Lifestyle3 min(s) read
Published 17:38 30 Dec 2020 GMT
A young blind Harry Potter fan was left overjoyed after receiving all the books in braille - and all thanks to an online fundraiser organized by her aunt.
Seven-year-old Emrie is unable to see due to a rare gene anomaly, but nonetheless has loved listening to her dad, Jared, read her the popular fantasy series out loud.
But after the pair reached the Goblet of Fire - the fourth novel in J.K. Rowling's series about a young wizard - Emrie wanted to read them by herself.
The young Potter fan has been able to read braille since she was four years old, and is currently "reading years above her age level".
Watch Emrie open her new books in the video below. This truly is some much-needed Christmas magic:
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Unfortunately, when her family looked into buying Emrie the novels in braille, they found out that just one book in the series would set them back a whopping $240.
But Emrie's aunt wasn't about to take no as an answer and was determined to make a small Christmas miracle happen for her niece. And so, aunt Kateyn Suter set up a GoFundMe page.
Suter writes in the description:
"My niece Emrie was born with a very rare gene anomaly that left her without vision. This has limited Emrie in very few ways as she is one of the most amazingly gifted and smartest little girls. [...]
"My brother Jared and her started reading the Harry Potter novels a little over 6 months ago. Jared would read to her each night and they would relive the magic for days as Emrie never forgot a single detail of the wonderful world she heard her daddy read about.
"They have recently stopped reading them because Emrie wants to read them herself, she wants to put her finger to the paper and fly through Hogwarts too.
Unfortunately, we soon discovered that the Harry Potter books in Braille are extremely expensive and not very accessible. Many libraries do not even have them as an option. This broke my heart."
Suter finished by writing: "I am hoping with a little help that we can give this little girl the gift of magic for Christmas as well as possibly supply the local libraries with a set too."
Touch by Emrie's story, people were happy to donate to the cause, and managed to raise a magical $4,226 - surpassing their goal in just 24 hours.
Sharing the video of Emrie opening her gift on Instagram, Kateyn also wrote:
"Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who donated and made this Christmas extra special for my niece Emrie! As you can see she is beyond excited to be able to read the Harry Potter books herself!"
Not only were they able to buy the full series for Emrie, but they also used the leftover money to donate five full Harry Potter braille series to local libraries and schools.
In an update, Kateyn wrote: "I am speechless at the kindness we have received over the last 24 hours and I can’t thank each and everyone of you enough for contributing! Happy Holidays!"
