Forensic examination

 Ah, Mr Sandwick. How are you feeling?

Yes, well no bones were broken, fortunately.

It was a nasty crash, though. You had bruises all over.

Now – we’re going to need your help with something. The police need us to put together a full report on the injuries you sustained, so they can determine what happened in the crash. Obviously, your chin got that horrible gash as the dashboard crumpled upwards, and there are bruises around your shoulder, where you jarred against the seatbelt…

…but there’s some quite severe and sustained bruising on your buttocks that we’re trying to understand.

Any thoughts?

No, well I suppose you were losing consciousness at the time.  Not really fair to expect you to remember!  I just thought, maybe...

Only…it’s odd, because there are two quite distinct patterns of bruising, on your buttocks and upper thighs.  The majority of the bruises - and we think these were sustained first - are consistent with some sort of heavy, but soft and flexible object repeatedly impacting your buttocks horizontally. Like – I don’t know. Maybe like a leather or a rubber belt.  But probably heavier than a normal belt.  Was there anything like that in your car that could have caused your injuries?  Maybe a fan belt from the engine, next to the driver's seat?  I mean, it seems unlikely it could whip about repeatedly like that, but...

No? No, well that’s what the police said too.  Very hard to understand.

And then there are some really nasty bruises from something long and straight and thin – six of them, almost perfectly evenly spaced across your buttocks, starting on the upper thighs and going up. Those look very sore. I expect you can still feel them when you sit down. Any thoughts how those might have happened?  It was probably after the first lot of bruises.  Oh - and we're pretty sure your buttocks were probably stretched taut at the time of the impact.  As if you were doubled up... or bent over.

No? Well, it is a mystery, isn’t it?  We've been discussing it, here on the ward, and none of the doctors or nurses can make head or tail of it.  Everyone's fascinated.  Quite the little medical mystery - just like a TV show!

Do try to remember, though, if you can.  We've been wondering if you might – perhaps – have been doing something before you got in the car, that caused you to sustain these bruises? Some kind of activity that might have involved the kind of repeated impacts that I just described?

No? Can't think of anything at all?  Oh well.

Only the other car’s driver is disputing liability for all of the injuries, you see. So I expect you’ll be asked about it as a witness in the court case. In court.  Under oath.

What’s that? Oh good lord, no, you can’t just drop charges now, I’m afraid Mr Sandwick. The insurance companies are involved, and they’ll want to make sure they’ve got to the truth.

Anyway, I need to take some photos. If you could just pop your pyjama trousers down? That’s right. And if you wouldn’t mind – it’s better if you stretch a bit, so it’s easy to see everything. So if you could stand here – that’s right – and then bend over with your bottom up in the air. That’s right. Don’t worry about the pyjama bottoms, down there around your ankles is fine.
Ooops! Silly me – I forgot the camera. You just wait in that position. I won’t be a moment.  If anything jogs your memory about what might have happened, you will say, won't you?  Only it's probably better now, than in court.