Deaf boy hears his family say ‘I love you’ for the first time (Video)
In a video originally shared to TikTok, a mother of three posted footage of her four-year-old son Sawyer hearing his family’s voices for the first time after receiving cochlear implants.
Christina Lenglin’s son had been diagnosed with Pendred syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes early hearing loss in children.
In the footage she shared, the giggly young boy is scene after undergoing cochlear implant surgery in Ontario, Canada.
As the sound levels on his devices are turned up for the first time, the child begins to grin ear-to-ear, prompting his emotional mother to say, ‘That’s the biggest smile I’ve ever seen him do.’
Sawyer is in the room with his mother, father, older sister and baby brother, who are all witnessing him react to his new sense for the first time.
Immediately Sawyer’s mother and older sister, Rosie begin to tell him that they love him.
The young boy can’t stop smiling and laughing as he begins to hear their love for the first time.
Rosie asks her parents if the operation will change Sawyer’s life, and her mother says it will, ‘for the better, maybe.’
Both Sawyer, and his baby brother Tucker, were diagnosed with Pendred syndrome and though the Canadian government pays for the first set of cochlear implants for each child, replacements, which are needed every five years, are not covered by the country’s socialized medical system.
According to the family, cochlear implants for both boys will cost some $30,000 CAD – about $22,300 USD – every five years.
The family has launched a GoFundme page for Sawyer and his younger brother’s future surgery and implants.
‘[We] are so proud of his resiliency and adaptability- we all hope we can help make a change,’ said Lenglin.