William Shafer, age 3, recipient of 2 Baha 5 hearing devices, Arizona, 10/2019
Ear Community is so very happy to introduce our newest Cochlear Americas Baha 5 recipient, William Shafer, a sweet 3-year-old who lives in Arizona with his parents Jennifer and Benjamin; as well as his three siblings. When William was born, his parents soon discovered that he had a condition called Treacher Collins Syndrome. This condition can cause issues with breathing, eating, hearing loss and craniofacial challenges. Jennifer and Benjamin knew that William would have a hard road ahead of him, but they were prepared to support him every step of the way. William needed extensive feeding therapy to avoid needing to be fed via a feeding tube, and he was born with bilateral Microtia and Atresia, resulting in hearing loss in both ears.
Luckily when William was a few months old, they were able to get a loaner Baha from an organization in Arizona. However, the situation was temporary, and after some time the loaner stopped working. William, now three years old and starting speech therapy desperately needed a device (or two preferably) to help him hear! Thus, began the roller coaster of appeals with their insurance provider. Jennifer and Benjamin fought tirelessly with their insurance provider, appealing their decision to not cover hearing devices for William. Cochlear Americas even stepped in to try and help but to no avail. Sadly, William’s audiologist was at a loss and had exhausted all options for trying to obtain a Baha for him.
It was around this time when Jennifer reached out to Ear Community and shared their story. By the time their audiologist felt that she could no longer help William obtain a Baha, they tried to go through a different audiologist, but the insurance company denied covering that as well. Jennifer was at a loss and applied to Ear Community to see if our organization could help William get access to sound. When his application was presented to the board of directors, the vote was a unanimous “YES” – each board member felt so passionately about helping William, and their hearts went out to the struggle his family had been asked to endure. Ear Community was able to donate two (2) Cochlear Baha 5’s to William. On October 3rd, 2019, he was fitted with his two new hearing devices, giving him full access to sound and surround sound. Jennifer said shortly after the appointment, “Today our hearts are full. Full of gratitude towards all who made this moment possible.”
William is excited to finally have access to sound again is happy! Since being fitted, William asks to have his Baha’s on so that he can hear his parents, siblings, friends and everyday sounds. Ear Community is honored to have been a part of William’s journey and helping him find sound again. We truly could not do this without the incredible support we have from the community and to Cochlear Americas. Ear Community would like to extend a very special thank you to Cochlear Americas for donating the two Baha 5 sound processors that are helping William now thrive in life. Thank you to Paula Dyhrkopp, a local rep for Cochlear Americas in Arizona who helped get William’s Baha’s to his audiologist in record time! Thank you to Dr. Alissa Nickerson and her staff at Phoenix Children’s Hospital who took William on as a new patient and donated her time to program and fit his Baha’s. Ear Community would also like to extend a warm thank you to our individual donors, members of the community who want to help us continue our work – none of this could be done without your support. “Cochlear is the global leader in implantable hearing solutions. It has a dedicated global team of more than 2,500 people who deliver the gift of sound to those with hearing loss in over 100 countries. Its vision is to connect people, young and old, to a world of sound by offering life enhancing hearing solutions. In 2013, Cochlear celebrated 100,000 Baha System users – all with unique stories of how being able to hear again has impacted their lives. The Cochlear promise of “Hear Now. And Always” embodies the company’s commitment to providing its recipients with the best possible hearing performance today and for the rest of their lives.”
It can be heartbreaking and exhausting navigating our way for the necessary benefits through insurance companies sometimes. Ear Community is proud to be able to help these families when other avenues have been exhausted. We are so happy for
William and cannot wait to see what he is going to do in the years to come! We wish William every happiness this world has to offer, and we are so glad that he is able to now hear everything in his corner of the world.
Good luck, William, we are so proud of you!
Everyone at Ear Community
www.EarCommunity.org
