Peyton's Miracle - Now I Can Hear & Sing!

The wee girls implant is a game-changer

- Cloe Willetts

New schoolgirl Peyton Slattery-Holtz Semau races through the pages of her book, proudly snapping the cover shut when she’s finished and reaching for another title.

Surprisingly, the little word whiz, five, is reading at the level of a seven-year-old. Most impressive, though, is that the Auckland youngster was diagnosed as profoundly deaf when she was born.

With the help of cochlear implants, the avid reader is flying through her schooling and when she’s not busy soaking up stories, she’s singing at the top of her lungs at home.

“She’s a special kid and has blown me away!” beams her mother Rochae Slattery-Holtz, 26, who was a young first-time mum when she was told her baby couldn’t even hear the roar of an aeroplane.