DES MOINES, Iowa — Between 2017 and 2022, the U.S. government reported an estimated 360,800 emergency room visits related to micro-mobility devices like e-scooters and e-bikes. Now, hospitals closer to home are seeing a similar spike — and fast.

Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, which includes a level 1 adult trauma center and the Blank Children’s Hospital, reported an increase of more than 1,000 percent in such cases since 2022.

It did not take long for WHO 13 to find two individuals in the Metro who have lived through the life-altering consequences of an e-scooter crash.

Life-Changing Incident

In 2022, Jordan Dean’s life changed forever during a night out with his twin brother in Cedar Rapids.

“Suddenly the wheel locked and it flipped me over, and I hit my head, face-planted, basically,” he recalled.

While he believes the rented scooter was only going about 11 miles per hour, the fall to the left side of his head left him unconscious with a traumatic brain injury (TBI). His family, who live in West Des Moines, rushed to the hospital to be by his side.

“I just remember driving to Iowa City and just repeating in my head, ‘Please don’t take my son. Please don’t take my son,’ over and over again silently,” said Jordan’s father, Curtis Dean.

Jordan, then 36, was life-flighted for emergency surgery to relieve pressure from the swelling in his head and placed on a tracheostomy tube to help him breathe. The prognosis was grim.

“They Thought for Sure I Was Dead,” Jordan told WHO 13’s Katie Kaplan.

“At that point, there was really not a lot of hope,” Curtis said. “And in fact, for several weeks, there wasn’t a ton of hope.”

Neurosurgeons had the tough conversation with his family about what Jordan’s future would likely look like, and the family then began making end-of-life arrangements. According to Jordan’s step-mother, Amy Dean, they had even reached out to an organ donation organization.

However, Jordan’s then-wife urged the family to give him six more weeks to heal — just in case. It was during that time that Jordan miraculously began to emerge from his coma. However, it would be roughly seven months before he became conscious of his surroundings.

“That’s what I looked like before the accident,” Jordan said, while standing in Curtis and Amy’s kitchen and pointing to old photos posted on the fridge.

More than three years and multiple surgeries later, he continues to recover, but not without lasting impacts.

“I had three strokes, I have aphasia, I have memory loss … short-term memory’s toast,” he said.

Aphasia, which can be a side effect of a TBI, is a language disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate. Jordan also has limited use of his right arm. Curtis explained that it was due to the curled position it was left in for months during Jordan’s recovery and his brain’s inability to communicate properly with the nerves in that area.

Because of these lasting impacts, Jordan, who has a Bachelor’s Degree in psychology and previously worked as a social worker and tradesman, is now dependent on his family’s support. He can no longer drive and will likely require care for the rest of his life.

“If I could wind the clock back to 2022, I would put on a goddamn helmet or just walk,” he said.

“I Forgot How to Walk”

About 10 minutes away in Waukee, Brandon Hobby shared a similar story.

At just 17 years old, he was on his way to the gas station when he lost control of his $3,000 electric scooter — capable of speeds up to 65 miles per hour — in July 2024.

“I don’t really remember the day, but I was speeding on my electric scooter,” he said.

Eyewitnesses who rushed to his side to help later told him what happened. He was only yards away from his family home.

Brandon said he spent two weeks in a medically induced coma and a full month in the hospital before a week in a rehabilitation facility.

“I forgot how to walk. I forgot how to use the bathroom,” Hobby said.

Asked what he would do differently if he could go back, his answer was simple.

“Definitely wear a helmet, and not speed like I was that day,” he said.

Hobby said he purchased the bike off of Amazon from a Chinese manufacturer with money he earned from his job. More than 15 months after his crash, he is still making payments on it, even though he sold the device to a stranger from Des Moines. He made the buyer sign a waiver relieving him of liability in the event they were to crash, he said.

Hospitals Seeing More Severe Injuries

Medical professionals say they’re treating more and more children — and adults — with serious injuries from micro-mobility crashes.

“We’ve seen brain bleeds. We’ve seen cervical spine fractures. We’ve seen pneumothorax, which is where you have a collapsed lung,” said Dr. Amy Groen.

Groen is the Medical Director at Blank Children’s Hospital downtown. She has worked in the Blank ER for years.

After what Groen described as a “very busy Summer,” her team reviewed their data.

“Even in the last year — and we’re not even year-to-date yet — we’ve had a doubling of the numbers,” she said.

According to data shared by Iowa Methodist, pediatric e-scooter and e-bike incidents rose steeply from four in 2022 to 43 through October of 2025. Adult cases also increased rapidly, from five in 2022 to 22 by October of 2025. The numbers include a combination of ER visits and trauma cases that came to UnityPoint Health – Des Moines hospitals. The numbers are approximate and could be higher. A spokesperson explained that sometimes a patient file may not include keywords of e-scooter or e-bike.

“I’ve heard over and over from parents that they knew the dangers, but you never think it’s going to happen to you or your child,” said Dr. Groen.

It Won’t Happen To Me

As reporter Katie Kaplan and Brandon walked through his Waukee neighborhood to his crash site, they spotted a young e-scooter rider without a helmet. Exasperated, Brandon said it is something he sees all the time in his community.

In hindsight, he wished he had listened to his mother, who had wanted him to wear a helmet.

“I didn’t think anything was going to happen,” Brandon said, echoing the same reasoning Jordan Dean once had.

“Everybody thinks they’re bulletproof. Everybody thinks that they are the exception to the rule, and so did Jordan and his brother,” said Curtis Dean.

Now, the Dean family is living with a reality they never imagined.

“It’s the new normal for us, and nobody signed up for it,” Curtis said. “I was out for a walk the other day, and it just kind of hit me. I was like, ‘I’m going to be doing this the rest of my life.’ You know? Help with Jordan.”

What the Future Holds

Currently, much of the responsibility for safety falls on riders and parents to ensure they are wearing safety gear.

Because the e-scooter and e-bike craze is still relatively new, there is no specific legislation surrounding the use of the devices. Local law enforcement officials described the situation to WHO 13 as the wild west when it comes to rules and regulations. The issue has sparked a broader statewide conversation among law enforcement agencies.

WHO 13 will have more on that conversation in a follow-up report airing Tuesday night at 10.