Scott Walker lives with his wife and two daughters in Kansas. Recently, they had quite a scare when it came to his youngest daughter Molly. She had been born seven weeks early and they were alarmed because she had a crying fit and was overheating. The father took her socks off to help her cool down but then they noticed something that they had never seen before.
Scott decided to take the story to the Internet to warn other parents that there was this type of hidden danger. When parents speak up about their experiences and the health of their children, it can help to educate others and may even save lives.
What they saw on their daughters toe was a single strand of hair that was tightly wrapped around it. It cut off the circulation to the toe from the rest of her body. This phenomena is known as a hair tourniquet and it can happen when a single piece of hair or even a piece of thread wraps around the toe tightly. Thanks to their quick action, their daughter is doing fine and the hair was removed with a pair of tweezers.
Had a small scare this afternoon with Ms. Molly. What happened was new to me, but apparently not totally uncommon, so I figured I would share with my fellow parents out there.
I was with the family over lunch and Molly was cranky and screaming – nothing out of the ordinary. As worked up as she was getting, she started to overheat, which prompted Jess to remove her socks and cool her down. That was when we saw her toe. This is called a hair tourniquet, which is literally a strand of hair that, while inside a sock, inexplicably wraps around a toe so tight that it can cut through the skin and potentially cut off blood circulation.
Luckily for Molly, she has a mother with medical emergency superpowers who was able to remove the hair with tweezers and a magnifying glass within a few minutes. This picture was taken about 45 minutes after the hair was removed. Unfortunately, the hair managed to cut all the way through her skin, completely around her toe, but it could have been worse had it gone much longer untreated, or if the hair was not accessible.
The doctor told me, for future reference, to always check the toes if the baby is inconsolable. Just an FYI to any parents or care takers out there.
(Images: Facebook)
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