On Wednesday, April 19, 1876, A post-mortem examination took place in which the founding conclusions are as follows: death had resulted from injury to the brain by a crochet-hook.
Follow along with me…
Florence B–, aged two years and a half, was playing by the fireplace with her sisters, when she either fell down or rolled over. A crochet-hook, which in some way was fixed by the fender or hearth-rug, penetrated her head for about two inches immediately above the left ear. One of her sisters pulled it out at once, without breaking it, “heard it grate” against something as she did so, and noticed that there was no bleeding. This happened on Monday evening, April 17th, at about eight o’clock. The child is then described as having become very restless, and convulsed during the night. The next day she was noticed to be drowsy at intervals, occasionally waking up and screaming. No paralysis was observed, and both pupils were natural. Towards night she became semi-comatose, and died about four o’clock on the morning of the following day (Wednesday), some thirty-two hours after the injury had been sustained. AT NO POINT WAS A DOCTOR CALLED….I mean really….NO DOCTOR WAS CALLED.
The autopsy, twelve hours after death.-The body was that of a well-formed and well-nourished child; rigor mortis slightly marked. The left temporal region was found to be somewhat swollen and cadematous; and with a little difficulty a small punctured wound was found where the needle had penetrated. Supposing a line to be drawn from the summit of the left ear to the eyebrow of the same side, the position of the wound would be in this line at a point some what nearer to the eyebrow than the ear. On removal of the scalp there was evidence of extensive extravasation of blood in the left temporal region. When the superior attachment of the temporal muscle and the temporal fasciae and all clot had been carefully removed, a pinhole opening was seen at once just above the temporal ridge of the frontal bone and a little anterior to the coronal suture. Blood oozed through this opening directly it was cleared. There was no blood between the dura mater and the bone, and the opening in the dura mater was readily recognized. The dura mater was carefully removed from the brain, and immediately beneath it in this left temporal region there had been abundant hemorrhage, so much so that the clot formed was, in its centre (which corresponded with the puncture), about half an inch thick, and its area was somewhat larger than a crown-piece. No morbid appearances were noticed in the brain-substance itself, and there was no hemorrhage into the ventricles. The head alone was examined.
It is believed that should the child have been seen by a doctor they might well have survived. More to the point, I know we let our children play but please take note and be careful.