Baby girl nearly loses two toes to tourniquet syndrome after single strand of mum’s hair gets tangled – leaving them purple and bulging
Mum Gemma Fraser is speaking out to warn other parents of the dangers of the common condition
A BABY girl almost lost two toes after a single strand of her mum's hair became tangled around her foot.
The fine strand bound Orla Fraser's toes together, causing them to turn purple and begin to bulge.
Mum Gemma was distraught when she spotted something was wrong while changing her daughter's nappy last June.
The hair was wrapped so tightly around the three-month-old's foot, Gemma couldn't free it.
Desperate, she dialled 999, and a paramedic then spent 45 minutes trying to cut the strand away.
Orla was taken into The Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, where specialists checked her over.
They prescribed antibiotic cream, hoping it would clear up the wound.
Speaking on , Gemma said: "It was still an open wound, and really swollen, and then pus started coming out of it."
Several more visits to the doctors later, and Gemma was told Orla needed to see a plastic surgeon.
She added: "It was still an open wound, you could peel the skin back and see inside her toe.
"One of the nurses eventually said she thought there was still some hair trapped inside the wound."
Five weeks after first spotting the hair wound around her daughter's foot, Orla had surgery to remove the last bit of hair.
Shocked at how common tourniquet syndrome is, the mum of two said she wants to warn other parents of the dangers.
"I was just shocked when I found images of children who haven't been as lucky as Orla, and have had toes amputated," Gemma said.
"When I look back, Orla was definitely out of sorts that weekend, I just wish I'd known to look for this as a possible cause."
Dr Donald McGregor of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, told The Sun Online tourniquet syndrome can affect a baby's toes, fingers - even the penis.
"It's one of the things I ask GPs and junior doctors to look for in the 'crying baby', if there are no obvious causes," he said.
"When hormones settle down after birth there's a bit more hair loss.
"We're not entirely sure why they can wrap so tightly but hair is softer when wet and contracts and stiffens when dry so that might be a factor.
"The best way to prevent tourniquet syndrome is by raising awareness and asking parents to check toes and fingers if their baby is upset."
MORE FOR PARENTS
In December, a baby boy was left with a black toe after a hair got caught around it.
The two-month-old was rushed to hospital after the blood supply was cut off by the strand, thought to be one of his mum's hairs.
Doctors told the worried tot's dad his son had developed necrosis, or tissue death, caused by the lack of blood supply.
The family were warned his toe may need to be amputated.
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