A young deaf girl was able to share her Christmas list with Santa for the first time thanks to an elf who knew sign language.
Earlier this month, Emily Andrews, 4, went with her mother, Tanya Andrews, and her 6-year-old brother, Hugo, to visit Santa when Melanie Boyeson, also known as Holly the Elf, helped the little girl explain what she wanted this holiday season by using British Sign Language (BSL) to communicate, SWNS reported. In a video capturing the sweet moment shared by the outlet, Boyeson, translated as Emily, detailed that she hopes to receive the doll, pram, earrings and ring on Christmas morning.
Speaking to SWNS, Tanya, 35, said: “It was just a magical experience. For Emily to be able to freely interact with the elf and tell Santa what she wanted was just amazing.”
She added: “I was in tears after the experience, it was so magical to see Emily’s face light up.”
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According to SWNS, Tanya had previously taken her young daughter to meet Santa many times over the years, and although she was always promised that she would be connected with a sign language worker, it never worked out.
This time, however, she noted that Boyeson “was so encouraging,” despite Emily being “a little shy, probably because she’s never been able to interact with Santa before.”
Tanya added that she was also able to “be in the moment” and watch her daughter’s excitement, noting, “I was able to enjoy it instead.” The special moment, SWNS said, was made possible by Airmyn Park Primary School and Natalie Dodds, the school’s headteacher, who issued a plea for help after hearing about Tanya’s struggle.
“Through the power of Facebook, we found Holly the Elf, whose real name is Melanie Boyeson, and she volunteered to visit our cave and translate for Emily,” Dodds said, according to the outlet. “Although Emily is not a student here, she is part of our extended school family. As a small school, we are privileged to be able to embrace the wider school and village community and we wanted to give Emily this experience.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education