Father Warns Parents About Toe-Tourniquet Syndrome, Shares Dramatic Photo of His Baby Daughter's Injured Digit

One father is making sure more parents are informed about toe-tourniquet syndrome after his baby daughter had a harrowing experience with the common condition.

Wichita, Kansas, dad Scott Walker took to Facebook on Jan. 21 to educate others following a near-crisis with his daughter Molly, who is almost 5 months old.

"I was with the family over lunch and Molly was cranky and screaming – nothing out of the ordinary," Walker recounted on Facebook. "As worked up as she was getting, she started to overheat, which prompted [mom] Jess to remove her socks and cool her down."

"That's when we saw her toe. This is called a hair tourniquet, which is literally a strand of hair that, while inside a sock, unexplainably wraps around a toe so tight that it can cut through the skin and potentially cut off blood circulation," he continued, sharing a picture of Molly's swollen, imprinted toe.

According to her Facebook profile, Molly's mom, Jessica Walker, is a registered nurse. Fortunately, she was there to think fast and undo the painful tourniquet.

"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," Walker wrote.

"This picture was taken about 45 minutes after the hair was removed. Unfortunately, the hair managed to cut all the way through Molly's skin, completely around her toe, but it could have been worse had it gone much longer untreated, or if the hair wasn't accessible."

Walker says that his doctor made sure to tell the family "to always check the toes if the baby is inconsolable".

As far as spreading the word about this common danger, the dad's post seems to achieved its mission. It has already been shared more than 25,000 times and has over 35,000 likes.

"I certainly never imagined the chain reaction that followed, but it's great to know Molly's story is bringing so much awareness to the parenting community," Walker told Buzzfeed News.