Erin Van Oordt met Jenri Rivera, who was born deaf, when was she working in Guatemala as a volunteer for non-profit charity Ray of Hope Medical Missions three years ago.
Speaking about their first meeting, Van Oordt admitted:
‘There was something special about him from the beginning.
‘I started talking to him, and he couldn't hear me. I knew my Spanish wasn't that bad, so I started asking around and they said he hasn't heard since he was little. I said we need to figure this out, and that's when we started the whole process.’
The organisation was able to fly Jenri to America for treatment, and had to ensure every step of Jenri’s medical treatment was a donation, in order for the youngster to be eligible for a medical visa.
This included the £25,000 cochlear implant donated by Advanced Bionics and the procedure to install it, which was performed by Dr. Disher at the Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne.
The implant was activated on Monday by Dr. Tina Sheehan of Focus Audiology and Hearing Services.
To test Jenri’s reaction to noise, Dr Sheehan tapped on the table.
‘When I would tap on the desk, he would look,' Sheehan said.
'I would tap on the desk, he would look'
'I tapped again, and he looked. I tapped a third time and he said, no! His reactions to the noises are an excellent sign that things are working.'
Jenri will spend several more months in America, as he works on his speech and learns to understand what he hears.
Speaking about the emotional moment the 7-year-old first experienced sound, Van Oordt said:
‘I had a flashback to the first time I met him, when he couldn't hear me, and he could this time. Everything we've done in the past three years came flooding back. It was all worth it.'