23/09/2026
In 2018, when Marlie was just 4, we found out she had partial hearing loss. What followed were years we didn't have a name for yet — infection after infection, perforations that wouldn't heal, missed birthday parties, missed school. We just kept going, treating what we could see, not knowing what we were actually up against.
It wasn't until 2022 that we finally had an answer: cholesteatoma. In 2023, Marlie had her first surgery, to remove it from her left ear. In 2024, she went through it all again for her right ear.
In 2025, she underwent bilateral BAHA placement — hearing aid surgery on both sides, after trying every form of hearing aid the NHS offers. During that surgery, she suffered a significant bleed. In recovery, I noticed something wasn't right. She was struggling to walk. Struggling to see. Within three weeks, she was back in theatre for emergency surgery — her right-hand BAHA had to be removed due to wound breakdown, which had caused a blood clot on the brain and swelling to the optic nerve. That left her with vision problems and migraines that she still lives with today. She will never be eligible for a hearing aid — BAHA or otherwise — on that ear.
And now, this November, she goes back in for cholesteatoma removal on the right side. Again.
Seven years. Multiple surgeries. Complications most adults would struggle to process, let alone a 12-year-old. And through every single one of it, Marlie has kept going.
This October, I'm walking and running 100 miles for the National Deaf Children's Society — an organisation that has stood with our family through every twist of this journey.
Every mile is for Marlie. Every pound raised is for the next family about to hear the word "cholesteatoma" for the first time, with no idea what's ahead.
Help Marlie Park raise money to support The National Deaf Children's Society