Overview
- Ryder Boen, 11, from Chelsea, Oklahoma, heard clearly for the first time when his left-ear cochlear implant was switched on.
- A video of the activation drew millions of views on social media and was featured on NBC’s Today Show.
- Hearts for Hearing had treated him for years with hearing aids and listening therapy until the aids no longer helped, leading to surgery.
- He still uses a hearing aid in his right ear with implant surgery for that side planned.
- A cochlear implant sends sound signals straight to the auditory nerve, bypassing damaged inner-ear cells, which the clinic’s CEO calls highly successful yet underused.