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in parents County Durham They are expressing immense relief after discovering their son is “happy and healthy”, despite the harrowing discovery. pregnancy That her hand was cut off in the womb itself.
Business development manager Tom Noble, 30, from Middleton St George, and Faith Richmond, 33, a hairdresser, were “overjoyed” to find out they were expecting in August 2024, after early scans showed “everything was fine”.
However, a private gender scan at 15 weeks delivered devastating news: their baby was “missing the left arm”.
Further tests confirmed the diagnosis of amniotic band syndrome, an extremely rare condition.
NHS It is said that this can happen when a baby breaks out of the amniotic sac early in development, creating a band of tissue inside the womb that traps the baby.
Doctors informed Mr. Noble and Ms. Richmond that such a band had “detached” their child’s left hand from the middle of the arm.
After months of weekly monitoring scans to track his growth, baby Ezra was born safely in April 2025.
Her parents are now “so relaxed” and determined that “nothing will ever stop her”.
In September 2025, Mr Noble completed the Great North Run to raise awareness of the condition and raise over £3,500 for Tommy, the UK’s leading pregnancy research charity.
“We’re just relieved he’s OK and he was born happy and healthy… worse could have happened to him, and he won’t struggle in life, he’ll find his own little way,” Mr Noble said.
“His hand might make him an easy target when he grows up, but until then he might have some kind of bionic hand that all the other kids will be attracted to!
“We don’t want his hand to stop him from doing anything or achieving anything, and I’m sure that won’t happen.”
Ms Richmond said learning her child’s arm was missing was “a huge shock, like an out-of-body experience”.
Doctors reported that a band had “separated” his left hand from the middle of the arm and that he would not have felt any pain, because his “pain receptors were not yet developed”.
After this he had to go to the hospital every week for scans.
Ms Richmond said she “managed to relax a bit more” after the 28-week mark and felt “such a sense of relief” after she was told her chances of survival were higher if they got past that point.
Ezra was delivered at about 30 weeks with a bandage tied around his legs.
Mr Noble said: “The band was getting close to his face, but in the time it took our doctors to consult another doctor, he managed to untangle himself.
“Luckily for us, he was an active kid.”
Ms Richmond was diagnosed at 37 weeks’ gestation on April 11.
“It was gorgeous, I loved it – he had jaundice and needed some incubation treatment, but other than that he was fantastic,” she said.
Ezra’s parents now take him to appointments at James Cook University Hospital every three months to monitor his progress.
“he gets x-rayAnd they check his back muscles because he has two loose bones near his elbow,” Ms Richmond explained.
“Everything is fine so far – we keep an eye on him to make sure there is no infection where his fingers will be.”
Ezra is also on the list for prosthetics, and he has weekly swim lessons, says Ms. Richmond, adding, “There’s no stopping him”.
In September 2025, Mr Noble ran the Great North Run for Tommy for almost an hour and 50 minutes and raised over £3,500.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform well,” he said.
“I was really committed to the training, but when I actually got there to the track, I didn’t care – I wanted to run my own race and try to enjoy it and the atmosphere.”
He said he just wanted to raise money for Tommy and raise awareness of his condition.
“We also wanted to highlight another charity called Limbo – they do pop-ups around the country for kids and parents… and it would be great to support them in the future.”
Recalling her experiences, Ms Richmond said: “It hasn’t stopped me at all from having more children – I think if we had more children, it might make me realize how difficult this pregnancy was.”
To donate to Tom’s fundraiser, go to: www.justgiving.com/page/thomas-noble-1.