A childhood belief about people

When I was very young my older sist hurt her ankle so badly that she needed stitches. I didn't understand the concept and she told me that if you didn't get stitches then you could die. I thought she meant that if a person never got stitches (for any reason) they would die. I guess I never thought that there would have to be some age cut-off limit for actually getting the stitches with such a vague ultimatum. When I was 7, I finally got stitches and remember being relieved that finally - I wouldn't die because I had the experience of having gotten stitches.