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Show Tfc- - - now being used by athletes throughout the world. Charlie has designed and produced helmets for the Canadian and Russian national hockey teams, for leading jockeys, jai alai players, bicycle and motorcycle riders, and equestrians (including Great Britain's Princess Anne and Prince Charles). Charlie, who works as a biology technician at Toronto's York University, got into the business of making helaccident. mets literally by Fourteen years, ago his oldest son, Dan, fell and hit his head on the ice while playing in a hotkey game. He suffered a severe concussion and was in a coma for two days. are a-- 'A close call' "It was a damned close call, and it really shook me and my wife up," says Charlie. "If Dan had been wearing a helmet, the whole thing wouldn't have happened. But when looked into it, I found out there was no decent helmet available. Nobody had invented one yet. So, I decided to do it myself." Setting up shop in the kitchen, Charlie began working on what he calls "my personal mission the creation of a perfect helmet." He got hold of some old anatomy textbooks, and studied the structure of. the human skull; he investigated the available helmets in other contact sports to see if they could hold up under stress (they couldn't), and he experimented with plastics and fiberglass, testing them for toughness and durability. Finally, when he had some idea what he was doing, he started tashioning his own "Patterson" helmets, and handed them out to the kids in the neighborhood. I Boys are convinced "At first," recalls Charlie, "none of the boys wanted to wear them; they considered it a bit cowardly to play hockey with their heads all covered up. But, fortunately, managed to get a few of them to try it out. And when they saw how good the helmets looked and felt, especially when they got whacked on the head well, before I knew it I was up to my ears in orders." Charlie's wife was soon up to her ears, too. "Our kitchen was gettrng all piled up with my helmets," relates Charlie, grinning proudly. "And my wife wasn't any too happy about it. Besides, I've never been a very neat worker. The adhesive would get stuck on the table, or occasionally I'd make a real mess like that time I left the kitchen tap on and didn't notice until there was an inch of water on the floor. Sounds pretty funny, but I wound up having to drill some quick holes in the floor and let the water go into the basement. Well, the wife about chased me out of the house after that one." As it turned out, a sympathetic neighbor offered the use of a large warehouse and Charlie moved out of the kitchen. He now had bigger and better plans. Taking the family's savings his wife's objections), Charlie (despite invested in tools, workbenches, expen- sive molds and materials. Then, with the help of some neighborhood kids who worked after school, he began producing in earnest. In no time he became Canada's top commercial manufacturer of hockey helmets. business Charlie's But, wasn't destined to last. As he explains: "Making money has never been a big thing with me. My main goal was to make sure that kids would wear my helmets, and I figured the cheaper I sold them, the more kids would be able to buy them." Indeed, Charlie frequently found himself selling below cost, and even givrng helmets away to boys who couldn't afford them. It wasn't long before he was $15,000 in debt. Fortunately, however, a commercial sporting goods manufacturer came along to bail Charlie out, agreeing to pay him a small royalty for each "Patterson" helmet they made and sold. Thus relieved of the burdens of business, Charlie returned to the workshop he knew best: the one in his house. (Except, this time his wife insisted he move into the 4' x 8' cubbyhole just off the kitchen.) 'Orders from all over' j And that's where he's been ever since. Waking every morning at 5:30, Charlie continues to design and produce his helmets. "Somehow word has gotten around," he says, "and I wind up getting orders from all over from Russian hockey players, American jai alai players, even from the Queen of England. Now can you imagine that? The Queen, herself, writing and asking me fora couple of helmets for Princess Anne and Prince Charles!" Apart from the Queen, Charlie's favorite customers are jockeys. Many, if not most, of the jockeys in the U.S. and Canada come to Charlie for their helmets. For example, Ron Turcotte, who rode Triple Crown winner Secretariat, wears a Patterson helmet. (And so does Secretariat when he is being transported by plane from one racetrack to another.) Says Charlie: "Of all the athletes I've dealt with, the jockeys are the most appreci- - continued r |