Strangers use Photoshop skills to help grieving dad

A father mourning the death of his baby daughter asked users of the website Reddit to help him create a picture of her without medical tubes. He asked, and they helped.

A grieving father turned to the internet for help in remembering his baby daughter - and the internet answered.

Ohio man Nathan Steffel's daughter Sofia passed away in hospital on July 10 following a six-week battle with a hepatic hemangioma, a tumour affecting the liver.

" My daughter recently passed away after a long battle in the children's hospital," wrote Mr Steffel in a post on the popular web community Reddit (or more specifically, the subreddit /r/pics).

"Since she was in the hospital her whole life we never were able to get a photo without all her tubes," he said, posting a photo of Sofia, in her hospital bed, with tubes in situ.

(The original picture of baby Sofia posted to Reddit by her dad Nathan)

"Can someone remove the tubes from this photo?" he asked.

The request garnered a huge response, with dozens of Reddit users employing their Photoshop skills to remove the tubes and medical paraphernalia, and lighten the picture.

(An edited version of the picture posted by reddit user funkybrewster )

As the thread grew, Mr Steffel shared more details of his loss, and said his wife would greatly appreciate seeing the images.

"She was originally at Nationwide (Children's Hospital) in Columbus and then she was moved to Cincinnati children's hospital," he wrote.

"She had a hepatic hemangioma in her liver. She was on the waiting list for her liver when she passed from complications involving the pressure on her abdomen due to the hemangioma.

"She was six weeks old."

(Another edited version posted by user jloooong)

Other users meanwhile lent their artistic skills to the cause, creating photos and drawings of baby Sofia, while the thread became a place for others who had been affected by the loss of a baby to share their stories of loss and remembrance.

(A composite image created by The Atlantic of some of the images submitted)

Mr Steffel was overwhelmed by the response.

"This is really amazing," he commented.

"Everyone you have made my day. All I wanted was a nice picture. What I received was a lot of love and support from a bunch of strangers. A long with a lot of great photos, drawings and paintings. Thanks everyone!"