Dine with Lance Cairns and help deaf kids talk!

Dine with Lance Cairns and help deaf kids talk!

Cricketing hero Lance Cairns will swap his cricket whites for a loud shirt next month in support of Loud Shirt Day and raising funds for deaf children around the country.

Cairns, 60, became an international cricketing legend when he hit six sixes off 10 balls against Australia in 1983. Now he’s getting behind a cause that has huge personal significance – deafness. Few people know Cairns was already starting to go deaf by 1983 – meaning he hardly heard the crowd cheering at that match - and by the end of 2009 he was profoundly deaf.

Late last year he received a cochlear implant which has allowed him to hear properly for the first time in 30 years. He says regaining his hearing has given him “a second life”. Cairns is supporting behind Loud Shirt Day – which raises funds for deaf kids who have cochlear implants - on September 17.

One lucky school that takes part in Loud Shirt Day will win a free day-long coaching session with Lance Cairns. Plus one lucky TradeMe bidder will get dinner with three friends and Cairns at The Langham, Auckland’s upmarket Barolo restaurant. The TradeMe auction started today (Tuesday August 31) and finishes at 8pm on Tuesday September 7.

Loud Shirt Day is a fundraiser for The Hearing House and Southern Cochlear Implant Paediatric Programme. These two charities provide specialised therapy to teach deaf and hearing-impaired children – who have cochlear implants or hearing aids - how to listen and speak like their hearing friends. Please support Loud Shirt Day by encouraging businesses and schools in your area to register at: www.loudshirtday.org.nz so that they can receive a free supporters’ pack and make a lasting difference to the lives of deaf kids.

ENDS