Copyright independent
Parents in County Durham are expressing immense relief after their son arrived "happy and healthy", despite the harrowing discovery during pregnancy that his hand had been "severed" in the womb. Tom Noble, 30, a business development manager, and Faith Richmond, 33, a hairdresser, from Middleton St George, were initially "overjoyed" in August 2024 upon learning they were expecting, with early scans indicating "everything was fine". However, a private gender scan at 15 weeks delivered devastating news: their baby boy was "missing his left hand". Further tests confirmed a diagnosis of amniotic band syndrome, an extremely rare condition. The NHS said this can occur when a baby kicks through the amniotic sac early in development, causing a band of tissue to form inside the womb, which the baby then gets caught up in. Doctors informed Mr Noble and Ms Richmond that such a band had "severed" their baby’s left hand from the mid-forearm down. Following months of weekly monitoring scans to track his development, baby Ezra was safely born in April 2025. His parents are now "so relieved" and resolute that "nothing will ever hold him back". In September 2025, Mr Noble completed the Great North Run to raise awareness about the condition and raised more than £3,500 for Tommy’s, the UK’s leading pregnancy research charity. “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,” Mr Noble said. “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.” Ms Richmond said getting the news their baby’s hand was missing was “a massive shock, like an out-of-body experience”. Doctors explained that a band had “severed” his left hand from the mid-forearm and that he would not have felt any pain, as his “pain receptors had not developed yet”. After that, they had to go to hospital for scans every week. Ms Richmond said she “managed to relax a little more” after the 28-week mark and had “such a sense of relief”, as she was told the chance of survival was higher if they made it past that point. Ezra was nearly delivered at 30 weeks because a band had wrapped around his feet. Mr Noble explained: “The band was getting close to his face but he managed to untangle himself in the time it took for our doctors to consult another doctor. “Luckily for us, he was an active baby.” Ms Richmond was induced at 37 weeks, on 11 April. “It was gorgeous, I loved it – he had jaundice and needed some incubation treatment, but other than that he was brilliant,” she said. Ezra’s parents now take him for an appointment every three months at The James Cook University Hospital to monitor his progress. “He gets X-rays, and they check his back muscles because he’s got two loose bones near his elbow,” Ms Richmond explained. “Everything has been fine so far – we keep an eye on him to see if there is an infection where his fingers would be.” Ezra is also on the list for prosthetics, and he has weekly swimming lessons, with Ms Richmond saying “nothing can stop him”. In September 2025, Mr Noble ran the Great North Run for Tommy’s in around one hour and 50 minutes, and raised more than £3,500. 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.” He said he just wanted to raise money for Tommy’s and awareness about the condition. “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.” Looking back on her experiences, Ms Richmond said: “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.” To donate to Tom’s fundraiser, visit: www.justgiving.com/page/thomas-noble-1.
