Deaf Child Hears His Family for the First Time

Video posted to TikTok on February 9 shows the moment a young deaf boy heard his family for the very first time in Toronto, Canada.

Christina Lenglin posted video to TikTok showing her four-year-old son Sawyer, who has been diagnosed with Pendred syndrome, hearing the voices of his family after undergoing cochlear implant surgery.

“That’s the biggest smile I’ve ever seen him do,” Christina said as her son’s face lights up after hearing his siblings and parents.

Christina told Storyful Sawyer was diagnosed with Pendred syndrome and has been deaf and hard of hearing since birth.

Sawyer “courageously braved the surgery and now happily tackles the journey to learn how to hear and understand English,” Christina said.

“Big sister Rosie, as you can see in the video, is beyond thrilled to welcome her brother to the world of hearing, and [we as] parents are also elated to have the magical opportunity to communicate verbally with [our] son.”

Christina told Storyful she wants her son’s story to highlight issues of access to hearing surgery and access to American Sign Language (ASL).

“In Canada, surgery and the first set of cochlear are free, and every five years Sawyer and many other individuals in the same situation as Sawyer will have to out of pocket.”

“We will have to choose between ASL or speech therapy; neglecting either his speech learning or neglecting respecting his Deaf culture.”

The family has launched a GoFundMe for Sawyer and his younger brother Tucker, who was also diagnosed with Pendred syndrome.

“[We] are so proud of his resiliency and adaptability- we all hope we can help make a change,” Christina added Credit: Christina Lenglin via Storyful