Logan resident with Williams syndrome takes pride in soap bar collection
Jun 1, 2018, 10:19 PM | Updated: 10:27 pm
LOGAN, Utah – For Nathan Bringhurst, washing dishes at Buffalo Wild Wings is just a way to pass the time.
“I like it,” he said. “We wash the dishes and put it into these containers.”
Bringhurst’s real passion is finding and collecting bars of soap. He has a tub full of them at home in almost every scent, every color, and every shape.
“It smells so good, it’s fresh,” he said.
Nathan Bringhurst
It has been Bringhurst’s hobby for a while, and all started with a simple gesture from a kind nurse at one of his routine hospital visits.
”The nurse gave me a green soap. I didn’t even know what it was and it was soap,” he said. “So she gave it to me and it was shaped like a brain like I do for the MRIs.”
The 25-year-old has Williams syndrome, a developmental disorder. His mother, Kerri Bringhurst, said it is part of the reason why he loves soap.
“He always liked how fast people would wash their hands,” Kerri Bringhurst said. “The healthcare nurse that was teaching him in school would wash her hands real fast and he just loved the swishing sound. It’s something that with Williams syndrome, helps him.”
It is not the first item he has collected, Bringhurst said he also loves vacuums.
“This came from his being afraid of loud noises, he has something called hyperacusis,” she said. “To help overcome that fear, he has become obsessed with vacuum cleaners.”
Although his collections may take up some space in their home, his family is fully supportive of the hobby.
“I can’t really say he always uses them but he does have a lot of bars of soap, and people from all over the world send him bars of soap,” Bringhurst said.
Nathan is also getting support from the local community, Spirit Goat created a soap bar named after Nathan.
“He picked out the scent, and the colors and we sell it. It’s called Nathan’s Choice,” Becky Yeager said.
The shop has the bars of soap on display as a way to educated others about Williams syndrome. It is a kind gesture Bringhurst is grateful for, just like the kind gesture from his nurse that started this all.
“It is awesome,” he said. “It smells so good.”
