A Little Miracle

The final (and excruciatingly late) upload of what was intended to be my Thanksgiving piece.

Late January, seven years ago, my Dad ran up to the hospital in the middle of the night to be with my mom. The doctors had to get out the baby, because her heart had stopped beating. My parents were told, that, in order to save the baby's life, the doctors would have to giver her a drug that could cause brain damage, but it was the only thing they had. Of course, my parents agreed to the procedure.

A few days later, my little sister was the biggest baby in the NICU, with what seemed to be hundreds of tubes and monitors attached to her. She was well cared for, and soon came home, my family's little miracle.

She grew up normally, showing no signs of retardation. But at the age of two, we realized that she had profound hearing loss. We soon obtained one hearing aid, then two, customized for her hearing level.

About 2 years ago, my parents had finally come to the conclusion that even hearing aids did not compensate, and researched devices called "cochlear implants". They were soon the subject of our fascination and we all agreed that our little sister needed one.

Cochlear implantation is some serious surgery. They place a small electrode in your cochlea, and if, in the process, they disturb any of the tiny hairs, you could become completely deaf. Then they place a magnet under your skin behind your ear. Keep in mind this ALL occurs centimeters away from your brain.

Long months after the surgery, the cochlear implant is activated at the lowest level, allowing you to hear a little. The intensity is ramped up months at a time until the implant is fully functional.

The sweetest moment off all of this was when we came home after the first activation, and George and Ethel (our resident doves) began cooing across the yard at each other. My little sister pulled on Dad's shirt sleeve, saying, "Daddy! I hear the birds!" Never before in her life had she heard birdsong.

As I drew this, she was singing and dancing in my bedroom to Taylor Swift's "Mean". Sure, she may not get all the lyrics correctly, and with today's technology, will never be able to hear as well as a hearing person, she carries the tune so well and loves music so much, you can't help but smile.


How ironic is it that a little deaf girl, who by all rights shouldn't be able to hear at all, is singing along to the radio?

The blind will see
The deaf will hear
The dead will live again
The lame will leap
The dumb will speak
The praises of the lamb
-"Mary Did You Know?"

I'm proud to be your big sister, Shortie.
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Technical details:
First attempt coloring like this, using a mechanical pencil and Crayola colored pencils.

Art(C)~Kevari