A photo of a New Zealand girl wearing her cochlear implant sitting with her father, who has a tattoo of a cochlear implant on his shaved head, has gone viral.
Alistair Campbell, of Taupo, New Zealand, shaved his head completely and got the tattoo to show support for his daughter Charlotte, 6, who received her first implant at age 4. Charlotte recently had her second cochlear implant put in.
The New Zealand Herald reported that after Charlotte saw her dad’s version of a cochlear implant, she giggled, touched it, and told him it was “cool.”
Alistair told the newspaper that he would be growing his hair back, but would shave it to show off the tattoo for special occasions or if his daughter wanted to see it.
Charlotte was initially diagnosed with a mild hearing impairment, but her family learned she was profoundly deaf in her left ear and had a condition that limits the sound her brain hears from her right ear. The diagnosis was not surprising, however, because Charlotte’s maternal grandmother and her 8-year-old brother, Lewis, also have hearing impairments, The New Zealand Herald reported.
After Charlotte got her first implant, her mother, Anita Campbell, noticed a big change in her daughter’s behavior— she went from introvert to social butterfly.
Charlotte’s new implant will give her more sound and help her better distinguish sound direction, The Hearing House fundraising and communications manager Mary Jane Boland told the New Zealand Herald. The Hearing House is a charity for deaf children and their families.
The father-daughter photo has been shared on social media, with supporters from across the globe voicing their support.