he immediately rushed over too. Peyton never lost consciousness, but it was a hard fall. When he saw the blood, he scooped him up and took him straight to the ER in Wasilla because Talkeetna’s clinic is closed on Sundays.

“I didn’t do any further investigation of the sled, because we just wanted to get him to the ER,” he said. “He’s swollen up pretty good, and he can’t open his eye, but he didn’t break any bones or anything, and he doesn’t even have a concussion.”

 Sliker said watching his son come away with minor injuries – compared to what could have happened – underscores the need for awareness among adults and youth. During the Iron Dog finish on Feb. 25, kids drag races took place on Big Lake before finishers started arriving.

“One of the kids fell off his snowmachine, and his helmet wasn’t buckled, and it wasn’t the right size,” he said. “As soon as he hit the ground, it flew off, and fortunately he wasn’t hurt, but witnessing that’s scary.

Peyton Sliker has been racing snowmachines since he was old enough to steer. Here he is on March 2 during the Scary Tree 50, and just a day before he would have a close call on the lake in front of his home. Photo courtesy Ed Sliker

 “It’ very important not just having the helmet on in general, but having it buckled and the proper size.”

 Already, Peyton Sliker is raring to go, worried about his “points” total in the local race series. He’d just come off the Scary Tree 50, where he had one of his best races yet. But racing will have to hold off while he heals, Ed Sliker said.  

 As for Peyton, he’s learned that stitches in your eyelid don’t feel so great, nor does missing out on races. And also:

 “I learned that I shouldn’t try to slow down mid-corner while turning,” he added.