Anger as Santa asks mum of Deaf child if she can ‘help him with surgery’ to ‘fix’ deafness

Meeting Santa is a magical moment for any child, but for one Father Christmas in a New Zealand shopping centre, he decided to swap ‘ho, ho, ho’ for ‘no, no, no’.

In a video shared on Facebook, Carter - a Deaf boy who uses New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) - sat next to the famous Lapland resident and asked him for a Gold Iron Man toy for Christmas.

Unfortunately, the only thing that was Stark here was Santa’s reply, who turned to the boy’s mother and asked: “Is there nothing you can do to help him with surgery?

“Nothing you can do to fix it?”

The mum stood firm in her response, signing as she said: “No, no need for that … No, there is nothing to fix, we have sign language.”

Carter then collected a small present from Santa, signing “thank you”, walking away with his mum.

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The clip has since been reposted to Twitter, where people have expressed their shock at Santa’s remarks:

Commenting on the incident, the NZSL with Carter Facebook page wrote: “This is not the first time I’ve had to have this conversation with Santa. It’s awful having to answer these questions in front of Carter - when we are there to talk about his Christmas Wishlist!

“I kept up my smile but wanted to get out of there as quick as possible!”