PROVO — Sam Parkinson thinks he was going down a hill, but he's not sure.
He might have been making a sharp turn, but that, too, is just a guess.
Parkinson, 17, can't recall many details from the longboarding accident in California more than a month ago that left him with brain damage.
He does, however, remember that he wasn't wearing a helmet.
Today, as he resides in the inpatient rehabilitation unit at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, the Provo teenager wishes he hadn't made that mistake.
"Then I could be (longboarding) now instead of being here," he said.
Parkinson is one of a growing number of Utahns who have fallen for the longboard — a longer, more stable and faster version of the skateboard.
And it's the falling part that has medical professionals concerned.
Longboarders often reach speeds of 20 mph or higher when riding at popular downhill locations such as the biking trail from Nunn's Park down to Mt. Timpanogos Park in Provo Canyon or the hilly roads in Cedar Hills.
But unlike in-line skates, longboards have no mechanism for slowing down other than the rider dragging his or her foot, which at 20 mph is not a good idea, said Dr. James Snyder, director of clinical neural psychology and rehab psychology at UVRMC's rehab unit.
"Once you start down the hill, if you try to stop by putting your foot down, you'll end up unbalancing yourself," Snyder said, "and then you're off into the bushes."
So far this year, UVRMC has reported three fatal longboarding accidents. The most recent of those happened in June when a 21-year-old Brigham Young University-Idaho student crashed after hitting some loose gravel while riding downhill on North Temple Drive in Provo.
Doctors at UVRMC also have treated two patients with broken necks from longboarding accidents, and emergency-room personnel say they've seen an increasing number of minor injuries — broken bones, sprained ankles and abrasions — among longboard- ers.
Then there are those who, like Parkinson, end up as patients of Dr. David Hilmo in the inpatient rehabilitation unit.
Hilmo runs the unit, which treats patients who have been injured severely enough to be admitted to the hospital but do not function well enough to go home after a few days.
Since June 1, Hilmo has seen nine patients — including Parkinson — who have sustained various degrees of brain damage as the result of longboarding accidents.
None of them, he said, were wearing helmets. In each case, protective headgear would have eliminated or significantly reduced the extent of the head injury, Hilmo sad.
"That's the concern I have," he said. "Nobody's thinking to put a helmet on."
Instead, they're looking for the steepest hills where they can get traveling the fastest. And as fun as that may be, it also can have life-changing consequences, Hilmo said.
"It's not just a sprained ankle or a broken wrist that can be repaired and can heal," Hilmo said. "Your brain, if it takes a significant injury, it's life-changing. The brain doesn't have that much redundancy. Once you lose a part of your brain, it may be lost forever."
Diane Carter is hoping that isn't the case with her son, Parkinson.
"He's progressed a lot," Carter said. "Hopefully, it will all come back."
Parkinson crashed while riding a longboard on June 6 in Thousand Oaks, Calif., where he had been visiting friends. The teen was in a coma for a short time, and since coming out of it he has been making gradual improvement, Carter said.
Parkinson couldn't move for about a week, and it was another two weeks before he could sit in a chair and feed himself.
Today, his challenges mostly are mental. He struggles with his memory and sometimes confuses events in his past with the present.
Parkinson's future also is a blur. He was going to be a senior at Timpview High School, but at this point there are no plans for him to leave the rehab center.
"For some of the younger patients we've had, (the head injuries) may bode poorly for learning in school," Snyder said. "Some of our patients are not going to improve or recover to the point where they can resume all of the things they were doing before."
Though risk is part of the sport, longtime skater Todd Mitchell says people need to be aware of that risk and use the proper equipment to protect themselves.
"With the speeds you can get going, you can get hurt," said Mitchell, co-owner of the Orem skating and snowboarding shop Milosport.
Mitchell says he always wears a helmet when skating and encourages those who purchase longboards at his store to do the same.
John and Ellis Hales also sell protective gear at their Provo skate shop, Board of Provo, and say they advise newcomers to the sport to be careful.
The rising popularity of longboarding is putting a lot of inexperienced skaters on trails and streets, which John Hales says explains the number of injuries.
"People who haven't skated in their whole life think they can longboard and do things above their ability," he said. "They're doing steep hills and things they shouldn't be doing."
"When we sell (longboards) to people who are new to the sport, we always tell them start on flat ground," Ellis Hales said.
And then there's the issue of fashion.
"It's probably not the coolest thing to wear a helmet," said John Hales, who says he never wears a helmet when he skates.
Ellis Hales said she doesn't wear one either.
"I've been doing it for 10 years, and I ride within my ability," she said.
As the popularity of longboarding continues to grow, Snyder said he expects state and national campaigns to encourage riders to wear helmets, much like previous pushes targeting mountain bikers and snowboarders.
In the meantime, Hilmo and Snyder are hoping longboarders will take their advice and wear the appropriate gear.
"There are no do-overs with a brain injury," Snyder said. "You can't say, 'Next time I'll do it differently,' because you don't know if there will be a next time."
E-mail: jpage@desnews.com