Little girl’s face lights up after cochlear surgery

The heartwarming moment a three-year-old girl lights up with astonishment as she hears for the first time following cochlear implant surgery has been caught on video.

Little Harper Rollinson’s face said it all when she was finally able to hear her parents Luke and Katie when the implants were activated on Monday morning at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney.

The Rollinsons started their newborn baby daughter on chemotherapy when she was just 12 days old after she was diagnosed with aggressive eye cancer, according to the Illawara Mercury.

The Rollinsons started their newborn baby daughter on chemotherapy when she was just 12 days old after she was diagnosed with aggressive eye cancer

The chemotherapy saved the tiny girl’s life, but one of the side effects was severe hearing loss.

The family from Illawara in New South Wales were forced to choose between using hearing aids or five-hour-long cochlear implant surgery for their daughter or cochlear implant surgery.

‘When you have a cochlear implant you can’t reverse it, so it’s a big decision to make for a three-year-old girl,’ Mr Rollinson said.

Testing in utero found Harper carried the RB1 gene and she later developed retinoblastoma.

Their four-year-old son Eli had a small tumour on his retina which was treated with lasers and cryotherapy

Mr Rollinson said he was very proud of how his young daughter has handled her health issues

Her father also carries the gene and had his right eye removed because of a tumour when he was just 18 months old.

Their four-year-old son Eli had a small tumour on his retina which was treated with lasers and cryotherapy.

Mr Rollinson said he was very proud of how his young daughter has handled the setbacks in her short life.

‘It’s absolutely inspirational to see how resilient she has been and it amazes me – she’s such a strong individual with a heart of gold.’