Paul Stanley Visits Hospital Room of Young Girl Who Underwent Surgery

Arabella Carter, a 4-year-old Canadian girl born with bilateral microtia, a condition that prevents the development of external ears, recently traveled with her family to Los Angeles in order to undergo reconstructive surgery — and received a bedside visit from Paul Stanley in the bargain.

The Kiss co-founder has a deep personal connection to Carter's plight, as he was born with unilateral microtia; as the CBC observed in its report on Stanley's visit, he waited more than three decades to have his own ear constructed, and has devoted untold hours and energy to the international charity Mending Kids, on whose behalf he's traveled the world visiting children who've undergone surgical procedures.

As previously reported, Stanley wrote about his experiences with microtia in his 2014 memoir, sharing the inner struggles he dealt with as a child and his lifelong efforts to cope with deafness in his right ear.

"Y’know, my book is about my life starting from the very beginning and certainly a certain amount of adversity and having a birth defect and being deaf on one side and the family that I came from," he explained in 2013. "Certainly people have had more adversity in their lives — and some less — but I, I would think some people would get a certain amount of inspiration and a sense that positivity and belief in yourself will ultimately lead you to a great place."

To learn more about Stanley's work for Mending Kids, visit the fundraising site GiveEffect, and watch his brief testimonial video above.

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