Blind Dad-To-Be Able To Feel Baby Scan After Friend Creates Embroidered Version

A blind first-time dad has been able to 'see' his soon-arriving little one thanks to an embroidered version of the scan photo.

Nathan Edge and partner Emma Fotheringham, both 26, are set to become parents for the first time in May.

But Emma has been left upset at the thought that Nathan - who have previously played for England's blind football team - was unable to see the 12-week scan.

You can see the video here:

However, Nathan has now got the chance to 'see' his little boy after Emma worked with her friend, Deb Fisher, to create a tactile, embroidered version of the scan photo, so Nathan can now build up a picture of what his child will look like.

Speaking about his joy of having the embroidered scan, Nathan explained: "I was quite emotional, it took me a few minutes to work it out.

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"But normal baby scans are quite difficult to work out when you can see them.

"It is very exciting about becoming a dad, a little bit scary, but I am definitely excited. I have no sight at all so I was not able to see the scan photo and I missed out on that."

Nathan was born with sight, but became visually impaired at six years old after getting arthritis in his knee.

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But after two failed operations, he lost his vision in both his eyes at just 18.

However, after playing in the World Championship in Berlin, 2016, he met Emma - with the pair having been together for four years.

Expectant mum Emma said: "A lovely lady Deb who is a local puppy walker for guide dogs dropped me a message.

"She said she was so happy for us both but sad that Nathan was unable to see our baby grow on our scan photos.

"She said she had never embroidered before but would love to try and embroider all of our scans for Nathan to enable us to experience the joy of our baby boy growing together.

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"I couldn't believe someone could be so kind and thoughtful and knew it would be something very special for Nathan."

Debs admitted it was her first try and thread embroidery, saying she was "painting in thread".

After sharing the picture on his Twitter page, Nathan was shocked to see his unique embroidered scan go viral - receiving 34,000 likes and retweets.

In his tweet, Nathan said: "How incredible is this?

"Received this amazing surprise today...it's an embroidered tactile version of our 12 week baby scan.

"So for the first time as a blind dad to be, I'm able to build a picture of our baby scan through touch.

"Can't describe how amazing this is."

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The comments saw Guide Dogs reply: "That's so lovely! Amazingly intuitive."

One midwife added: "This is so beautiful! Makes me think, as a midwife, how I can work on my practice."

"I have been blown away by the sort of attention it has got on Twitter," Nathan said.

"It has made a lot of people smile.

"Especially after the year we have all had, it's nice."

Congratulations to Nathan and Emma!

Topics: Baby, Children, Family, Life, Parents, Real Life

Kimberley Bond

Kim is a journalist at Tyla, and has previously worked at the Evening Standard, Radio Times as well as several national newspapers. A showbiz obsessive and a television fanatic, Kim is particularly interested in celebrity gossip, A-list events and the latest releases on either the big or small screen. Contact her at [email protected]

@0xKimberley