9 year old daughter's insistence that her mother "always" wear her bike helmet helps save her life.

At 9 years old, Gracie Langton saw the most terrifying scene she said she’ll ever witness: her mother crumpled on the ground unconscious.

“Just for, like, 10 minutes, it was the worst possible thing you could ever see in your whole life,” said Gracie, now 10.

She and her mom, Deanne Langton, had been riding their bikes together through their Tampa Palms neighborhood for years. On Aug. 31, Gracie asked Langton to wear her bike helmet.

“All moms tell their kids to wear a helmet,” Gracie said she told her mother. “Why don’t moms wear helmets?”

Langton didn’t wear her helmet that day, but Gracie’s words stuck with her the next. As they mounted their bikes for a ride Sept. 1, Langton grabbed her helmet and strapped it on.

The ride started like any other. But then a vehicle pulled out in front of the pair, and they both braked abruptly. Gracie stopped without any issues. Her mother, on the other hand, flew over her handlebars and landed on her head.

“When I turned around, she was crumpled on the floor, and I just remember screaming,” Gracie said.

Langton suffered two broken ribs and a punctured lung. She has several scars on her hand, ear and back. She knows if she hadn’t been wearing a helmet, it would have been much worse.

“I believe my life would be completely different if (Gracie’s) words and actions had been different,” she said.

Kids Are Heroes

The story is one that Langton used to nominate Gracie, a fourth-grader at Tampa Palms Elementary School, for a Kids are Heroes award from St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital.

Since 1996, St. Joseph’s has recognized more than 1,400 children between the ages 5 and 18 from Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Hernando and Manatee counties who have performed heroic deeds, or displayed acts of selflessness and demonstrated good citizenship during the past year.

This year, a record 170 kids were nominated, said Jacqueline Tolley, media relations coordinator for BayCare Health System.

Every child nominated receives recognition at a special ceremony, and the first-, second- and third-place winners in each age group (5-8, 9-12 and 13-18) receive special gifts from St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital and participating sponsors.

Winners are selected by a panel of judges made up of current and past pediatric patients of St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital and members of the Tampa Bay Lightning. They’ll be announced in a couple months on a date that has not yet been determined, Tolley said.

The Mother-Daughter Bond

Langton said she never planned on having kids.

“I was too selfish with my time,” she said.

Gracie was born when Langton was 40.

“The moment I had Gracie in my arms, it was like a maternal thing took over,” she said. “It’s been an unbelievable ride, and the journey is going to be for the rest of our lives.”

“She is the greatest joy in my life.”

When asked what her mother means to her, Gracie thought for a moment, and then said: “Everything.”

“She’s always there for me,” Gracie said. “And sometimes when you feel like crying, she’s always there to comfort you.”

Recovery

When the accident happened, Gracie yelled out to three women who were walking past. They called 9-1-1, and Gracie answered their questions.

Langton spent seven days recovering in the hospital and several weeks resting at home.

“It was really tough for her to see me in the hospital,” Langton said. “I had tubes coming out of everywhere.”

Langton’s family and friends helped.

Gracie’s dad and her grandparents looked after Gracie. Then, Langton’s sister flew in from Canada and stayed with Langton and Gracie for two weeks.

The Importance of Wearing a Helmet

Now, both Langton and Gracie wear their helmets whenever they ride their bikes.

Langton still has her old helmet, scraped and cracked from the accident. It serves as a reminder, along with her scars, of how fortunate she is.

“Gracie’s a real hero because if I wasn’t wearing a helmet, we wouldn’t be sitting here,” Langton said.

Gracie said she didn’t consider herself a hero at first, but when her mom explained the significance of what could have happened, she understood.

“I was like, ‘Wow,’” Gracie said. “‘She could have passed.’”