Exclusive: Jefferson City man says he knows what potentially saved his life after crash

JEFFERSON CITY — Thomas Eggen has been riding motorcycles his whole life. He even works at a motorcycle shop. But after the Missouri State Highway Patrol said a car failed to yield for him Saturday and caused him to be thrown off of his motorcycle, he said he knows what saved his life.

"The next thing I knew, I was rolling on the ground. And as I was rolling on the ground, my head hit and when my head hit, I could feel that I had a helmet on," Eggen recalled.

He said he walked out of the hospital hours after the accident happened with pain in his hip and other places, but without a brain injury. Eggen's wife Maggie said she also grew up with motorcycles and never thought about taking hers off before - until now.

"That's what I grew up doing. I will never take it off again," she said.

The mandatory use of motorcycle helmets have been a point of debate in Missouri for decades. Thomas Eggen said he now knows what it's like to be on both sides of that debate.

"I know a lot of people out there would be upset with me for doing it and for saying that. I just know in my own case, it saved me a lot of damage," Eggen said.