Blood out of nowhere?

[mr_macabre]

Hi, this happened at the weekend and although it's only a small incident it's left me scratching my head for any explanation.

I was just leaving the house on Saturday morning and I shooed my two-year-old daughter out of the front door into the driveway and told her to stand by the car and wait for me while I put my coat on.

She was only out there for about 10 seconds until I followed her outside, and when I saw her she was holding her hands up saying "look daddy". I could see straight away that she had blood all over her fingers, so I quickly grabbed her and inspected her hands for any injury. I tried to use my sleeve to wipe the blood (which was fresh) away, but only succeeded in smearing it, so I grabbed some wet wipes and used those to clean her up and find the expected cut.

But I couldn't find a thing.

I thoroughly checked her hands, fingers, arms, nose, mouth etc, in fact anywhere I could possibly think of, but there was no cut or scratch or any sign of injury on her anywhere.

Puzzled but deeply relieved she wasn't injured I took her back into the house to wash her hands, then I put her into her carseat.

I then spent a good five minutes or so inspecting the general area where she had been standing, expecting to find the carcass of a dead mouse or something which she might have touched and got the blood on her, but again found nothing.

I even checked the outside front of the car, thinking there may have been blood left from a roadkill, but again couldn't find anything.

Frustratingly, even though my daughter is a right chatterbox she was unusually quiet about this incident, and couldn't or wouldn't tell me where the blood had come from, in fact I think she was as baffled as I was.

Maybe it's an example of the world's youngest stigmata!

 

[ghostkissedivory]

Hi mr_macabre,

Thanks for the very interesting tale!

It also served to spark a recollection of my own of one of the most bizarre episodes I've ever had the dis-pleasure of experiencing.

At a family reunion a couple years ago - when my age meant my social standing had been upgraded to the esteemed role of "young man", and for which my services, against my will, were employed to oversee the activities of the various young extended family members also in attendance - a very similar incident occured involving a young distant cousin who I'd estimate to be about 3-ish.

This particular reunion was held at the home of one of my relatives up in Northern California, and as they owned a sort of "farm estate", had property which spanned a sprawling expense of hills and typical CA shrub-land. Being a fine afternoon, picnic tables were brought outside and the day was spent by the adults socializing while the little runts of various ages romped through the shrubbery. Bored in my role as surrogate parent, I would occasionally scan the general direction of the children to ensure no serious accidents or mishaps had occured when to my surprise (surprise as there was none of the to-be-expected screamed accompaniment), one of youngsters approached me with out-stretched hands covered in what appeared to be fresh blood. My initial reaction was one of shock as I quickly ran down the slight grade he was walking up to meet him and I immediately began the difficult task of extracting detailed information from a child of that age.
In between frantic attempts to identify the perceived injury, quell what I assumed was serious bleeding and mopping away what I could of the blood with my own hands and handkerchief, I continually asked him what had happened and where he had injured himself.

What struck me as most surprising was the kid's reaction to the entire ordeal - he just stared at his hands in a calm (not vacant, though I initially associated this calmness with shock when I assumed HE was the source of all this blood) way and sort of nodded his head as if in agreement to the questions I was throwing at him
By this point, of course, various other family members began rushing to congregate around us, and to our collective amazement, once more effective means of cleansing the blood were produced, there was not a single scratch on the child's hands or arms. Likewise, the next rational source was thought to be a nosebleed but on closer inspection, was found to not be the cause, either. By this point, the kid's state of non-responsiveness was beginning to be an issue as an air of mystery surrounded the entire ordeal but, as if slowly emerging from a dream-like stupor (though constantly retaining that calm demeanor), he began mumbling quite incoherently about a dog.

Now this left us further mystified as we immediately assumed that he meant he was bit by a dog and that the injury sustained was the source of all the blood, but by the time he began making these claims, we had fully cleansed his hands and thoroughly inspected him to no avail. So, pressing him to explain what he meant, he began leading us down a slight ravine studded with large rocks where we came upon, what for all appearances was a freshly killed, large dog of apparent pet pedigree with a gaping hole in its abdomen. Now, the initial conclusion by everyone was that the dog was shot at close range with a shotgun, and concerned that there was someone on the property with such a weapon and the obvious intent to harm, the children were gathered to safer grounds and just a few of the adults, including myself, were left to ponder the carcass and the situation. Further examination of the open wound (prodding with a branch) did not reveal any of the scattered buckshot characteristic of a shotgun blast and, as no one could attest to having heard a blast in the hours before or during the reunion, we determined the injury could not in fact be attributed to a gun shot.

So, as such things go, the mystery of the appearance of fresh blood appearing on the youngsters hands was closed (although what prompted him to WANT to stick his hands in such gore was beyond the lot of us), and we were left with the more perplexing, not to mention disturbing, scenario of the means in which the poor dog which lay at our feet managed to find itself in such a morbid state .... very vile indeed!

Now, I apologize for the length of this post, so in closing, wish to pose a question to you regarding the emotional state of your daughter when she first produced her blood stained hands for your inspection.
Did she seem frightened at the sight of blood or was she unusally calm as in the case of my young cousin?? While I'd expect that many children would instinctively react with disgust or fright at having blood on their hands, I can also recall a certain instance in my childhood (maybe four or five) where I had sliced a finger tip on an open can of tuna and while my Mom reacted in the normal, motherly fashion (ie., freaked the f**k out), all I could do was stare mesmerized at the thick red liquid slowing dribbling down my finger. In any event, just wanted to get an idea of the reaction of your daughter to see how it stacked up with that of my cousin's as I recollect.

Thanks!!

 

[coaly]

It happens, but not often, but a bird of prey could have had a fresh kill overhead, and the blood dropped into her hands, but then, you'd expect some spattering. From the detail, that's the only theory I can give. I can imagine your shock though, and relief! I worked briefly at a pub in Bristol, and remember a member of staff having her hands covered in blood. She was understandably alarmed, not that she was injured, but incase she could be infected, as she knew it wasn't her blood. On initial inspection, there wasn't any blood on any of the glasses, apart from her fingerprints in blood, or surfaces. After a short while though, we discoered that she had blown her nose a few moments earlier, and her nose must have bled, as we found a paper hankie with blood on it, in her smock pocket. (Her nose was clean after the wipe.)
Let us know if you find out more.

 

[sciotofloods]

I would have to agree with other posters that a short and mild nosebleed would be the most likely explanation for the mystery blood. Children get them all the time, often for seemingly no reason, or often because they are picking their nose. Shame from nosepicking might also explain why they don't want to talk about it.

Ghostkissedivory, not trying to insult you or your family, but did anyone consider that the boy had killed the dog? His behavior seems quite odd.

I also had an incident of mystery blood when I was a teen. The event happened while I was asleep. I awoke to find a large spot of dried blood on my pillow. However, it wasn't any mystery as to where the blood had come from. My thumb was sore and there was a very tiny cut at the very tip. It was a very clean cut similar to the type made when a lancet is used to prick your fingertips. I couldn't understand how I could have gotten such a cut while I was sleeping. There were no sharp objects around my bed. I considered that I might have bitten myself, but the cut was much to small and "surgical" to have come from a bite. It almost made me think of a vampire bat bite, except for the fact that I was thousands of miles away from their habitat.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Ghostkissedivory, not trying to insult you or your family, but did anyone consider that the boy had killed the dog? His behavior seems quite odd.

A 3 year old? Kill a large dog with his bare hands?
I don't think that is very likely.

 

[sciotofloods]

A 3 year old? Kill a large dog with his bare hands?
I don't think that is very likely

Oops, I guess I overlooked the mention of the kid's age. I guess it is quite unlikely.

 

[escargot]

Perhaps the child found the dog, thought it was asleep and tried to shake it awake, getting blood on his hands? A child that age might not understand about the blood and could have thought it was something else, like that nice paint at Playgroup.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Perhaps the child found the dog, thought it was asleep and tried to shake it awake, getting blood on his hands? A child that age might not understand about the blood and could have thought it was something else, like that nice paint at Playgroup.

I think that is exactly what happened.

 

[mr_macabre]

Hi Ghostkissedivory, thanks for your story. Very strange indeed as my daughter did have a calm, almost serene air about her, which is the complete opposite of how she normally acts. Just lately she's been a proper diva about every little thing, and the most minor of scratches/grazes (especially if there's blood involved) has sent her into a screaming fit and demands for sticking plasters and bandages!

However after this incident she just quietly showed me her hands and hardly uttered a word as I cleaned it off.

 

[staticgirl]

Is it possible that the little lass fell over and knocked her head? It wouldn't have had to have been a large large cut and it could have been lost in her hair. Cuts on the head bleed like billy-oh and are often not as serious as they appear.

 

[mr_macabre]

Nice theory but I really don't think so. She has very fine blonde hair so I think I'd have spotted it. I looked after her for the whole day and gave her her evening bath, so I'm sure I'd have spotted that (plus she screams the flippin place down if she so much as grazes her knee!)

I've since had another thought because we've got two cats and maybe one of them killed a mouse or something and got blood on its fur, then when I left her for a few seconds she stroked the cat and got the blood on her hands.

 

[thenumenorian]

[quote="

A 3 year old? Kill a large dog with his bare hands?
I don't think that is very likely.

NOT SO FAST! kentucky frontiersman davy crockett killed a bear when he was only three!

davy, davy crockett, king of the wild frontier!

seriously though, could be a coyote kill. and even scarier to think the kids might have scared off the coyote(s) right then if the blood was still fresh and wet and the wound not that large. mysterious though all this was going on right over the hill.

 

[ghostkissedivory]

Ghostkissedivory, not trying to insult you or your family, but did anyone consider that the boy had killed the dog? His behavior seems quite odd.

Don't worry, none taken; I have to admit that I myself thought the kid acted strangely at my initial approach .... BUT.... Ugh - I'd hate to think that's even a possibility (in light of the stories I've read on this board about black eyed kids, etc.), but, even without ruling it out entirely, I'd say that's highly highly unlikely given the kid's stature (not necessairly age - I've heard of some remarkably cruel children) and the size of the dog.

Many reunion attendees are extended relations and I'm not familiar enough with the family this particular kid belonged with to make a judgement call about his character so I wouldn't be able to tell you if there was any reason to suspect this kid had violent tendencies. But again, even so, I'd have to say the dog would pretty much had to have offered zero resistence to result in the outcome we encountered.

It was pretty emotionally striking when it all occurred, so trying to apply any logical reasoning retoractively to those events makes for a pretty legimitate mind f**k. TBH, I've pretty much given up searching for an explanation and now just accept the event as it happened - as uncomfortable as that is without the satisfaction of closure. ** sorry about any typos - rushing to type at work and this really isn't what they pay me to do!!

 

[LaurenChurchill]

NOT SO FAST! kentucky frontiersman davy crockett killed a bear when he was only three!

davy, davy crockett, king of the wild frontier!

You bastard. I'm going to be singing that ALL NIGHT :splat:

 

[tamyu]

A very late reply - but...

Did you check UNDER the fingernails?
My son used to suddenly call me to tell me he was bleeding - and there would be quite a lot of blood with absolutely NO sign of an injury. He also didn`t know where it came from and didn`t seem to be in pain.

It was from under the fingernail, as I discovered by almost pure luck much later. I just happened to SEE it start - a drop come from under the nail. Apparently some very small children have very weak skin at the point where the nail and fingertip part. Something as simple as scratching something can make a tiny tear that bleeds a surprising amount.

My son seems to be particularly weak, so I`ll wake up to stumble upon bloody footprints in the hall every month or two. (He seems to bump his toes when getting out of bed in the morning, and in the sleepy haze doesn`t notice the blood...)

 

[Mythopoeika]

Poor child!
Making him wear slippers around the house might fix that problem.

 

[tamyu]

Poor child!
Making him wear slippers around the house might fix that problem.

In the winter thick socks help... But I don`t really think that slippers would help things much. He generally bumps his toes climbing out of bed. Putting slippers on AFTER getting up would do little other than absorb the blood (and dirty the slippers!).

I think I would be more concerned if it hurt or kept bleeding, but usually the blood has stopped by the time he or I notice.