Donation gives north Texas boy the gift of hearing
by CARLA WADE
December 25, 2013
MESQUITE — The holidays are a time for a lot of us to reflect on the gifts many of us take for granted — like the ability to walk, see, or hear.
Eight-year-old Jeremy Lopez of Mesquite got full use of one of those gifts with a special Christmas Eve delivery.
Jeremy loves playing video games, but usually the television sound is blaring. Monday was the first time in a long time he could hear it just fine.
"Now it won't feel like a concert at home, because whenever he is at home watching TV and playing video games, he has it at the maximum when it comes down to the volume," said his mom, Elizabeth Lopez.
Jeremy was presented with a brand-new hearing aid to help with his hearing loss.
When he was younger, he had multiple ear infections and several surgeries on his eardrum and middle ear system. They left him with about a 30 percent hearing loss.
His problems hearing were causing his grades to suffer at school. While Jeremy could sometimes borrow a hearing aid from the Mesquite school district, he didn't have one of his own.
"He definitely has hearing loss, but his insurance says his hearing loss is not bad enough for us to pay for it," said Dr. Naikaia Butler with Hearing Services of North Texas.
A large donation enabled her to fit Jeremy with a hearing aid of his own. What would have cost Jeremy's mom $3,000 was instead provided free of charge.
"It makes me feel great we were able to receive this donation and pass this great gift along to Jeremy," Dr. Butler said.
"Jeremy was making zeros on his spelling tests," his mother said. "He went from making zeros to making 100s."
Now, whether the sound is loud, soft, or in-between, Jeremy will hear it all.
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SOURCE:
http://www.kens5.com/news/Donation-gives-Mesquite-boy-the-gift-of-hearing-237247291.html