If you've never seen the comedy classic, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," there is a scene where Arthur, King of the Britons, encounters a black knight guarding a bridge.
Arthur quickly figures out the stalwart knight will not let him pass, so the two do battle, with the king severely injuring his enemy in the process.
He cuts off all his arms and legs.
Yet the black knight persists, insisting his injuries are, "but a scratch."
Turns out this happens to people in real life, not so much with swords and knights, but with can openers and ice skates.
Reddit user, SingleFunction223, wanted to know what injury really wasn't as bad as it appeared to be when they asked:
"What was your 'Tis but a scratch!' moment?"
It comes out of nowhere, and that could be the leading cause to why you might not notice right away.
You want to get back to work, or your shopping, unaware you're missing your kneecap.
It's Just Really Good Makeup
"Worked at a haunted house that took place an in an old soap factory. During rehearsal one night, I tried to go down a narrow staircase in the dark, tripped down the stairs and fell into a conveniently-placed shopping cart."
"My shins were bleeding all over but I didn’t notice until like fifteen minutes into rehearsal and that’s only because somebody said something."
slaughterteddy
No, I Only Want You To Look At This Injury, Not That Injury
"I once dropped a piece of ducting at lowes (home improvement chain in USA) and tried to catch it, slicing my thumb and palm. Not too bad, but bleeding a bit. Clenched a tight fist to stop the blood and found an employee to ask for a bandaid, he looked at me and ran off to grab some and he came back with a handful. I was confused, only took two because it wasn't THAT bad and went to the bathroom to clean my hand and put on the bandaids."
"4 hours later I was scratching my leg at home and felt something weird. Looked down and there was a 4in long very bloody gash down my left shin that I had no idea about. Wasn't that deep but was rather long."
"That poor employee probably thought I was crazy, and I felt silly."
"Another time I was using an axe to chop up a branch and the head bounced funny off a knot and took a glancing blow at my shin. The only part of that I felt was the bruising from the impact. I couldn't even tell where the cut was without looking"
"Point is I am now convinced that shins feel no pain from cuts."
Nice_or_Sarcastic
So Bad You Need A Shot Out Of It
"I'm a very clumsy person, especially when it comes to the kitchen. However, every time I've cut myself with a knife or a can, or burnt myself, it has been something I'm able to fix at home, with a bandage or over the counter medicine."
"A couple years ago I was opening a can of beans, and had my middle finger extended when I was opening it. Unfortunately, I pulled the ring too fast, and the lid sliced my middle finger. I thought it was just another cut, so I went to my first aid kit, grabbed bandages, and went to the bathroom to clean the wound and apply pressure. I made a mess of the floor and my bathroom with the blood dripping."
"Nonetheless, no matter how long I kept pressure on it, the wound kept bleeding, and I was unable to put the bandage on it. I lived with my parents, so I asked them for help. They tried to cover the wound, but blood kept coming out. We gave up, decided it was time for the ER, and had to get stitches and a tetanus shot. I got a scar out of it, and lost my now bloodied beans, but fortunately the lid managed to miss the tendon, so I didn't lose mobility."
penguinsreddittoo
Confident Quarterback
"Dislocated my shoulder playing football but said I could keep playing. I was wrong."
– dodongtv
Injuries are somehow worse when no one is around to help.
That makes the situations when someone is there to tell you you're bleeding out the side of your head a little easier to stomach.
A Boss Keeping An Eye Out For You
"Sliced my hand during work from finger to elbow and tore the skin nearly clean off."
"At first I went, this is fine I just gotta get a bandage."
"Boss yelled at me and took me to the hospital."
AlleywayGum
No Help To Be Found
"Had a grinding wheel disintegrate, and a piece of it slammed into my thigh. Felt like a strong slap at the time, so I just hissed, rubbed it a little like a bruise, and went on back to what I was doing. About 10 minutes later noticed my sneaker was wet inside and saw the whole leg was covered in blood and the shoe was soaked."
"It wasn't a bruise lol, that piece split the skin and muscle pretty deep. And since it was in a remote location, there was no immediate opportunity to get it sutured, so now I have a mouth-sized and shaped scar there."
TheOnlyXBK
Don't Tell Mom
"When I was a kid we had this old go kart thing that I sat on while my older brother pulled a rope tied to it. We went around in circles then after landing from a small bump, my right leg got stuck between the front wheel & frame or so, next thing I know almost my entire right leg was drenched in blood."
"My brother took some cotton balls & bandages and started cleaning the blood, as we swear not to tell mom. Somehow turns out the cut wasn’t even that big or deep, only got a small band aid, not even needed at that. So in conclusion my skin is made of rubber and my blood flows like pulp."
companysOkay
If there's anything this entire discussion has taught us is that the human body going into shock can lead to some truly terrifying moments.
Makes You Wonder How Someone Doesn't Need Their Knee
"Took a spill at night while inline skating. Got up, felt some blood on my knee but kept doing some more runs."
"Got home and every other step I left a bloody footprint. My mum started screaming and I discovered I'd basically torn my knee cap off."
SalemScout
"Oof that escalated quickly"
Horror-Rock6276
Can You Hear This?
"Kind of a same thing happened to me when I was making our yard look cleaner with my 1960 Fordson Major tractor. Left-side axle snapped in half and I fell down a deep ditch."
"I just climbed the ditch like 'Well that was something' I walked inside to ask my dad to help me with my tractor but my mom came screaming at me in panic as my right ear was torn in half."
"I was so confused but she took me to the mirror. We went to hospital and I got stiches. Only started to feel pain in the morning."
"The tractor had a modified cockpit from a valmet or something. It was only made of iron so it wasn't that soft. That cockpit was totaled and so could have been me if it didn't land on its wheels. It could have been deadly."
Me_ofc_ourse
Listening To Doctors. What A Unique Concept.
"i walked around for over a week with a broken shoulder because i thought it was just a sprain. when i finally saw the doctor, i was like 'i’m pretty sure it’s just a sprain'. doc was like 'judging by the bruising, it is very much broken'. x-rays later confirmed."
skater_dude_717
That Bone Ain't Right
"I had a fall at a skate facility some friends were building and I ended up working at. They had just finished the 3' mini half-pipe. Landed bad on my wrist. It was painful overnight, but when I woke up pain had gone."
"Went on with my life. As someone else noted, it wasn't the pain that sent me to the doctor. It was the holding a cup of coffee, or a beer and getting the angle wrong and just dropping it that did. Six weeks later. I had a friend who was a doctor. He said he could feel that the scaphoid bone wasn't 'right'."
"He sent me to the hospital where his cousin worked and I ended up getting one of the first fibre-glass casts in Queensland. Which went well with being the first person to break a bone at my friends' skateboard facility."
– yearofthesquirrel
Falling For Her
"Fell out of a tree in front of a girl I liked. Seriously bruised my tailbone but successfully (I think) hid the absolute agony I was in until I was out of sight."
– [deleted]
Bada** Hero
"Got jumped by the guy who was stalking my cousin, he slit my throat, but didn't kill me. I beat him until I passed out. Woke up, got cleaned up and drove myself to the hospital after stopping to ask directions."
– Adddicus
Don't try to tough it out.
Get out the antibiotic ointment, grab the bandages, and just take it easy for the rest of the day.
No need to be a Black Knight about the whole thing.
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