What is your hearing worth to you?
Those of us who were born without hearing loss take most of life’s little sounds for granted. We think nothing of listening to our children giggling in the next room, or hearing the sound of wind chimes twinkling in the breeze. Yet for those who were born deaf, silence is all they’ve ever known.
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Thanks to new technology, some people with hearing loss are finally able to listen to the sounds that so many of us take for granted.
Sarah Churman, a wife and mother of two from Burleson, Texas, was one of the lucky few whose genetic hearing loss was able to be effectively cured by an implant called The Esteem by Envoy.
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Unfortunately, Sarah’s cochlear implants came with a price tag so hefty, there was no way she and her family could afford the cost. Each implant costs $30,000, and she needed one for each ear. Sarah and her husband, Sloan, knew they could never afford this life-changing technology without help.
That’s when Sarah’s mother-in-law, Lari, stepped in. Although Lari is not wealthy, she decided to cash in what she did have – a small retirement fund – in order to buy just one implant for Sarah.
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The emotional moment when Sarah, who was born deaf, put in that precious implant and was able to hear for the first time in her life was simply awe-inspiring.
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A video of the moment went viral on YouTube, and has now been viewed over 27 million times! Sarah later described the moment her whole life changed:
In that moment of activation I experienced a complete sense of clarity. In those seconds before a noise happened, I knew it was on and I knew the moment a noise was made that I’d hear it. To me, it was an absolute miracle. In that moment, I had experienced a miracle I had waited for all my life.
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When Ellen DeGeneres heard about Sarah’s video, she knew she had to invite her onto the show to ask her some questions about what it was like to hear for the first time. And as usual, Ellen had a few surprises up her sleeve, too.
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Ellen asked Sarah about the things she never knew she was missing, and the mom had a long list of sounds that she had come to love since getting her implant. “Hearing music clearly. The rain, thunder, birds,” Sarah said. “Things that normal people wouldn’t think about hearing, but like, my husband’s snoring, yourself laughing, things like that.”
“Now she knows you snore. You got away with it for years, but… you snore,” Ellen joked to Sloan, who was sitting in the audience.
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Then Ellen turned her attention to Lari, who told Ellen she didn’t hesitate to give every dime she had to help her daughter-in-law. “Sarah is the best daughter-in-law in the world, and when this device became available, I’m not wealthy at all … I cashed in a small retirement fund that I had,” she said.
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With that admission, Ellen spilled the secret she’d been holding in: “I don’t think that a family should struggle like this with something this important, so we have a little gift for you.”
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Ellen produced a giant check and announced that Envoy, the company that makes the implants, has agreed to donate a second implant for Sarah to restore her hearing fully!
Even more astounding… the company reimbursed Lari for the $30,000 she spent on the first implant.
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The family could not believe their good fortune, but weren’t surprised it came by means of the “Ellen Show.” This is the perfect example of the kind of goodness that Ellen spreads around every day! She truly is an angel here on earth.
Watch the Churman family’s tearful reaction below, and be sure to share to make someone’s day!
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