Joan Cuscó (39 years old), a month in a coma due to an electric scooter accident without a helmet: “Social Security doesn't cover chronic rehabilitation and I can't afford all the sessions.”

Joan Cuscó (39) doesn't remember the exact moment of the accident. He only knows that he was riding an electric scooter, without a helmet, and that he suffered such a severe brain injury that doctors considered taking him offline. He was in a coma for a month. He had three young children and a normal life. Today, he lives with a permanent disability and is constantly undergoing rehabilitation.

It was his wife, Sílvia, who received the call from the hospital. “They told me they had never seen anyone lose so much blood. It was coming out of his nose, his mouth... They asked me to come as soon as possible. Once at the hospital, they told me there was nothing they could do and that they were going to disconnect him. Then they decided to keep him alive to see if they could donate his organs, and because his mother was away on a trip and hadn't returned yet.”

Joan Cuscó's testimony, which he recalls with the help of his wife, perfectly illustrates how tragic an everyday scooter ride can be. Four years ago, Joan was riding down a street in Sant Cugat del Vallès at night. He didn't notice a pothole in the road and the wheel of his scooter got caught. The impact caused him to lose his balance and he was thrown from the ground, his head hitting the ground. "It was like it broke into 50,000 pieces."

The accident turned his life upside down. Joan spent a month at the Institut Guttmann and then underwent five more months of outpatient treatment at the Badalona center. He had to relearn how to walk. He lost part of his vision, which at first caused him to frequently stumble and fall without realizing it. Facial paralysis prevented him from opening one eye or moving his mouth properly. Today, he continues with rehabilitation, although more sporadically: "I can't afford it as often as I would like because Social Security stops covering this type of therapy when the patient enters the chronic phase."

“I want people to understand that the electric scooter isn't a toy , it's a vehicle,” Joan insists. “I've given talks at schools with people from the Guttmann Institute, and when I see kids riding without helmets... I have three children. I think a license should be mandatory for riding a scooter, and insurance too. What happens to people who have an accident because of a scooter rider?” Cuscó asks. “We should also properly regulate where scooters should ride and create more bike lanes for them to use,” Silvia adds.

Dr. Eulàlia Bertran, a rehabilitation physician at the Institut Guttmann, confirms that electric scooter accidents are increasingly leaving serious after-effects. “Since we started counting cases in 2022, we've seen an upward trend: we treated one person that year. In 2023, there were seven, and in 2024, there were already thirteen. And in 2025, halfway through the year, we had another seven. What's worrying is not just the number, but the trend.”

Bertran warns that the center's data is underestimated. "Sometimes accidents are recorded as car, motorcycle, or hit-and-run accidents, when in reality they're scooter-related. And we only see neurological injuries, and we treat the most severe cases." For every person injured by a scooter who comes to Guttmann, dozens more are missed, as fractures, bruises, or traumas that don't require intensive rehabilitation aren't seen there.

The consequences of a head injury or spinal cord injury can range from loss of strength or sensation in the arms and legs—which in many cases results in tetraplegia—to behavioral disorders, speech difficulties, cognitive problems, or even the need for tube feeding. “Some people can never manage on their own again and need help dressing, showering, or eating,” he explains.

According to Bertran, improvement after a brain injury is usually greatest in the first few months, but full recovery is not always achieved. “The ceiling for improvement is determined by the injury itself. Progress can last a year or more, especially if there is cognitive impairment and the person is young. But it's common for some aftereffects to remain. In many cases, rehabilitation must be maintained on a chronic basis, both physically and cognitively.”

Beyond the individual suffering, these accidents have a profound impact on the family, emotional, and economic environment. “Suffering an injury like this shatters your life,” Bertran summarizes. “And also the lives of those around you,” he adds.

The doctor insists on the need to implement preventive measures. “There are factors we can control: wearing a helmet, using a scooter in good condition, riding where permitted, respecting speed limits, signaling properly... And above all, changing our mentality. We need a culture of coexistence. The scooter is not a fad or a toy. It's a means of transportation, and we must treat it as such.”

Joan, who speaks slowly but with conviction, is clear about it. "If my story helps someone put on a helmet before getting on a scooter, it will have been worth explaining all this." "That's the message I always convey in my talks with the kids," he says.