Whenever the monthly crimson waves hit you, it’s a bloody nightmare, period.
But when Aunt Flo’s visits come unexpectedly (or uncontrollably), we hope you can brave the embarrassment and mortification. It may seem impossible to overcome such horrific incidents but to prove you otherwise, here are 12 horror stories told by ‘Shark Week’ Survivors.
*some names were changed to protect identities
We were having a party when my friend, who was on her period, got out of the pool. As she mounted herself up, her boyfriend noticed a thread sticking out of her bikini bottom and decided to be extra “helpful”.
He said, “Eh don’t move, wait. Your bikini quality damn shit sia got thread come out,” as he proceeded to heroically yank the “thread” out. Turns out, it was her tampon string.
Needless to say, there was a lot of screaming involved as the weight of the situation sank in and the boyfriend threw the soaked tampon into the pool. We got out of the pool and never went back in.
Bernadette, 20
During one of my basketball matches, one of my teammates—the girl who was on her period—was jumping and running around a lot. Midway through the match, her pad got dislodged from her panties and it just fell out onto the basketball court.
I can only imagine how mortified she was because I d-i-e-d from second-hand embarrassment
Dernise, 22
I was in a Bikram yoga class. During the floor stretches, I felt a familiar sensation down there. Knowing how in Bikram you sweat so damn much, I didn’t think much about it.
But when class ended, I stood up and I realised I had stained the mat! Panicking because it was the fitness centre’s mat, I just quickly flipped the mat over and tucked it all the way inside the mat area.
Yy, 19
I was going to throw the packet away in the bin at my boyfriend’s house but there was this huge ass bag blocking my way so I just stretched my leg over it. Suddenly, blood started to trickle down my leg and dripped all over his balcony floor. My boyfriend’s mum walked in just then and I frantically started to clean up.
And if that wasn’t embarrassing, my boyfriend chose to walk in at that moment and he said, “Eh you’re so clumsy. Why you spill the spaghetti sauce everywhere?”. Apparently, he thought I had spilled my leftover lunch instead of my period blood.
Gladys, 19
I was in my JC student lounge packing the orientation packs when I realised that I had somehow managed to stain the huge plastic bag full of J1 shirts. I quickly pulled the bag up to block the blood stain and frantically tried to wipe the blood off.
Luckily my blood didn’t stain the shirts—it was collected on top of the plastic bag instead. I continued laughing and taking part in the convo, playing it cool. There were so many people in the circle but they were busy packing shirts, oblivious to the fear in my eyes and how I was overcompensating with bad jokes and OTT responses.
Claire, 19
I vividly remember stepping out from the public toilet and strolling to my dinner place when I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. I turned around with my quick reflexes and found myself staring at a handsome and charming man—for a moment I thought I was approached by a Greek God.
I flashed a deliberate cheeky smile and asked him, “Yeah? Do I know you?”. He smiled at me and said, “Hi, you don’t know me, but…you have something running down your leg.” That ‘something’ was my period blood even though I was certain that nothing would leak out through my 42cm pad. I genuinely thought it was my lucky day but I was proven so wrong.
Tanisha, 18
My alarm rang at 7.00am when I get out of bed and felt l something trickle down my legs. I was confused and wondered if I had peed myself. My bedsheets and clothes were all clean, but the moment I stood up, all of the blood gushed out at once. It completely soaked through my underwear and it dripped all the way down my legs. It was truly disgusting, I nearly puked.
Amrit, 19
I was minding my own business doing my work when my female colleague asked me, “Are you bleeding? There on your ankle”. I looked down and realised that I somehow accidentally dripped period blood on myself without knowing—probably in the short post-pee moment before pulling up my pants.
Rachel, 23
My friends and I were in the school canteen when one of them unknowingly bled on the bench. She wore neither a pad nor shorts! Her flow was so heavy that the blood just started trickling down her leg as she got up. My friends and I ended up helping to clean up after her and helped to loan out a skirt for her. #TrueFriendship
Stephanie, 22
During a dance production, I was confident that I wouldn’t have my period on the performance day because it already came earlier that month. But right before the show started, Aunt Flo decided to pay me another visit. Clearly, I wasn’t prepared with any pads so I freaked out in the toilet.
To make things worse, all of the dancers only had tampons with them and I’d never worn a tampon before. I tried so hard to shove it up down there but it just wouldn’t fit and it was too painful for me to handle so I gave up and wore two leotards and a panty liner to minimise the staining.
Priya, 20
When I met my current boyfriend for the first time, we’d made plans to catch a local film at The Projector. I was on the second day of my period so my flow was super heavy. As we sat through the movie, my blood began to leak out of my pants and onto the seat. Thank GOD it was dark otherwise he’d have seen how embarrassed I was.
After the movie ended, I quickly tied my sweater around my waist and sprinted to the bathroom to clean up the mess. We still ended up having dinner and walking around for the next few hours. Even till today, he has no idea it happened!
Lilly, 19
I was arguing with this insolent boy whom I absolutely abhor in class. At the end of the argument, I did a dramatic turn to signal the end of the conversation, only to have him say, “OMG I think you’re bleeding from down there.”
Nadine, 21
Now that you’ve heard it all, have no fear when you spot a tiny red spot on your jeans. Just keep calm and go with the flow… or run and never look back.
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