A personal trainer pledged to do anything for his ‘miracle’ daughter when she was born – but this hilariously backfired when he was made to wear a gorgeous flowing Cinderella gown whilst walking their dogs. The father and daughter duo were likened to ‘a pair of princesses’ as they skipped down their street in Wigan, Greater Manchester, with ShiChi dogs Fred and Fudge, both one, in tow.
When David and Jo Eatock’s tenth IVF treatment worked using their ‘last’ frozen embryo, the delighted dad promised he’d never reject any of Indie’s playful demands. The 45-year-old was forced to deliver on August 10, when the five-year-old begged him to wear the adult-sized princess costume her auntie had provided
David donned the ‘tight’ baby blue dress, which is similar to one Disney’s Cinderella wore, complete with puff sleeves. He had a photo with his daughter Indie, who wore a purple gown.
David said local kids quizzed him about his outfit, but he brushed off the embarrassment as ‘part of his promise’ to his daughter – but other parents have hailed him as ‘amazing’ on Facebook.
He has also insisted he would do anything for his Disney loving daughter because his love for her is ‘a thousand times stronger’ as a result of his and Jo’s 11-year struggle to have a baby.
The couple call Indie their ‘miracle child’ as she was their final hope before they decided to end their IVF treatment. Indie was born three weeks premature with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck.
David said: “The walk was hilarious. I’ve made that promise and I’ve got to stick to it now. [The dress] is definitely not meant for a bloke. It was tight and I felt my arms were going to rip it.
“Kids were following us and having a laugh but I was playing up to it and telling them ‘I’m a princess’. Indie loved me in it. It was a bit of fun at the end of the day, it’s all worth it to see her smile. I’d do anything for her.
“We’ve got this little joke about ‘mummy says no, daddy says yes’. She reminds me that I said I’d do anything for her and so anything goes really.
“She’s spoiled but she’s not a spoiled brat. She’ll hold me to my promise, but I genuinely mean it. That’s the problem, she’ll want to keep that up. I see how important it is to be the best dad ever.
“We had it in our head that we’d never have a baby and we were considering adoption. It amplified how we feel about her by a thousand times.
“We’re fairly old parents and I want to cherish every moment with her. I hope she’ll remember her dad walking around wearing a dress.”
After Indie made the request, Jo insisted he’d have to deliver on his promise and even told neighbours to watch his stunt.
Jo said: “I told the neighbours to get their cameras ready because I knew they wouldn’t believe what they’d see. He didn’t care in the slightest about who saw him.
“He looked better in the dress than I would, she loves getting him to prance around in it. He sighed about it but he told her he can’t say no to her.
“He’s said he’ll do anything for her, so he’s got to live up to it now.”
Jo’s post has earned more than 27,000 likes and shares on Facebook, with users hailing David’s ‘brilliant’ parenting.
Jo’s post read: “When your daughter says ‘Daddy can we take the dogs for a walk dressed as a princess?’ You take the dogs for a walk dressed as a princess.
“Eleven years of infertility, 10 rounds of IVF, we will do anything for her. Credit to my husband for this one though.”
One commented: “This gave me the biggest smile this morning. Well done daddy, life’s too short not to do these kinds of things with your little ones. Brilliant!”
