A baby boy was born with a "severed" arm due to a rare condition, but his parents are determined that he will "thrive" regardless. Tom Noble, 30, and Faith Richmond, 33, from Middleton St George, near Darlington, were overjoyed when their son Ezra was born healthy and happy.
During Faith's pregnancy, early scans indicated that everything was progressing well. However, a private scan at 15 weeks revealed that their little one was missing a left hand.
Further examinations at the Royal Victoria Infirmary confirmed a rare condition known as amniotic band syndrome - a band of tissue had effectively severed Ezra's arm. The NHS states that this extremely rare condition can occur when the baby kicks its foot through the amniotic sac early in development, causing a band of tissue to form inside the womb which the baby then gets entangled in.
Thankfully, after months of careful monitoring, Ezra was safely born in April 2025. His father Tom expressed their relief: "We're just so relieved that he's OK and he was born happy and healthy...he could have had it so much worse, and he's not going to struggle in life, he'll find his own little way."
He added: "His arm could make him an easy target when he is older, but by then he might have some kind of bionic arm that all the other kids are fascinated with! We don't want his arm to stop him from doing anything or achieving anything, and I'm sure it won't", reports Chronicle Live.
After enduring months of weekly scans, baby Ezra was safely delivered in April, following several incidents. Mum Faith recalled the scan as "a massive shock, like an out-of-body experience".
The couple chose to share their journey and Ezra's condition online in February, a few months prior to his birth, as Tom had decided to participate in the Great North Run.
Faith continued: "It was such a gorgeous feeling after such a horrible time. We felt vulnerable posting it, and I even had messages from people saying their baby has the same condition, and we had so many donations."
Faith expressed that she "managed to relax a little more" after reaching the 28-week mark and experienced "such a sense of relief", as she was informed the survival chances were higher if they surpassed that point. Tom acknowledged that this period was not without worry, stating: "One week they would say he looks good but, by the weekends, we were just preparing for the worst.
"The waiting was horrible. The band was nearing his face, but he managed to free himself in the time it took for our doctors to consult another doctor. Fortunately for us, he was an active baby."
Faith said about Ezra's birth, adding: "It was gorgeous, I loved it - he had jaundice and needed some incubation treatment, but other than that he was brilliant." Faith explained that Ezra now undergoes check-ups every three months, but so far everything has been fine.
She said: "He gets X-rays, and they check his back muscles because he's got two loose bones near his elbow. Everything has been fine so far - we keep an eye on him to see if there is an infection where his fingers would be."
Looking forward to Ezra's school years, she expressed: "Kids can be horrible, and we won't be there to protect him. I just hope we can teach him well enough to stand up for himself, and I think everyone worries about bullying anyway. By then, I think he could even be the cool one with a robot arm!"
She further added: "It hasn't put me off having more children at all - I think if we have more kids, it might make me realise how hard this pregnancy was." As for the Great North Run, Tom finished it in one hour and 50 minutes, raising £3,000 for the pregnancy research charity Tommy's.
He said: "I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well. I really committed to the training, but when I actually got there, on the track, I just didn't care - I wanted to run my own race and try to enjoy it and the atmosphere. We wanted to raise money and awareness about Tommy's and the condition, really.
"We also wanted to shout out another charity called LimbBo - they do pop-ups around the country for children and parents... and it'd be nice to support them in the future."
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