Featured Image Credit: YouTube/UniversityHospitals
Topics: Health, Science, Technology, Viral
Callum Jones
Topics: Health, Science, Technology, Viral
Here's the incredible moment a deaf girl heard for the first time thanks to the word of an impressive brain implant.
Maggie Gleason's story went viral way back in 2015 as medical experts filmed her hearing sounds for the first time.
It's the most heartwarming clip you'll watch to kick off 2025, and people on the internet who have can certainly confirm that.
Maggie underwent major surgery as a teen that saw an auditory brainstem implant placed on the lower part of her brain.
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Doctors recorded her reaction after they turned on the implant at UH Case Medical Center in Cleveland, and the footage showed Maggie grinning as she heard for the first time.
"Maggie, can you hear me?", her father Frank asked.
"You can hear my voice? What about your sister?", Maggie's mother Joanna then said.
Maggie then nodded and uttered a 'yes', as the whole room burst out into tears at the extremely emotional moment.
University Hospitals uploaded the clip to YouTube, where it quickly went viral with close to three million views.
"Maggie Gleason, 14, who was born deaf, heard sound for the first time ever when hearing specialists at UH Cleveland Medical Center turned on an innovative electronic device called an auditory brainstem implant (ABI)," a description to the YouTube video read.
Many flocked to the comments section of the video, and it's safe to say there's not a dry eye in the house.
"What an inspirational family! I'm happy that this technology has reached Maggie; may it help her continue to make great strides in her life. Bravo!", one person wrote.
A second added: "WOOOO!! Go humans and science!!!! This is so amazing....just wow."
Many asked how Maggie was able to understand what doctors and her nearest and dearest were saying, so the University Hospitals account took to the comments section to further explain the situation.
They said: "So Maggie does not yet understand words as we do. She currently communicates using a combination of American Sign Language (ASL) and lip-reading cues, now combined with auditory cues. She is working with a speech-language pathologist toward the goal of understanding words using the auditory cues. Think of it like learning a foreign language; the auditory sounds of the foreign words are being heard, but the brain must be trained how to make sense of the sounds. This will take time."
The auditory brainstem implant, an electric device, is placed in a spot on the head where the spinal cord and lower part of the brain meet.