Updated: Oct 18, 2023
After being hard of hearing for most of her life, Kara Johnson didn't expect her own footsteps to be so loud and distracting or the sound of her baby laughing to be so sweet.
It's all thanks to a life-changing cochlear implant that the Feilding mum no longer misses out on fully experiencing these precious moments.
"Tilly was five months old when I had the surgery and the first time I heard her properly laugh was so special," recalls Kara.
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We're excited to welcome Richard Green as one of our Loud Shirt Day ambassadors!
Richard works in theatre and the arts in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, and he wears his CI with very stylish pride! Richard suffered hearing loss after an accident four years ago and says his CI has changed his life.
Help support the mahi of The Hearing House and Southern Cochlear Implant Programme in enriching the lives of kiritaki like Richard by making a donation today or starting a fundraiser.
One of the faces of our Loud Shirt Day campaign, Apii Auva'a-Pukeiti, will soon be hitting our Netflix screens in Season 2 of Sweet Tooth, the story of a boy who’s half human and half deer survives in a post-apocalyptic world with other hybrids.
Nine-year-old Apii plays a porcupine hybrid who uses sign language to communicate and features in all eight episodes in the new season. Apii was fitted with cochlear implants, supported by The Hearing House, around eight years ago.
Sweet Tooth was shot entirely in New Zealand, with filming taking place in Auckland, Waikato and Otago. Apii landed the role after responding to a casting call for young deaf actors and his mum Tofi says his vocals and speech have been extended considerably as a result of his acting debut.
“Apii absolutely loved the experience of being on set,” she says. “He really rose to it, and was a real hit at the studio.
“Everyone looked after each other, and it was a great sense of family. We all still keep in touch with each other.”
Despite now being back at school, Apii, who’s in Year 5 at Ormiston Primary in Flat Bush, Manukau, is keen to carry on with his acting and Tofi says he’s been practising his reading and speech in preparation.
Watch the trailer HERE
