Maggie Gleason, who was born deaf, experienced hearing for the first time at the age of 14.
Here’s the amazing moment a deaf girl hears for the first time, thanks to the power of a groundbreaking brain implant.
Maggie Gleason’s story went viral back in 2015 when medical professionals captured the moment she heard sounds for the very first time.
It’s the perfect heartwarming video to start off 2025, and those who’ve seen it can definitely vouch for its emotional impact.
As a teenager, Maggie underwent a major surgery, where an auditory brainstem implant was placed in the lower part of her brain, enabling her to experience sound.
Doctors captured her reaction when the implant was activated at UH Case Medical Center in Cleveland, and the footage revealed Maggie’s joyful grin 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?” her mother Joanna then inquired.
Maggie nodded and softly said “yes,” as the entire room was overcome with emotion, with tears flowing in response to the heartwarming moment.
University Hospitals shared the clip on YouTube, where it quickly went viral, amassing nearly 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 activated an innovative electronic device called an auditory brainstem implant (ABI),” read the video description.
The comments section of the video filled with viewers expressing their emotions, and it’s safe to say there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
“What an inspirational family! I’m so happy this technology has reached Maggie; may it help her continue to make great strides in her life. Bravo!” one person wrote.
A second commenter added, “WOOOO!! Go humans and science!!!! This is so amazing… just wow.”
Many viewers were curious about how Maggie could understand what the doctors and her loved ones were saying, prompting the University Hospitals account to step in and provide further clarification in the comments section.
They explained, “Maggie doesn’t yet understand words the way we do. She currently communicates using a combination of American Sign Language (ASL) and lip-reading, now augmented by auditory cues. She is working with a speech-language pathologist to eventually understand words through these auditory cues. It’s like learning a foreign language; she can hear the sounds of the foreign words, but her brain needs to be trained to make sense of them. This process will take time.”
The auditory brainstem implant, an electronic device, is surgically placed at the junction where the spinal cord and lower part of the brain meet.
