A blind woman who did not realise the novel she was writing was blank after her pen ran out has been saved after a police force used forensic techniques to recover the words.
Photo: Alamy
Forensics experts agreed to use a special scientific process to recover what
Trish Vickers had written by examining the dents she had made in the pages.
Mrs Vickers, 59, was left devastated when she learned that her pen had run out
and there was nothing on the first 26 pages of the book.
She lost her sight seven years ago through diabetes and decided to write a
novel to pass the time and keep her mind active.
She quickly penned the opening chapters while using a system of elastic bands
to keep the lines separated on the pages of paper she was using.
She waited for her son Simon to visit so he could read it back to her. But
when he arrived he had to tell her that the pages were blank.
Incredibly, however, the manuscript was recovered after the family took it to
their local police HQ and asked for help.
Forensic experts worked in their spare time to read the indentations left on the A4 pages using a system of lights.
It took five months of painstaking work, but the forensic team was able to recover the whole text - and they said how much they had enjoyed it and couldn't wait for the rest.
A Dorset police spokesman said a member of staff had completed the work during
her lunch hours.
Mrs Vickers, from Charmouth, near Lyme Regis, Dorset, now intends to complete the novel, called Grannifer's Legacy, which is about a character called Jennifer whose life implodes.
The character loses her job, her boyfriend, and worst of all her great-grandmother who has always been her guide.
She has to start a new life and the story is about how she does that.
When it is finished Mrs Vickers, who has a volunteer call in once a week to type up her work, intends to send it to a publisher.
She said: "We battled with various ideas until we thought of the police. We rang them and asked to speak to their fingerprint section.
"They said if there was anything they could do they'd be happy to help. I was gobsmacked.
"I am so happy, pleased and grateful. It was really, really nice of them and I want to thank them for helping me out.
"Being blind is very restrictive in so far as going anywhere.
"I have always been interested in writing, I have got one of those strange imaginations that runs riot.
"Everybody who has read it so far seems to like it and the police also said they enjoyed the bit they read and can't wait for the rest.
"I have to remember what I have written down as I go along. I can remember whow to write - I just can't see what I have written.
"I started off writing poetry and this the first time I've attempted a novel. The police were brilliant and I can't thank them enough.
"I could remember the gist of what I had written but there was no way I could have written exactly the same way again."
This story is from thetelegraph.co.uk
Forensic experts worked in their spare time to read the indentations left on the A4 pages using a system of lights.
It took five months of painstaking work, but the forensic team was able to recover the whole text - and they said how much they had enjoyed it and couldn't wait for the rest.
A Dorset police spokesman said a member of staff had completed the work during
her lunch hours.
Mrs Vickers, from Charmouth, near Lyme Regis, Dorset, now intends to complete the novel, called Grannifer's Legacy, which is about a character called Jennifer whose life implodes.
The character loses her job, her boyfriend, and worst of all her great-grandmother who has always been her guide.
She has to start a new life and the story is about how she does that.
When it is finished Mrs Vickers, who has a volunteer call in once a week to type up her work, intends to send it to a publisher.
She said: "We battled with various ideas until we thought of the police. We rang them and asked to speak to their fingerprint section.
"They said if there was anything they could do they'd be happy to help. I was gobsmacked.
"I am so happy, pleased and grateful. It was really, really nice of them and I want to thank them for helping me out.
"Being blind is very restrictive in so far as going anywhere.
"I have always been interested in writing, I have got one of those strange imaginations that runs riot.
"Everybody who has read it so far seems to like it and the police also said they enjoyed the bit they read and can't wait for the rest.
"I have to remember what I have written down as I go along. I can remember whow to write - I just can't see what I have written.
"I started off writing poetry and this the first time I've attempted a novel. The police were brilliant and I can't thank them enough.
"I could remember the gist of what I had written but there was no way I could have written exactly the same way again."
This story is from thetelegraph.co.uk
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