If you ride a bicycle, Carrie Jimenez begs you to wear a helmet.

And, whether you wear a helmet or not, Axel Jimenez recommends you have life insurance and review your coverage on a regular basis.

Axel – whose bicycle was clipped by a car as he and two friends rode their weekly 14-mile, Wednesday-morning bike route – was grateful for the second chance to do just that.

A cycling crash forced Axel Jimenez not only to have back surgery, but also to evaluate his life insurance needs.

A State Farm^® agent in Illinois, Axel suffered several injuries and underwent back surgery after being thrown from his bike several years ago. He and his buddies were riding single file, and Axel was in the rear. The first two riders turned onto Airport Road and Axel was close to turning when there was a really loud bang and someone hollered, “Axel got hit!”

They called 911 and the friends checked on Axel, who was thrown from his bicycle, landing partly in grass and partly on a graveled shoulder of the road.

A car bumper had struck the rear tire of his bicycle, which was on the right side of the northbound lane.

Axel Jimenez realized he needed to update his life insurance after a cycling crash caused him to reflect on how his family would survive if tragedy struck. Pictured with Axel are his wife, Carrie, and children Ella, 18, Gabe, 15, Adler, 12 and Vale, 10.

Thankfully, the helmet did what it was designed and supposed to do: it protected his head when he crashed to the ground. But once he came to his senses around what had just happened, Axel began thinking -- what if it hadn’t? What if he’d suffered the unthinkable?

Like a barber who has no time to cut his own hair, Axel’s days were focused on taking care of customers. He had thought about reviewing his life insurance needs many times, but that task was put on hold over and again while other tasks were made a priority.

This bike crash made him realize tomorrow is promised to no one. If he hadn’t survived, his family would have been in dire straits.

“It’s critical that we assume the worst case as we contemplate the reality of an unforeseen tragedy involving death,” Axel said. “Nobody wants to leave their loved ones in financial distress.”

He is committed to helping others recognize the importance of life insurance so they may live their lives confident their loved ones will thrive.

“I met Katie when she came over to meet my roommate’s pup, Cole. We hit it off right away and I asked her to the movies.”

The relationship blossomed - and in 2011 the pair wed.

“Marrying Katie was a packaged deal. I got a wonderful wife and her Labrador border collie mix, Riley,” smiled Stephen. "I became an instant dog dad.”

Life marched on. Stephen worked as a contractor. Katie, an accountant. “Great with numbers, wise with money - that’s Katie.” So it didn’t surprise Stephen when Katie arranged a meeting for the couple to discuss their financial goals with State Farm® agent Rose Goheen.

“I knew Katie before she met Stephen, because I helped write her homeowners insurance,” said Rose. “She was analytical, logical, and practical. She wanted to ensure they had a strong financial foundation.”

During the meeting, they discussed life insurance. That didn’t sit well with Stephen. “I thought the whole thing was a waste of time and money,” he said. "I told Katie, ‘We’re young! We’re healthy. We don’t need this.’”

Katie won the debate. They took out two term policies. Life marched on.

In 2014, the Millers celebrated the birth of their first child, a son named Chase. Shortly after, they met Rose for another financial review.

“Stephen and Katie did it right. Life insurance matters. It is important to look at policies to determine a comfortable figure for your budget and changing circumstances,” said Rose.

Three years later, the Millers welcomed their second child, Reid. “It was an exciting, busy time,” said Stephen. “But we had health concerns about Katie.”

A few months after giving birth to Reid, doctors found a tumor near Katie’s stomach. Following surgery and testing, it was determined to be Ewing’s Sarcoma. The rare cancer, which occurs in and around the bones had metastasized to other parts of Katie’s body.

“The word cancer…it’s numbing,” said Stephen. “But Katie never lost her light.”

With the help and support of family, friends and her medical team, Katie fought the disease hard. But the cancer continued to spread. On July 28, 2018, Katie passed away at the age of 30.

Her final request was to remember the good times, remember her.

“We continue to do that every day,” said Stephen. “I started a nonprofit called ‘Katie’s Crew.’ Its purpose is to raise awareness and support for cancer research. We will win this fight.”

Stephen says Katie’s legacy is all around him. And, her forward thinking, to ensure they had life insurance means the family is secure and protected.

“Chase, Reid, Riley and I can stay in our house. I’m so grateful for that sense of the familiar during this unbelievably hard time,” said Stephen. “Because Katie thought ahead, Chase and Reid can go to college. Their education is taken care of. We also have the financing to take vacations, and do fun activities. I know Katie would want that. Because of life insurance coverage, our boys are protected. My wife was right all along.”

And, as life continues to march on, Stephen says the joy Katie brought to the world continues to be recognized and celebrated by those near and far.

“She taught us so much. Taught us how to appreciate the small things, laugh whenever possible and love always,” said Stephen. "Her legacy will never be forgotten.”

The money raised from the ride helps a local family care for the young child of two of Jess’s friends killed in a crash three years ago. The funds also helped pay lingering medical costs and final expenses.

Jess is an agent team member for State Farm^® Agent Thomas Klann, Fort Madison, Iowa. She’s worked for two insurance agents for the past seven years, and is hoping to be a State Farm agent someday.

“I used to feel a little uneasy asking people about life insurance, but not now,” Jess says. “This was a wake-up call. I have seen what happens, and I know what life insurance can do for families.”

Jess says it’s not just about whether you have life insurance or you don’t. It’s about the type of policy and how much coverage, as well as what kind of life insurance – for example, sometimes group life insurance through work might not be adequate. It depends on each person’s individual needs.

“I also talk with people about their beneficiaries, including survivor beneficiaries – meaning if you and your beneficiary both die – so loved ones are protected,” Jess says.

For her friends’ families, they dealt with overwhelming medical expenses and had to wait more than a year to purchase a headstone for one of their loved ones. In addition there are financial challenges of family members joining together to raise a young child.

This year, about 50 people participated in the benefit ride. Though concern for the family is still there, each year the number of participants decline as other events happen and take center stage in a small town. However, the family’s financial needs and expenses continue.

“It’s so difficult to sit with a person who has just lost a loved one,” Jess adds. “But I see how life insurance can ease financial worries so they have time to grieve rather than worrying about returning to work in order to pay the electric bill.”

When Jess thinks about the difference she can make in other people’s lives, she says, “It’s never a good thing to deliver a claim check for a life policy, but I know I’d like to be the one delivering it.”

September is Life Insurance Awareness Month. Find more resources on life insurance on statefarm.com^®.

Through their own initiative – including washing cars and soliciting donations – the family was able to make it through. And when Sonia finally woke up, she was also awakened to the need to protect her family from the unexpected.

Thinglink

State Farm Life Insurance Company (Not licensed in MA, NY or WI) State Farm Life and Accident Assurance Company (Licensed in NY and WI) Bloomington, IL LIAM-1010.0

As the years passed, Ron and Kelly were faced with a multitude of challenges. Ron experienced a back injury, forcing him into early retirement from his construction career. To keep the bills paid, Kelly took over the family finances and began pursuing her real estate license. When Kelly passed away suddenly in 2009, it came as both an emotional and financial shock to Ron and their two children.

“Every day you get up and go to work. Every day you get up and start your car. You take that for granted,” Ron said. “You never take [for] granted something unexpected. When Kelly passed away, it was very unexpected. She was worth everything to us.”

Fortunately, they had someone on their side: Their longtime friend (and insurance agent) Steve. It was now, when things looked their worst, that advice Steve had given years before paid off, enabling Ron to keep his family together.

Investing in the future

Many years before, based on Steve’s counsel, Ron and Kelly had chosen a permanent life insurance plan that accumulated cash value, which had allowed them to fulfill their dream of buying a home and paying for unforeseeable costs, like Ron’s medical bills.

But because of his health problems and the state of the economy in 2009, when Kelly had become the primary wage-earner in the family, finances were so tight that Ron told Kelly that he thought they should cancel their life insurance policy. They met with Steve again, who took the time to walk through their financial options and encouraged them to consider keeping their policy.

“The real lightbulb moment was when Ron realized how much Kelly really did for him and the household and family, and the fact that she did bring in income that he would have to do without if something should happen to her,” said Steve.

For most Americans, the death of a primary wage-earner would mean big living changes. According to LIMRA’s life insurance consumer studies, one-third of Americans believe they would feel the financial impact from the loss of a primary wage earner within one month of the wage earner’s passing. Half say they would feel an impact within six months.

After loss, some relief

Ron was in the group that would feel the impact immediately, and he feared what it could mean for his family. “With Emmet being a minor and Jamie just getting out of school and my serious back problems the last year that Kelly was alive, I’m afraid to think of what would have happened to all of us without our life insurance policy,” said Ron.

In the wake of Kelly’s death, Ron had to take over financial responsibility for the household. He reached out to Steve again, who reminded him they had kept their life insurance policy. In fact, he told Ron, they had actually increased their coverage, a decision that provided the necessary funds for Ron to remain with his sons and keep his home.

“It was a great relief when Steve told me we weren’t going to lose our house, and I was going to be able to stay here with the boys,” said Ron, “[Without insurance] I would have had to instantly liquidate everything or look to my relatives for help. Life insurance takes care of that unexpected stuff.”

State Farm Life Insurance Company (Not licensed in MA, NY or WI) State Farm Life and Accident Assurance Company (Licensed in NY and WI) Bloomington, IL LIAM-1009.0 

What came next, though, was unexpected.