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Finding a positive news story is a formidable task. Finding a positive news story about business is a nearly impossible task. Ponzi schemes, Hollywood’s corporate caricatures, and lavish executive bonuses define our  perceptions. Examplars are one small we can all undercut the negative onslaught.
This story isn’t just inspiring–it’s personal. Mary Wolgemuth is my courageous and compassionate mother-in-law. Her survival story (as articulated by my father-in-law) reminds me that no job is just a job. And that no company just makes widgets. From the skilled chopper pilot who whisked Mary to her hospital to the medical engineers who designed the bolts that now hold her bones together. From the florists who arranged her hospital room bouquets to the gentle Southwest flight attendants that smoothed her path home to Denver. Bell Sports is just one player in the team of people who preserved Mary’s precious life during these arduous weeks: A beacon of entrepreneurial excellence.
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An Open Letter to Bell Sports
Mary Wolgemuth has been my wife for over 34 years.  We live in Colorado and we love to ride and hike together.  On July 10, 2012 we were in Anacortes, Washington intending to do some riding with family for a few days.  After roughly 25 miles of riding Mary lost her balance and fell into the path of a passing pickup truck.  I was immediately behind her and witnessed her crashing to the pavement.
She was unconscious when I got to her.  In ten minutes an ambulance arrived and shortly after that Mary was airlifted to Harborview Hospital in Seattle.  Skilled doctors put her pelvis back together, while her fractured ribs and collarbone will have to heal on their own.
I firmly believe that God spared the life of my wife – but He used a Bell bike helmet to get the job done.  The attached pictures show the compression in the area of the left temple of Mary’s helmet.  She didn’t scrape on the ground but was pounded directly into the surface.  It cracked her helmet in at least a couple of places… but it did what we needed it to do.

Mary’s Bell Helmet


I am deeply grateful to the Bell Helmet company for the protection provided to the head of my wife.  You have given me my wife back, and I will be forever grateful.  To the engineers who designed this, to the salespeople that got it placed at Performance Bike, and to the business people that helped to price this at a point where I could afford it…  Thanks, a thousand times thanks.
God bless you and grant you much success in the days ahead.
Dan Wolgemuth
President/CEO, Youth for Christ USA