A teen from Cleveland, Ohio has lived her entire life thriving against the odds.
Fourteen-year-old Maggie Gleason was born with collapsed lungs, weak kidneys, a cleft palate and her heart failed twice at birth.
Although she’s overcome many things, she has lived her entire life without being able to hear.
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Maggie was born without cochleas, meaning she was born without any auditory nerves in her ears. A traditional cochlear implant would not work for her condition.
Thanks to advancements in technology, Maggie became one of the first teens to be fitted with a device called an auditory brainstem implant that helps deaf individuals sense sound.
Instead of stimulating the ear, ABIs directly stimulate the brain stem. It consists of a mini radio receiver that is implanted under the skin, while tiny electrodes are implanted into the brain stem.
Maggie’s ABI was implanted in September 2014 and was finally turned on just a few days after Christmas.
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The immediate reaction to the new sensation dawned on the teen’s face as her dad called out to her.
“I always felt I would have a lot to say to her when the moment came,” dad Frank Gleason told WKYC. “But I was left speechless.”
Maggie seemed amazed by all the new sounds she experienced with the ABI, but says her favourite sound is when her dad calls her name.
She continues to fine tune her hearing with her doctors at University Hospitals Case Medical Center.
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