Mother's serious warning after hair strand nearly causes baby's toes to be amputated

Allison Yee
·Senior Lifestyle & Entertainment Producer
A mother warns parents to check their baby’s feet after amputation scare. (Photo: Education Images/UIG via Getty Images))
A mother warns parents to check their baby’s feet after amputation scare. (Photo: Education Images/UIG via Getty Images))

A mother has issued a serious warning to other parents to watch out for stray strands of hair after her 10-week-old son almost had his two toes amputated.

Michigan mom Heather Fricke took to Facebook, hoping it would help other parents after her husband, Tommy, noticed by chance their son Jacob had two of his toes tied together by a piece of hair.

“My son Jacob is 10 weeks old and he never cries except for his basic needs, well today after his diaper change I put him down for his standard 2 hr nap,” Fricke wrote in her post.

Heather Fricke's youngest son Jacob was rushed to hospital after a hair cut off the circulation to his toes. (Photo: Facebook/Heather Fricke)
Heather Fricke’s youngest son Jacob was rushed to the hospital after a hair cut off the circulation to his toes. (Photo: Facebook/Heather Fricke)

She continued: “He woke up, I fed and changed both his diaper and clothes for a party we were going to. I handed him to his dad Tommy to put socks on him when Tommy realized his two toes were blue and tied together with a strand of hair!!! I immediately took off what I could and had to take him to the ER where we spent an hour and a team of 5 doctors trying to get the rest of MY HAIR off his two toes. Doctors said if I didn’t take off the hair that I was able to get off that his 2 toes they would’ve had to be amputated.”

Jacob is now recovering — but still bore the brunt of the hair 12 hours after it was removed. (Photo: Facebook)
Jacob is now recovering — but his toes still bore the brunt of the hair 12 hours after it was removed. (Photo: Facebook)

Fricke shared a photo of Jacob’s toes 12 hours after the hair was taken off, with indents still obvious.

She’s urged other parents to be vigilant about checking toes and other body parts, given that the medical condition known as hair tourniquet is particularly dangerous with young children.

“CHECK YOUR BABYS TOES AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN!!!” she wrote in the Facebook post.

Heather Fricke's warning has gone viral around the world. (Photo: Facebook)
Heather Fricke’s warning has gone viral around the world. (Photo: Facebook)

“And if you have a baby boy even his PENIS. Yes I said penis… they are such tiny baby’s and our hair can be such a hazard but it’s something that we never really pay attention to,” she added.

The concerned mother’s post has since gone viral with over 232,000 shares, and countless other parents have shared similar stories in response.

“This happened to one of my children when they were a baby,” one person commented. “Thank God I was able to get the hair off. I was so panicked. It had scared me so bad.”

“This happened to my daughter’s finger,” added another mom. “She wrapped her own hair around it while she was sleeping and it was just lucky I checked in her before I when to bed as her finger was already blue.”

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