An amazing moment happened for a baby from North Carolina who was born with his hearing impaired already. Dawson Shull, ten months old, was born with a severe condition called Cytomegalovirus, which is considered congenital, the Daily Mail reports.
Dawson, who was born in May 2016, had never heard of a single sound—from the loudness of a cry to the whisper of a lullaby—since he was born. Dawson’s hearing in his right ear was completely gone and his left ear is almost little to no hearing at all.
Dawson’s condition completely changed when he was finally given a custom-made hearing device that will surely change his life for the better. He received Cochlear implants that replaces the supposed function of the inner ear, which is damaged. The implants will help him hear properly for the first time.
As soon as the implants were attached, it took some time for Dawson to hear the voices of those who surrounded him in the room. But when he did, the sensation was so alien or foreign that he just started crying. But he soon calmed down when he heard his mother Jessica’s voice.
Dawson cried when he heard her mom, which made Jessica a little bit disappointed. But he soon acclimated to it and had been enjoying hearing her voice ever since.
Jessica said, “This is such a huge step forward for Dawson. We’re so excited for what the future holds for him, after several months of speech therapy we hope he will catch up with his peers.
“Before the implants, we thought Dawson would never talk and now his future looks entirely different. After the initial switch on he cried for about five minutes, but it hasn’t bothered him since then. He now plays on his xylophone and piano for hours intrigued by the sound.”
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cytomegalovirus “is a common virus that infects people of all ages. Over half of adults by age 40 have been infected with CMV. Once CMV is in a person's body, it stays there for life and can reactivate.
“Most people infected with CMV show no signs or symptoms. However, CMV infection can cause serious health problems for people with weakened immune systems, as well as babies infected with the virus before they are born.”
Signs of babies born with CMV infection include premature birth, smallness in size of body and head, and seizures.
