This touching video captures the moment a baby born deaf hears his parents’ voices for the first time after his cochlear implant is activated.
Georgie Pfaffman, born on Nov. 27, 2023, to Sarah and Cole Pfaffman, 21 and 26 respectively, came into the world after an uncomplicated pregnancy. However, a virus Sarah unknowingly contracted during her pregnancy transferred to Georgie, affecting his hearing and brain development.
As a result, Georgie was born completely deaf, and the left side of his brain did not develop correctly, causing cerebral palsy on the right side of his body. Despite these challenges, Georgie has thrived with his parents’ support. On Oct. 15, his cochlear implant was activated, bringing joy and hope to his whole family.
“The moment Georgie’s implant got activated felt like Christmas, and it’s felt like Christmas every day since,“ said Sarah, a full-time mom from Jacksonville, Florida. “It felt like a gift from God, like a miracle, and now, a whole new world opens up for Georgie. And he loves it so much. Everything is so new and exciting!”
Georgie is quickly making up for lost time, discovering new sounds every day.
“He likes to watch things he’s enjoyed looking at before, like the washing machine and vacuum, and discover the sound that goes along [with] it,” Sarah said. “He especially loves trying to talk and listening to music.”
Georgie was born at 35 weeks and was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) where he failed hearing tests.
After he left the NICU, his parents took him to an audiologist, where they discovered he has profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss— meaning he couldn’t hear at all.
“He had to then wear hearing aids for four months to see if they would help, but no luck,” Sarah said. Eventually, on Sept. 23 of this year, Georgie had his surgery to install the implants, and his activation day was three weeks later.
While the cochlear implant has been transformative, Sarah continues to struggle with the knowledge that the virus that affected Georgie was treatable, but doctors didn’t warn her about it.
During her second trimester, Sarah contracted cytomegalovirus, mistaking it for a normal cold and unaware of the harm it was causing to Georgie.
“I feel pretty let down by the medical professionals around me at the time. I had no idea this cold I was having could be potentially harmful to my child,” she said. “I now go to counseling every week because I have had to deal with the internal struggle of the fact Georgie is hurt because I got sick.”
Despite the emotional hurdles, the implant Georgie received is now giving him the chance to live a full life, with the unconditional support of his parents.
