ELMA, N.Y. -- Viewers from our sister station in Buffalo, NY shared a touching photo on Facebook, showing the lengths a father in Elma went to make his daughter feel better about her hearing aid.
Seven-year-old Natalia Kardas loves reading her books out loud. But when she was a toddler, her speech worried her parents.
Her father, Philip Kardas said,"The doctor was like, 'Oh, she's just delayed. It's nothing.' And we're like, 'No. She's just talking gibberish. Everything's all mumbled together.' "
Philip and his wife Tammy's intuition were right. Natalia had hearing loss in both ears. Hearing aids helped until just recently.
Tammy recalled, "They said that it has gotten extremely worse where it's completely almost deaf. And that's when she needed a cochlear implant."
A cochlear implant is an electronic medical device that provides sound signals to the brain. The idea of that kind of surgery made Natalia feel scared and alone.
So dad got one too, by getting an exact replica of a cochlear implant tattooed in ink.
Philip already has a special tattoo for his wife and all three of his children. But this one, he says, is different.
"She was so excited that she didn't have to be different," Philip said. "It's definitely the most important one, for my little baby girl."
Natalia's implant isn't completely installed or refined yet, but once it is, doctors say her hearing should be 100% restored.
Natalia's implant will be permanent. Just like her dad's tattoo: a permanent symbol of love.