Aramac community lights up for Hear and Say on Loud Shirt Day in support of Geltch family

A rural family has received a life altering treatment for their eight-year-old daughter, who continues to flourish each day. Now they are raising funds to support other families facing similar situations.

Eight-year-old Emily Geltch will join her community in turning the main street of town into a sea of bright and loud colours to raise funds in support of other children just like her.

Emily was born with profound hearing loss in her left ear, and moderate hearing in her right hear.

“It came as a bit of a shock,” her mum Kerryn said.

“It wasn’t until she was four months old that she was fitted with hearing aids and the look on her face, I’ll never forget it.”

Since then, Emily has received two cochlear implants and has continued to “flourish” every day.

“It’s amazing to see where she is now,” Mrs Geltch said.

“Her speech has flourished, and she only had the second implant this year, so she’s still working hard to get that to work.”

Emily started speech therapy through Hear and Say while she was kindergarten, which Mrs Geltch said really helped her come out of her shell.

Hear and Say is a Paediatric Auditory-Verbal and cochlear implant centre, teaching deaf children to listen and speak since 1992.

Through its telepractice program, Emily can still fully participate in her lessons without having to leave her rural home, about 40km north west of Aramac in Central Queensland.

Kerryn Geltch is thankful for the Aramac community for always supporting her family.

“I’m especially passionate about rural families because we’ve experienced first hand what it’s like, and it’s important to know there is help out there,” Mrs Geltch said.

“Doing it online, it’s still face-to-face and a huge relief financially as well to not have to travel all the time.

“That would be our biggest challenge rurally is getting to appointments, but this is just one less thing we have to worry about.”

In support of the not-for-profit, Emily and her family are holding a barbecue breakfast fundraiser as part of Loud Shirt Day on Friday, October 22.

They will be outside the Barcaldine Regional Council office at Aramac from 7am, serving breakfast to locals and travellers, as well as turning up the loud music, with raffles and competitions.

“It’s a way of celebrating how far [Emily has] come and to thank the community for always getting behind her,” Mrs Geltch said.

“The support of Hear and Say has been truly miraculous and there is nothing more amazing than watching your child develop the skills to embrace a world full of laughter, joy and colour.”

Everyone is encouraged to dress in their loudest and brightest clothes and to head down and support the cause.

Hear and Say acting CEO, Bridget Murray was excited to unite the community for a life-changing cause.

“We are thrilled to celebrate the 15-year anniversary of Loud Shirt Day and are encouraging businesses and individuals in our community to go big and bright, so Hear and Say can continue to provide our world-leading services now and into the future,” she said.

“As a not-for-profit, we rely on the generosity of Queenslanders to help us ensure children with hearing loss are afforded access to our world-class hearing technology and spoken language therapy.

“By ditching your daily wear for a loud shirt and raising funds, together we can open worlds and profoundly impact the lives of those living with hearing loss in our community.”

Originally published as Aramac community lights up for Hear and Say on Loud Shirt Day in support of Geltch family