Charlotte Campbell reckons she’s got the coolest dad in the world – and thousands around the world agree!
Taupo corrections officer Alistair Campbell, 38, gained worldwide attention after he got a tattoo of a cochlear implant above his ear in honour of his deaf six-year-old daughter.
“For me, it was a dedication to her, to show the love,” he explains of the inking, which marks Charlotte’s brave journey through three cochlear-implant operations to restore her hearing.
The family was inundated with messages of support from all over the globe when a photo of the etching, posted on Facebook, went viral. Alistair’s wife Anita, 34, laughs, “I hate to see people covered in tattoos, but this one is special to us – and it seems other people agree. Our phones were jamming because we were getting hundreds and hundreds of notifications, messages and friend requests. It was bizarre!”
Charlotte was in surgery, having her second cochlear implant fitted on the day after her dad got his tattoo, when it all went down. Her reaction to her father’s tattoo? “It looks cool! I want him to get another one on his other ear.”
As a baby, Charlotte passed her newborn hearing test, but by the time she was 14 months old, she was diagnosed with moderate hearing loss in her left ear and was fitted with a hearing aid. A year later, because her speech wasn’t progressing, she was fitted with another in her right ear. Still, there was no progress.
Sound start
Charlotte was finally diagnosed with auditory neuropathy, a disorder where the transmission of sound from the inner ear to the brain is impaired. At three, she got two new hearing aids and her parents were overjoyed when she began saying her first words.
However, a year later, when her progress plateaued, Charlotte received her first cochlear implant. Anita, whose mum Helen is deaf, beams, “Afterwards, she took off and her speech really developed with a bit of therapy. Before, she was quite isolated, but then she started making friends at kindy and she’s now the social butterfly of her class!”
Alistair and Anita have two sons, Carter, 10, and Lewis, eight. The youngest also has auditory neuropathy and two hearing aids. In December, Alistair will compete in the Taupo King of the Ring boxing event to raise money for local children with hearing disabilities.
The doting dad says Charlotte is just like any other six-year-old. She loves going out on bike rides with the family or helping on her grandparents’ farm.
“She was shy, but not now,” he smiles. “Our relationship has flourished. She’s amazing. She takes it all in her stride.”
Alistair with Charlotte, wife Anita and brothers Lewis (left) and Carter (right).
