A woman with two black eyes says she fell on her forehead. Or did someone beat her?
The bruising under one eye was significant: purple and black. The other eye was a more moderate bruise. Neither eyelids were swollen, though.
The extent of bruising was extensive; it’s striking.
Let’s call her “Dee.” I know her from the charity agency that I’m at a few times a week in my work with a special needs woman who volunteers there and likes to eat lunch there. So I often see Dee, who works there full time.
Some weeks ago I noticed a small shiner under one of Dee’s eyes and asked how she got it.
She said she walked into a door. Hmmm…how often do adults accidentally walk into a door? Well, I suppose it could happen if you’re distracted.
I joked, “Thank goodness; I thought you’d gotten into a back alley fight!”
She replied, “Yeah, you should see the other guy!”
But then recently, I was in the lobby and she entered, and I was like, Holy F —. I asked, “What happened?”
Dee answered, “I fell on my forehead.” She explained that for some reason, the blood (internal) fell down to below her eyes. She said she was anemic.
“That’s just the way it happens,” she continued, then added with a shrug, “What can I do?”
I pretended to buy her explanation. But I know better. First off, why would anemia make the blood pool below the eyes upon falling on one’s forehead? That sounded like she grasped for straws in an attempt to convince me she had fallen.
Second, how does one fall only on their forehead?
Two Black Eyes from Falling on One’s Forehead: Cover for Domestic Abuse
Think about it. The only way you can strike your forehead upon falling is if you stand as straight as a ruler and pitch forward, maintaining a ruler-stiff body, all the way to the floor.
And even then, seems to me your nose would get smashed in the process, since it juts out and would be the first to strike the floor. But Dee’s nose was normal.
Is it still possible for one’s forehead to slam into a floor without being as straight as a ruler on the way down?
Think about this. It’s instinctive to throw out your hands when you start stumbling forward and sense a fall coming.
This is why it’s not uncommon for someone to break or sprain a wrist from falling forward.
You pitch forward, arms out, and almost always the first part of the body that strikes the ground will be a hand, often both at about the same time, sparing the forehead from contact.
The next area that hits down after the hands is usually a knee or both, and if not, maybe a hip.
This is just how the human body reflexively responds when the brain perceives an incoming fall.
Have you ever fallen forward? Your hands went out in front. Did your face hit the floor? It’s possible, but not likely, and certainly not the forehead.
Once when I was trotting up a staircase, I stumbled on the second-last step and pitched forward onto an area of floor to the side, atop the staircase, that was elevated by a step worth.
My hands went out, but the fall was so bizarre that my chin made contact at an angle with the elevated area of floor – after my legs made contact first.
My forehead came nowhere near it. My chin hit hard – but the resulting bruise was barely noticeable.
The skin under Dee’s right eye looked as though a boxer had outright slugged her. The left eye, not as bad, but still looking like someone had decked her.
I’ve proofread thousands of personal injury lawsuit transcripts over the years as one of my editorial gigs.
Many of these have been slip-and-falls. I don’t think any have been “face plant” types, but I’d certainly remember if the plaintiff had said they got a black eye or two from hitting their forehead.
The defense attorney will always ask about bruising, marks, redness, etc. I know I would’ve remembered if someone had said, “I fell on my forehead and ended up with two black eyes.”
Boxers get slugged in the forehead all the time. Yet the only time they get black eyes is when they get hit in the eye.
So as days passed, I began wondering if it was even remotely possible that Dee had actually fallen forehead-first.
Next day I saw her; her face seemed to be a little swollen, presumably the after-effect of the trauma.
Then I saw her several days later; her face just seemed bloated, the bruising still there – but something else got my attention: a bruise on the outer side and backside of her left upper arm!
Okay, that clinched it. Someone beats her. Prior, she’d been in long sleeves. This time was a short sleeve summer dress.
The pattern of the brown bruise was a perfect visible match for someone’s hand grabbing her there.
In fact, the location of the bruise was the exact spot an enraged man would grab a woman.
One side of it could easily be from his thumb, while the other side could be from several fingers.
The bruise wasn’t a solid smudge. It had normal skin between the top and bottom, which would be the pattern of a bruise from a hand grab.
I also noticed a few small, faint bruises on her legs. Those could’ve been from anything, I suppose.
But the prominent shiners only below her eyes, plus the odd-looking bruise above her elbow taking up space on the outer side and back, can point to only one cause: abuse by her partner.
Dee also has young kids. I wonder if the beatings are from their father, a stepfather or a live-in boyfriend.
The bruising under her eyes looks as though someone jammed their fist right in those spots. I don’t believe for a second she fell and hit her forehead.
She doesn’t have the luxury to stay home until the wounds heal; she needs to work. Coming in one day with giant sunglasses would probably have aroused more suspicion.
I also wonder how often she comes in with bruises, as I’ve been working with my client there for only four and a half months.
I don’t see Dee every time I’m there, so it’s possible there’ve been other times over the past four months in which she showed up with a suspicious bruise.
Based on all of this, it’s VERY logical to assume that if you see a woman with extensive black and blue marks under both her eyes, and she tells you she fell on her forehead, to consider that it vibes with parents who abuse their young kids telling people their bruises are from falling at the playground, falling off their bed and other suspicious fall stories.
