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Toddler hears parents for the first time
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After multiple roadblocks, a little girl from North Carolina can finally hear her parents for the first time in her life.
According to WFMY, 1 and a half-year-old Laken Westbrook had never heard her parents' voices, but there was a way for her to hear the sounds around her - cochlear implants.
But the family ran into issues throughout the process from insurance refusing to pay for the surgery and delays due to too much fluid in Laken's ears.
The Westbrooks decided that their daughter needed the life-changing surgery so they decided to pay the entire $50,000 cost out of pocket, despite having insurance. The company excludes any hearing-related costs.
To help defray the cost, and put a down payment on the procedure, they were able to crowdfund $20,000, WFMY reported.
Monday was the big day as doctors turned on the implants for the first time.
Activation today and all went well! She was so sleepy once they got started and cranky because daddy was trying to wake...
Posted by Team Laken on Monday, June 15, 2015
