Ambitious. Independent. Courageous. Three words local
tattoo artist Alexandra “Alex” Mccaskill uses to describe
herself, and we couldn’t agree more.
21-year-old Alex, a West Palm Beach native, is a proven fighter,
battling adversity from a very young age. Her earliest
memories don’t have the
same backdrop as most.
Her first three years were
spent in and out (mostly
in) of a hospital. Before
she was even 10 months
old, Alex was falling ill on a
regular basis. Her mother
and doctors alike became
highly suspicious of her consistent
flu-like symptoms.
A M B I T I O U S
INDEPENDENT
COURAGEOUS
“I was the only dea f kid, and the first
deaf kid that ever went there.”
While living in Key West,
doctors even proposed
that a severe allergy to lime dust was to blame for Alex’s ailments.
Various theories began to form, and testing ensued.
Call it a mother’s intuition; Alex’s mother knew there was
more to the story. “One day I was watching TV,” says Alex,
“and she turned the volume all the way down. She had
some pots and pans and started smacking them together
right behind me, and I didn’t flinch one bit.” Around 1-yearold,
Alex was diagnosed with severe hearing loss. She was
100% deaf in both ears. Born with seemingly normal hearing,
it is unknown as to when it first began to deteriorate.
Soon after the devastating discovery, Alex was diagnosed
with meningitis. “One time, when I was at the hospital,
there was a little boy next to me. He passed away the next
day from meningitis. His doctor took care of me after,” Alex
recalls. “They think the doctor probably wasn’t sterile…
with what he was doing.” At the time, Alex’s mother did not
move forward with a lawsuit, because she thought she had
insufficient proof.
Health trauma and regular hospital visits continued as
Alex’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was
eventually able to beat cancer, but there were a lot of
appointments and treatments in between. “We were practically
never home,” says Alex. Then, at age 3, Alex underwent
her first cochlear implant surgery on her right ear. “It took
a month for it to heal. But, when it turned on, I remember
hearing my name. That’s the first thing I heard. And my
mom started balling,” Alex says with a grin. “They called me
the perfect surgery.”
For Alex, gross motor skills, like learning to walk, were
stalled due to her diagnoses. But soon after her surgery
she began speech therapy and thrived. “Around this
time, I was shown certain hand signs. By the time I went
to Pre-K, I had an interpreter, and that’s where I learned a
lot,” explains Alex. “I just got fluid with it, and I was able to
sign more than I was able to speak.”
Alex’s adolescent years
were challenging. She
hated being deaf. She
was disinterested and
almost in denial of her
disability. In middle
school she was bullied
excessively. “Kids
slammed me into lockers.
No one would talk
to me. I would be the
one sitting alone in the
l unchroom,” Alex recalls.
“I was the only deaf kid, and the first deaf kid that ever
went there.” In the 8th grade, Alex finally stood up to
the bullies. Unfortunately,
this resulted in an
expulsion. But, wait...
there is a silver
lining!
Alex started a
new middle
school, and
on her very
first day she
met an art
teacher
Hair and Makeup by Leah Milan