Ryle Austin Rabaya of the Philippines, bilateral Oticon Medical Ponto recipient, July 23, 2019.
Ear Community is pleased to introduce you to Ryle Austin Rabaya who lives in the Philippines with his mother, Arlyn, and his father. Austin is only one year old, his birthday was in June. He was born with Bilateral Microtia and Atresia. Even though Arlyn and her husband had no answers when Austin was born, they took him to every specialist they could find to find out what their options were to help Austin hear. They were so worried that he would struggle in his day-to-day life without access to sound.
It was very important to Austin’s parents that he grew up with typical language and speech – that he would be able to attend school, make friends, and interact with the world around him. Due to having Bilateral Microtia and Atresia, the only way that would be possible is by having Bilateral bone conduction hearing aids. Around the time that Arlyn was working tirelessly for answers, she came across the Ear Community Organization.
She soon reached out to us, and applied immediately for her little boy, Austin was only a few months old at the time. She said, “We have great and high hopes and dreams for our son to achieve, and we know and are confident that with the use of (a) BAHS device, he will be able to achieve and accomplish so much more in life, as he continues to grow.” We knew we had to help little Austin gain equal access to the sounds of the world around him!
It took some time and hoop jumping, but after some waiting – on Tuesday, July 23rd, 2019, Austin finally received his two Oticon Ponto processors! Arlyn said, “we’re very thankful to Oticon Medical and to Ear Community. I can’t explain what I’m feeling right now, all I know is that I am very happy for my son knowing that from now on, he can hear the world clearly and can live a normal life.” When Austin was fitted with his new Pontos, his face lit up and he looked around the room, it truly warmed every heart in the office that day. Austin’s family is truly thankful for everyone that was involved in helping their son receive his hearing devices so he could hear his very best.
Ear Community would like to extend a special ‘thank you’ to Oticon Medical, who has always supported our efforts to bring sound to every individual who needs access to sound. To Icee Piedad and Patrick Tan, who represent Oticon Medical in Asia, thank you for your tireless efforts to get Austin his Ponto’s. Ear Community would also like to extend a special thank you to Alex and Kristina Kosoglyadov for donating $200 toward helping Austin hear better by helping with the shipping of his new hearing devices. The Kosoglyadov Family donated to Ear Community, requesting that a donation in their daughter, Amelia’s, name go toward helping another child hear. Together with the Kosoglyadov family and Oticon Medical, Arlyn was able to receive the gift of hearing for her son, Austin. Thank you again to the Kosoglyadov Family for helping give back to the Microtia and Atresia community through our Ear Community Organization and for helping another child hear better.
A very special thank you to Alan Raffauf, Vice President of Marketing and Operations for Oticon Medical US, for choosing to donate the two new Oticon Medical Ponto 3 Superpower hearing devices to Ear Community so that they could be donated to Austin to help him hear better. Thank you to Beverly Ostrowski, Director of Customer Service, with Oticon Medical for helping ship Austin’s hearing devices. Oticon Medical is a well-respected international hearing device manufacturer that is a part of the “William Demant Group [which has] 100-plus years of experience in audiology and sound processing and established manufacturing and logistics infrastructure.”
We are beyond thrilled for Austin and what life holds in store for him! It takes many people, doing good work and extending a passion for helping others to make things like this happen. We hope to be able to continue this work for years to come, and helping many more children like Austin. The sky is bright, and the world is ready for you, Austin – we can’t wait to see what you do!
The Ear Community Organization
www.EarCommunity.org
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