SHE only wanted one thing for Christmas - but never believed she would get it.

When Hampshire woman Emma Hassell mysteriously lost her hearing earlier this year doctors could offer no explanation and the 21-year-old was left frightened and frustrated.

But as suddenly as her hearing went, it has returned - in time to enjoy Christmas with fiance Kevin Love and to share the news that the couple are expecting their first child.

It is a time of joy mixed with disbelief for Emma and Kevin, who had been told it was unlikely they would ever conceive a baby together after Emma suffered a miscarriage in 2002.

"It will just be wonderful to wake up on Christmas morning and hear Kevin wish me a merry Christmas. I had been dreading Christmas, but not any more," she said.

Emma lost her hearing in June only days after she and Kevin got engaged. She couldn't hear a single sound and doctors were left stumped, suggesting only that the condition could be psychological.

The care assistant from West End, Southampton, had never suffered from hearing problems and was forced to take time off from her job at the Fleming House residential home in Eastleigh.

Instead she spent lonely hours at home, scared that she may never hear again.

When the Daily Echo revealed Emma's ordeal she was inundated with offers of assistance, including a host of alternative therapies.

One of those offers came from Moira Buchanan, a hypnotherapist and practitioner in Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), from Bassett.

Mrs Buchanan hoped that EFT - a relatively unknown technique similar to acupuncture - could help Emma.

Six months later, after about eight sessions with 53-year-old Moira, Emma heard her first words - those spoken by actors during an episode of US television sitcom Will and Grace.

Just hours before her hearing returned, Emma discovered she was pregnant.

"I was in shock from finding out I was pregnant. I couldn't believe that I was, and my mum had been round with a second test to make sure.

"She left and I was sitting on the couch watching Will and Grace. I had the subtitles on and was concentrating on their mouths to read their lips but then I thought that I could hear them.

"I was worried my mind was playing tricks on me. I tried tapping my fingers to see if I could hear that and then I phoned Kev to see if I could hear it ringing.

"I could, but I was so shocked that I hung up. I was worried and I was thinking 'Please let this be real'.

"I phoned Kev back and he was speechless. I told him that it was not the time to have nothing to say!

"I just wanted him to keep talking so that I could start to believe it was real.

"'I love you' was one of the first things we said to each other. Hearing him say 'I love you' and just hearing his voice was wonderful."

Emma and Kevin, whose baby is due in July next year, will spend Christmas at their West End home and with their families in Hedge End.

"Both Kev and Moira have been my rocks," said Emma,

"Ever since we found out that I was pregnant and my hearing came back we have been saying what a brilliant Christmas it's going to be.

"We have had two wonderful presents - the best we could have wished for."