Cochlear™ Nucleus® System Recipient Shares Her Inspiring Story on The Doctor’s Show, Hears Her Son for the First Time

Dawn Keim is a 43 year-old mother of three who lost her hearing about 15 years ago. After she learned that hearing aids were not an option for her specific type of hearing loss, she learned to cope by reading lips and sticking to small groups of people with whom she was comfortable. Communicating was extremely exhausting for her and required her to focus very hard on what was going on around her. The most heartbreaking thing of all is that she had never heard her 8 year-old son’s voice.

Two years ago, Dawn found new hope. She visited House Research Institute and was told she was a cochlear implant candidate. It wasn't an easy decision for her to move forward with the surgery. In fact, the thought of getting a cochlear implant was a scary one – it wasn't the surgery itself, but the fact that she would hear again that frightened her. She had previously imagined what her son's voice would sound like and was scared that it wouldn't live up to her expectations.

After her cochlear implant was activated, Dawn heard her son say "I love you" for the first time. She couldn't be happier that she ended up moving forward with getting her Nucleus Cochlear Implant System.

"I am so amazed and grateful every day for my cochlear implant," said Dawn. "I thought my life was great before, but now it's beyond anything I ever thought possible. If I had known what I was missing and what living with a cochlear implant was really like, I would have had surgery years ago."

Watch a clip of Dawn's story airing Thursday, February 7, 2013 on The Doctor's Show:

About Cochlear

Cochlear is the world leader in advanced hearing technologies. Since launching the first multichannel cochlear implant system 30 years ago, Cochlear has brought the miracle of sound to more than 250,000 people with hearing loss across the globe. For more information about Cochlear and its products, please visit Cochlear.com.