# Parents mistake gunshot wound for Aunt Flo's first visit. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 22, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-mistake-gunshot-wound-for-aunt-flos-first-visit/669461 "2013-09-22T19:44:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-mistake-gunshot-wound-for-aunt-flos-first-visit/669461/1 "2013-09-22T19:44:44Z")
Not the sharpest or most observant people. 😛 I hope Aunt Flo doesn’t stop by with gunfire every month. > **[Hayward Shooting Victim's Bleeding Mistaken For Menstruation](https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/hayward-shooting-victims-bleeding-mistaken-for-menstruation/)** > > The girl was sleeping in her Hayward home early Thursday when a stray bullet from a nearby shooting wounded her in the buttocks. > [@](#): > > Police say a Northern California family didn’t call 911 for more than five hours after a 10-year-old girl was shot because they thought she had started menstruating. > > The girl was sleeping in her Hayward home early Thursday when a stray bullet from a nearby shooting wounded her in the buttocks. > > Sgt. Mark Ormsby says when the girl woke up in pain, she thought she had started her period. Her parents found no indication she had been shot when they took her to the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-mistake-gunshot-wound-for-aunt-flos-first-visit/669461/2 "2013-09-22T20:04:48Z")
Even if she had started her period, periods that have you screaming in pain are NOT normal. And I seriously doubt the amount of blood would have resembled a normal period. These two things would have justified a visit to the ER alone. (But maybe they were a poor family?) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-mistake-gunshot-wound-for-aunt-flos-first-visit/669461/3 "2013-09-22T20:38:25Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Even if she had started her period, periods that have you screaming in pain are NOT normal. And I seriously doubt the amount of blood would have resembled a normal period. These two things would have justified a visit to the ER alone. (But maybe they were a poor family?) > [@](#): > > The girl’s doctor told investigators the bullet’s entry wound was small and could have been easily overlooked if the family thought she was menstruating. Not all gunshot wounds are big and bleedy. Sometimes they graze ya, and sometimes they close up after the bullet and/or the bullet plugs the hole. Being in the, uh, buttockal region, the bullet could easily go all the way in without severing a major blood vessel and causing a whole lot of bleeding. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-mistake-gunshot-wound-for-aunt-flos-first-visit/669461/4 "2013-09-22T20:41:42Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Even if she had started her period, periods that have you screaming in pain are NOT normal. And I seriously doubt the amount of blood would have resembled a normal period. These two things would have justified a visit to the ER alone. (But maybe they were a poor family?) The article didn’t say she was screaming. It said she even went back to sleep after it. So who knows. I think the painfulness of bullet wounds can vary a ton (and the painfulness of periods, of course. Before ever being pregnant I think I’d have preferred a bullet wound). ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-mistake-gunshot-wound-for-aunt-flos-first-visit/669461/5 "2013-09-22T21:49:48Z")
I would probably be right there with those parents. I mean, you expect a gun shot to be heard and to wake the girl up. You don’t expect her to think she’s started her period and then go back to sleep. And, for the record… just how closely do you inspect your child’s private areas when she starts her period? I don’t have children of my own, but I’ve gotta think that any inspection which would turn up a small bullet wound would be way past crossing the line in terms of appropriate parental involvement. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-mistake-gunshot-wound-for-aunt-flos-first-visit/669461/6 "2013-09-22T21:53:51Z")
Heck, this sentence: > [@](#): > > Police say a Northern California family didn’t call 911 for more than five hours after a 10-year-old girl was shot because they thought she had started menstruating. is awful. She was not shot because anyone thought she had started menstruating. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-mistake-gunshot-wound-for-aunt-flos-first-visit/669461/7 "2013-09-22T23:48:48Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > The article didn’t say she was screaming. It said she even went back to sleep after it. So who knows. I think the painfulness of bullet wounds can vary a ton (and the painfulness of periods, of course. Before ever being pregnant I think I’d have preferred a bullet wound). IME, bullets can hurt. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-mistake-gunshot-wound-for-aunt-flos-first-visit/669461/8 "2013-09-23T01:33:20Z")
kids can sleep through anything. ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-mistake-gunshot-wound-for-aunt-flos-first-visit/669461/9 "2013-09-23T19:26:13Z")
Wow, the comments on the news page are atrocious.