A RETIRED boxer donned his gloves for one last fight in the name of his deaf daughter.
Adam Walters, of Oregon Way, Chaddesden, raised more than £1,000 for the National Deaf Children's Society in the fight. His seven-month-old daughter, Caitlyn, was born profoundly deaf.
Adam, 32, a self-employed joiner, also managed to retain his EBF Midlands cruiserweight title in the fight against Shane Sloman.
His partner and Caitlyn's mum, Melissa McGrath, was there to watch Adam on the night and collect donations from a generous crowd.
She said: "We are both able to hear, so it was a real shock when we found out Caitlyn was deaf.
"When she was born, she failed twice on the newborn hearing test. Then, three weeks later, they confirmed she was deaf. I was just waiting for someone to tell me they were only joking!"
But Melissa said she and Adam have adjusted quickly to their daughter's condition. She said: "Adam and I sign to her and she's already learned the sign for daddy.
"It took us about a week of crying but then we just got on with it. We don't even see her as deaf now.
"Everything does take a lot longer with Caitlyn. You need to have eye-to-eye contact with her before you sign and other people in the family have to understand that too."
Melissa said Adam hung up his boxing gloves after Caitlyn's birth. She said: "It just used to take up so much of his time."
Melissa said she and Adam chose to support the National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) as the organisation had provided them with much advice and help since they found out about their daughter's condition.
She said: "NDCS are so amazing. Everything they do is for deaf children. The information and support they give you is unbelievable."
At the fight, the owner of Vintage Me Interiors in Nottingham offered to donate 10% of her profit for March and April to the charity.
Melissa, 34, said: "The generosity of people on the night had me in tears. People just pulled together at the fight to help us. People were just so kind, the whole night was all about Caitlyn."
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