Surgically implanted device allows boy, 10, to hear thanks to CHEO

A 10-year-old boy is now able to hear better, thanks to an implanted device and the audiology staff at CHEO.

May is speech and hearing month. Hearing is not only crucial to a child’s development of listening and spoken language skills, but to brain development, language, social and emotional health.

Edwin (Eddie) Proulx points at a bird just outside of CHEO, "There’s one."

It’s a sound many take for granted.

"I can hear them chirping and it kind of calms me," Eddie tells CTV News Ottawa.

Eddie says the device allowing him to hear has changed his life, whether it's listening to birds out in nature or finding his friends while playing ‘hide and go seek’.

"Cause I can hear them, maybe giggling," Eddie says.

Or other sounds.

"Sounds of cars, sounds of the birds, sounds of animals, sounds of people talking in lower tones – he couldn’t hear and now he can," Christina Proulix, Eddie's mother, says. "It’s made a difference, big time, yeah.”

Eddie has a device that’s made a change in his life.

"I can hear much better, and I can hear from like far away,” he says.

He was born with Microtia, a condition where someone is born with an underdeveloped external ear, often with no ear canal.

"He was having a hard time to hear certain sounds, and the hearing aids that he was wearing weren’t picking up these sounds," Proulx said.

Now, he has a Bone Conduction Implant, surgically inserted by doctors at CHEO.

"It’s a permanent implant that’s underneath the skin," Dr. Matthew Bromwich said. "And the sound quality is second to none."

These devices send vibrations through the bones of the skull, directly to the inner ear.

"Just like if you were to plug your ears and maybe scratch your head, it’s actually louder with your ear plugged," Bromwich said. "So that means the sound coming through your face or through the bone is being transmitted to your ear – and that’s how this works."

The device consists of an inner piece, surgically implanted, and an outer piece.   The first time Eddie’s was turned on, "He just said, 'Wow - it just sounds like my other ear,' Sarah Ryan, CHEO audiologist, CTV News Ottawa.

"I thought that was super heartwarming."

Hearing is important in the development of a child.

"In the beginning, having good access to sound is really key to speech and language development; but, then once you get into the school-age years, it really is important for social development, social interactions," Ryan said.

Eddie’s journey started at CHEO at an early age. Ryan has watched him grow since.

“Really is super rewarding; that’s one of the reasons why I chose this career as an audiologist, because it really is rewarding giving a child kind of the gift of hearing and helping them through their hearing journey."

Devices like these are not always covered by the Ontario government. That’s why CHEO donor support is important.

"We’re able to bring world-class care to patients who wouldn’t otherwise have it," Bromwich said.

"As soon as we found CHEO, Eddie’s life just changed," Proulx said.