Meet Willard! Willard was born with bilateral Microtia and Atresia and lives in Savannah, Georgia. Willard is 63 years old and has struggled all of his life with hearing loss. After visiting with an Otolaryngologist in 2020, he was informed about a bone anchored hearing device and how this hearing device could be surgically implanted to help him hear. Since Willard was struggling to hear, he was happy to learn about this option. Unfortunately, while Willard is not ready to be surgically implanted at this time, he still wanted to hear better with the hearing device being worn on his head. Since Willard cannot benefit from a traditional hearing aid, he asked his hearing clinic for help. Unfortunately, Willard’s insurance provider denied coverage for a bone anchored hearing device on a soft band head band. Willard’s current audiologist, Dr. Casey Allen, also tried to apply through Georgia’s state Medicaid program to help Willard as he is on a fixed income, but sadly Georgia’s Medicaid program also denied his claim to hear better.
Thankfully, Dr. Allen had heard about the Ear Community Organization! Dr. Allen went above and beyond helping Willard fill out his application (Willard has poor vision) to apply to our organization for help obtaining a bone anchored hearing aid so he could hear. Dr. Allen explained to Willard that Cochlear Americas has a hearing device that could help him hear better called the Baha 6 Max! When Ear Community’s board of directors received Willard’s application for a hearing device, everyone was happy to help Willard hear and voted yes on his application to help this gentleman obtain a Baha!
During the month of August, Willard was fitted with his newly donated Baha 6 Max from Cochlear Americas! A special thank you to Dr. Casey Allen for donating her time and services to help fit and program Willard’s new Baha 6 Max and for helping him with his application. Thank you to Keesha Pfeiffer of Cochlear Americas for helping donate Willard’s Baha 6 Max to our Ear Community Organization so we could help someone in need like Willard! Ear Community is so proud to collaborate with Cochlear Americas when coming together to help individuals who are in need within the Microtia and Atresia community. “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.”
Everyone at Ear Community is happy that Willard will be able to hear so much better now!
Ear Community
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