My knuckles were white as I gripped the hospital bed rail. Tears slipped down my face as my best friend and a nurse held my legs apart, while another nurse inserted gauze into my vagina to stop the bleeding.

People always say you’ll remember your first time having sex—but I thought I’d remember it because it would be awkward, maybe a little clumsy. Instead, I remember a blood-stained bed, a soaked carpet and bathtub, and being moved through three different hospital rooms.

This was my introduction to sex—not awkward, but traumatic.

So I’m sharing this, not for pity, but as a cautionary tale. No one should go through what I did. And that starts with better sex education—real, honest, inclusive education that prepares young people for more than just the mechanics. We need to talk about pain, consent, bodies, and what to do when something goes wrong.

We deserve more than silence and shame. We deserve knowledge.