Jared Formalejo, who has hemophilia B, and his wife, Alliah, live in the Philippines. They tell the story of how quick thinking led to using an unorthodox yet effective solution to stop a bleed.

Alliah: A year ago, we used to have this huge golden retriever, and one time it got away. So Jared tried to run after it. And the dog, of course, was frantic once he caught it, so it started flailing around.

Jared: Yeah. Eventually it scratched my face. It bit me all over. I had dripping blood all over me. So, she and her cousin had a brilliant idea to stop the bleeding.

Alliah: So because we were girls, we had a bunch of menstrual products, sanitary napkins. So we stuck a pad onto his head like this. And then we got this big puffy headband, kind of like this.

Jared: I think that’s what we used.

Alliah: Yeah. And secured it onto his head like that, so the bleeding would stop because of course, he has hemophilia, so it doesn’t stop.

Jared: Essentially I had a diaper and a fuzzy head that day. So it wasn’t all that scary, even if I was dripping blood. So, it’s a life hack that’s kind of useful. You know, if there is a girl in the house, you can just take a pad.

Alliah: Or tampons. I think we used up, like, three pads that day, before the bleeding stopped. But it did eventually. So well, good save.