Mother shares emotional moment her four-year-old deaf son hears family’s voices for first time

A mother shared a heartwarming video of the moment her four-year-old deaf son heard his family’s voices for the first time.

Christina Lenglin from Ontario, Canada posted this video of Sawyer, four years old, hearing the first TikTok. Sawyer, who was recently diagnosed with Pendred Syndrome which causes hearing loss and underwent cochlear surgery, is seen in the video being surrounded and excited by his family.

Sawyer’s older sister Rosie says “hi” to her brother in the video, who looked up in wonder as he heard her voice for the first time. As he realized what he was hearing, the four-year-old began to laugh and smile.

As Sawyer’s family joined in on his infectious happiness and laughter, his mother asked: “Can you hear?” while Rosie repeatedly told her younger brother: “I love you!”

The emotional video then saw the family continue to speak to Sawyer as he smiled back, with the four-year-old’s mother asking: “Are you happy?” to which the child grinned even more widely.

At one point, Sawyer’s mother could be heard saying that she’s never seen her son “smile that big in his whole life,” before the four-year-old’s sister walked over to give her brother a hug and a kiss on the head.

Rosie then told her brother his name was Sawyer. He giggled at this point. After Lenglin told her son “your name is Sawyer,” she then pointed to herself and said: “Mama,” before pointing to her husband and saying: “Daddy.”

Lenglin then pointed to her daughter, telling Sawyer “Rosie,” before pointing to the newborn in her arms and telling Sawyer the name of his younger brother Tucker.

“It makes his life better, maybe, right? He might be really happy,” Lenglin added as she wiped away tears during the sweet moment.

In the caption of the TikTok, Lenglin said that the video shows Sawyer hearing “words for the first time,” before encouraging viewers to help the family raise awareness that “kids should hear for FREE”.

Lenglin directed viewers to a GoFundMe page that she created for Sawyer’s younger brother and Pendred Syndrome. Pendred Syndrome is a rare genetic disorder which causes hearing loss in children.

According to the institute, children with Pendred Syndrome usually lose their hearing by age three or earlier. The loss of hearing typically happens suddenly, with the NIH noting that “eventually, some children with Pendred Syndrome become totally deaf”.

Lenglin stated on the GoFundMe that Sawyer was able hear the first time following cochlear surgery. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, the surgery involves a cochlear Implant, which is a small electronic device that is inserted into the cochlea (the spiral cavity in the inner ear).

The surgeon places the internal processor between the muscle and bone behind your ear. It then receives information via an external speech processor that is worn outside your skin.

GoFundMe has been requested by the family to raise $30,000. This will allow them to purchase new cochlear processing devices for their sons once every five years.

TikTok was where Sawyer’s video was viewed more 135,000 times. Viewers shared how moved they were by the emotion.

“I love that his sister is as excited for him as he is! Beautiful!” one person commented, while another viewer said: “So much love in this family! His sister has me sobbing!”

“What a beautiful moment. His face. Sister’s tears. All of it,” someone else wrote.

The Independent Lenglin was contacted for comment.