By Nigel Maxwell

Young Prince Albert girl will get ears

Feb 12, 2015 | 5:29 AM

Danielle Carter broke down in tears when she received a phone call last week that would change her daughter’s life.

A group called Mending Kids has now offered to help pay for a very expensive surgery for Arabella Carter, 4. She was born with no outer ears, and lacks the ability to hear without a hearing apparatus. 

Last week while at work, Danielle Carter received a call from the U.S.  The secretary of the surgeon Carter has been talking to informed her that a group called Mending Kids could pay for one of Arabella’s ears.

“Well I started bawling my eyes out, like crying, she said the loophole was you’d have to go March 4th or 5th of this year and we do need to know by the end of the day,” said Carter. The surgery will take place in Beverly Hills, California.

Carter said at first she asked if she was on Candid Camera. Within a few hours, Carter and her husband were on the phone with the surgeon confirming they could attend.

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The family has raised $57,000 through various fundraising activities in the community. The money will pay for Arabella’s second ear operation in June.

Due to the risks of the lengthy surgery, the surgeon did not want to do both ears at once.  It would require Arabella to be “put under” for too long.  As far as how normal her daughter’s ears will look, Danielle Carter says the surgery will not be noticeable.

“They’ve taken her height, her weight, her stature all into consideration already. She’s not going to have huge, huge ears because she’s not a huge kid, so they’ve taken a picture of mine, a picture of Nolan’s (Carter’s husband) and they put it all into some crazy computer,” said Carter.

The news has not sunk in yet for the four year old.  

“We’ve told her by the time she turns five she’ll have her big ears and she just said that sounds like a plan,” said Carter.

The other good news that Arabella has been told is that she gets the My Little Pony earrings that she has wanted.  Arabella’s ears will be healed by the time she starts kindergarten in the fall.

The Carter family was in Saskatoon on Wednesday to pick up their passports.

The family still needs to raise about $20,000.  A fundraiser dance will be held March 14th at Nordale Hall.

nmaxwell@panow.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell