Little Charlotte was completely deaf. Nothing in either Christy Keane's or her husband's family history indicated a hearing loss, and as her mom expressed in Instagram, "nothing can truly prepare you for that news." However, the couple wasn't worried. The child fit in very well with them.
The only sad part of the news was, as Christy said, "she never heard me tell her how much I talked to her when she was in my belly, she never heard me welcome her to the world, she never heard me sing her to sleep, and the hardest part to handle, she never heard me say 'I love you'."
As Charly is only a few months old, she is still too young for cochlear implants, so the doctor fitted her with hearing aids instead.
When mom started talking to little Charly, her face lit up.
That's when Christy had to say those three little words: "I love you."
Tears began to well up in the little girl's eyes, and it was evident that she knew how truly loved she was.
Christy wrote on Facebook, "We had a miraculous moment when I was playing with her after Char got fitted for hearing aids today. We didn't think she would hear anything, so this was more incredible than I can put into words! Imagine our astonishment and joy when she offered us such deep emotion," she said on Instagram.
Charlotte's father, Daniel, filmed the video that was shared online, and Christy says that the military father also choked up when he saw his newborn's face.
"He was just as emotional as I was," Christy says. "All this time we had been sad because she couldn't heal us, all that pain went away." The hearing aids were provided to the family by donors and were given to the Keanes free of charge.
"CHARLY HEARS FOR THE FIRST TIME AND HEARS ME SAY I LOVE YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME," Christy wrote in the video. "And she's holding back the happy tears and just as emotional as her mom."
"She has found great comfort in hearing and it won't be taken away," Christy says. "She will always be deaf, and we can't say to what degree the hearing aids are giving her hearing, we just know that she's showing great sensitivity and positivity."
Christy's video has gone viral in the past week, garnering over 10 million views and 200,000 shares. That's a lot of love, and I hope it spreads to other patients who are dealing with similar challenges.
