A couple have spoken of their joy as This Time Next Year viewers saw the heart-melting moment their profoundly deaf toddler heard for the first time in her life.
First-time parents Nathan and Charlotte desperately wanted four-month-old Olivia, who had been living in her own private world of silence since birth, to hear their voices and have a chance to learn to talk.
And they revealed their wish had come true 12 months later, which happened in a few mere seconds for viewers, when they returned to the Davina McCall-fronted show.
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Their daughter, now a toddler, had an operation to have cochlear implants fitted, and the ITV cameras captured the moment she stopped still and looked with amazement when the devices were switched on and her parents called her name.
The moment Olivia had her cochlear implants turned on 😊#ThisTimeNextYear pic.twitter.com/E97rFjnlIp
— This Time Next Year (@TTNY_UK) 10 April 2018
Charlotte told Davina: “She is starting to say proper words. She has said ‘Mama’, still not ‘Dada’, but ‘Mama’.
“We hope she will go to mainstream school but we will make whatever decisions are best for her.”
Naturally, viewers (including Corrie’s Sally Ann Matthews) were moved to tears by the incredible moment.
Little Olivia, I’m in tears x #ThisTimeNextYear
— Sally Ann Matthews (@SallyAnMatthews) 10 April 2018
Wow, I’m in bits already. Little Olivia getting her cochlear implants was so beautiful #ThisTimeNextYear
— Paula (@paulacun) 10 April 2018
@ITV @ThisisDavina In tears watching #ThisTimeNextYear with baby Olivia. Such a cutie and seeing her hear for the first time 😭😭
— Alison Soards (@alisonsoards) 10 April 2018
A year earlier, Charlotte spoke of how they were left “devastated” when doctors broke the news that their daughter was completely deaf in both ears.
Olivia’s mum said: “She went through the newborn health screening, she failed them and had to go to hospital.
“The first 24 hours were the hardest, and then I was determined it wouldn’t hold her back.
“Just her hearing her name and our voices as parents, it would be magical.”
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Charlotte also revealed more good news on the family’s return to the studio — she’s seven months’ pregnant with their second child.
* This Time Next Year continues on ITV at 8pm next Tuesday.