The Story Behind This Tattoo Will Touch Your Heart

At just six years old, New Zealander Charlotte Campbell has already bravely undergone surgery, getting not just one but two cochlear implants to improve her hearing. Her first surgery was back in 2013, when she was just four, while the second was more recent, on August 3. The little girl's story is now going viral, thanks to the awesome show of solidarity her dad, Alistair, made the day before she was wheeled into surgery. Alistair decided to get a tattoo of a cochlear implant to match little Charlotte's new hearing device — a small but moving gesture made just so his little girl wouldn't feel so alone.

"The tattoo was a tribute — this was all about her, not me," Campbell told the New-Zealand-based media site Stuff. "As she grows older, she’ll understand the love behind it."

I have no doubt she will. But luckily, Charlotte also has two other reasons not to feel so different or alone. Hearing loss runs in the Campbell family. Her mom, Anita, wears an implant, too, and her brother, Louis, uses hearing aids. While getting inked was in many ways just for his daughter, Alistair's tattoo has also spread a broader message when it comes to normalizing and embracing our differences.

As a result, the tattoo, and the sweet story behind it, has taken just a few days to reach the four corners of the Internet, and it's pretty much touched every heart along the way:

Others flooded Facebook to give the dad the props he deserved. On The New Zealand Herald's Facebook post, Shanti Blogg wrote:

I am truly moved by this guy to do such a lovely gesture for his daughter. I was born deaf and worn hearing aids my whole life. Been a rocky road with so many hurdles to get through that are so challenging can be exhausting. To see a dad to do this as a surprise for his daughter is very special.

Others, like Chucki Higgins, shared their own stories of having a child with cochlear implants:

What an awesome thing to do. I also have a daughter who has cochlear implants she is nearly 13 now but it has been a long hard road for her. Acceptance by others and not feeling like she is different to her peers is important to her. I cant wait to show her this article.

The tattoo itself is pretty awesome — and while the intricate ink job may have cost the dad a little pain and an hour of his time, it was well worth it. Campbell told Stuff that, while his head is shaved for now, he does plan to eventually grow his hair back and only shave it off for special occasions — or when Charlotte asks to see it, of course. And according to The New Zealand Herald, the giddy six-year-old "giggled, touched it and told him it was 'cool'" when she first saw it.

Believe it or not, though, Alistair isn't the only dad who's had a cochlear implant tattooed onto his head. Check out this awesome father, who also went viral five months ago for the same move of solidarity:

Hats off to these two badass dads for making their kids feel amazingly supported, loved, and, perhaps best of all, pretty cool.

Images: Courtesy of Alistair Campbell (2); Imgur (1)