Man proposes to deaf girlfriend seconds after she hears for the first time: 'I love you so much'

Editor's note: This article was originally published on December 28, 2022. It has since been updated.

Andrea Diaz, a patient at the Mississippi Medical Centre was overtaken with emotion and broke into sobs as she starts hearing for the first time. But that was not the only beautiful moment of her life on that day. What followed was sweeter and it completely astonished her. Andrea was with her audiologist Dr. Vicki Gonzales, her mother and her partner Kevin Peakman when her implant was being turned on for the first time. Immediately after it was on, Andrea heard her mom express her love for her daughter and Andrea said that it was "noisy" and "sounds funny." Just then, through a mixture of tears and laughter, Kevin dropped down on one knee and proposed to her after Andrea adjusted the volume on her implant.

He said, "I love you so much and you're my best friend, baby. I wanted to make the first thing you hear me asking you to marry me." Diaz replies, "Yes, I like the ring. I can hear your voice!" Diaz was clearly overwhelmed, saying: "There's so much going on!" before adding: "I'm very happy. It worked!"

According to the Independent, the romantic act was witnessed and recorded on camera by Dr. Gonzales. Kevin admits that he chose to get down on one knee in the consulting room because he wanted the first thing the woman he loved to hear was him asking to marry her.

The video was uploaded to Facebook by Mississippi Medical Centre implanted a cochlear device with the following caption: "After receiving a cochlear implant, patients of UMMC ENT and Communicative Sciences audiologist Dr. Vicki Gonzales are sometimes overcome with emotions when the device is turned on and the patient can gain or regain hearing. Andrea Diaz is one such example. She recently received an implant and became very emotional when the new device was activated, under the watchful eye of her mother and Kevin Peakman, her boyfriend. However, the day’s life-changing moments didn’t end there."

Another instance where a deaf patient heard the words "I love you" was that of baby Charly or Charlotte Keane. At first, Charly didn't react to sounds or spoken cues, which worried her parents. Her anxious parents requested a hearing test from the doctor and accompanied her there. Charly was diagnosed as being deaf based on the results, for which she would have to immediately begin using a hearing aid. A hearing specialist custom-made a hearing aid for Charly's ear. They had no idea that once they turned it on, she would have such a startling reaction. 

Charly can be seen crying in the sweet video that her mother, Christy Keane, released when she hears her mother say, "I love you." In 2017, the Facebook video moved people to tears all across the world. "I was not expecting such a large response to the post". Christy claims she had no intention of making the video public, but gave in when her family urged her to so they could show it to their friends. Charly's mother provided an update in 2018 and this is what she said in an exclusive interview with Good Housekeeping: "Charly is already making huge strides in her language development and has even learned her first sign for the word 'milk'! " Charly is now 5 years old and is interacting with the world despite her disabilities, according to her mother's Instagram. She enjoys spending time with her family at places like bowling alleys and Disneyland.