We often forget to appreciate what we have. For one mom, being able to hear is what she had been missing all her life. She longed to have that sense of hearing to interact with people, most especially to her family.
Meet Sarah Churman.
She is a wife and a mother of two adorable girls from Burleson, Texas. She was born deaf.
She started using hearing aids since she was two years old and understand others by reading lips. Despite that, she has clear speech and explained how she developed it.
“My whole life I’ve been complimented on how well I speak. I don’t really have an answer for you other than I have always had a passion for reading, grammar, and English. My hearing loss was/is considered severe to profound. I’ve worked very hard to be able to interact and blend in…..only thing I can say is ‘God is good’.”
To find out what was the root cause of her hearing loss, Sarah underwent testing and scans.
What the doctors discovered was that there were missing hairs in her inner ear. Those hairs are vital for transmitting the sound waves going to the brain.
However, she didn’t lose hope that one day she could hear with the help of the latest technology.
In May of 2011, while driving in his car, her husband Sloan heard about Esteem, a device made by Envoy Medical. Having known about the hearing implant, he called Sarah right at once to Google it.
With high hopes that this could be the answer to her hearing impairment, Sarah researched more about it like mad.
Indeed, it was the miracle that she and her family have been waiting for.
But, it was quite unfortunate that it comes with a hefty price tag. The hearing implant costs a whopping $30,000 per ear and insurance doesn’t cover it. It broke her heart. The couple knew that there was no way that they could afford it.
Having known of the money that the couple needed for that life-changing technology, Lari, Sarah’s mother-in-law, stepped in and offered to provide the cash. She made the decision to cash in her retirement fund to be able to afford that procedure for Sarah.
The couple gladly accepted but said they would pay back every penny. However, Lari insisted that they should not think of it as a loan but consider it as a gift.
Lari said,
“Sarah is the best daughter-in-law in the world, and when this device became available, I’m not wealthy at all… I cashed in a small retirement fund that I had.”
She’s one extremely generous mother-in-law, and Sarah’s so blessed to have her!
It was only after 29 years that Sarah was able to hear herself for the very first time.
She couldn’t hold back her tears when she finally heard her voice. She was at a loss for words for feeling overwhelmed.
Her husband filmed that very memorable moment when she finally got her hearing implant.
Ellen DeGeneres knew of Sarah’s amazing story when the video which Sloan uploaded went viral. She invited Sarah for an interview as she was curious about Sarah’s experience. Ellen was amazed of her story and also of the support that her family had given her.
Little did she know that Ellen prepared a gift.
Sarah would get an implant for the other ear for free. And not only that, the company Envoy Medical, gave her $30,000 to return the money she paid for the procedure.
