Boy gets to hear his Mom's voice after 12 years of 'deaf' silence. His reaction is simply heartbreaking

Nothing can compare to the wonder on a child's face when they realize they can hear for the first time. Ryder Boen, a 12-year-old boy from Oklahoma, was diagnosed with hearing loss when he was a baby. He has been wearing hearing aids since, but in February, he received the world's only smart cochlear implant. A video shared by Today Show (@todayshow) on April 13, originally shared by the non-profit organization Hearts for Hearing (@heartsforhearing), showed Boen's reaction when he could hear for the first time. He was in disbelief and couldn't help but cry happy tears. 

Cochlear implants work by replacing the function of the damaged sensory hair cells inside the inner ear or cochlea. They bypass the part of the ear that is not working and send sound straight to the hearing nerve, providing a better sound when compared to hearing aids. In the video, Boen was told that his hearing aids are off, and he is listening to sound with the help of the cochlear implant. When he realized he could hear the person speaking, he was stunned and kept repeating the words "No way." His mom prompted, "Can you hear?" to which Boen immediately grew quiet and said, "I heard!" He was trying to hold in his tears, but couldn't anymore, and started crying into his hands.

In a video shared by Hearts for Hearing, Boen said that he could hear a beeping sound whenever he or others were talking. They explained that the beeping turns the sound into words, and it was normal. He enthusiastically asked, "So I'm technically hearing?" Then he requested everyone in the room to be quiet, so he could check if he could still hear the beeps. "It ain't doing it, but when I'm talking, I can hear," he concluded excitedly. He even asked his father to speak so he could test the new device. 

According to statistics from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, 2 to 3 out of every 1000 children in the U.S. are born with a "detectable level" of hearing loss in either one or both ears. According to data from 2022, more than 1 million cochlear implants have been implanted all around the world. In the U.S., about 118,100 implants have been implanted in adults, and 65,000 devices in children. Out of these huge numbers, Boen's story is a small reminder of how life-changing these devices can be for children with hearing loss.

People in the comments were emotional after seeing Ryder Boen's tears. The video gave hope to several parents of children with hearing loss that one day, their children may be able to hear as well. @sunflower.bakery wrote, "All of the internet is crying along with you, young man." @kingron4l shared, "Let it all out, my boy, cry if you want to. It’s crazy what hearing people take for granted. I didn’t hear the water hitting the sink noise till I got cochlear implants at age 19. This is magic."

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