Photo: Global News
Christmas came early for one Canadian family.
Six months ago when Francesca Jones was born, doctors determined that she had developed a virus called congenital Cytomegalovirus (CMV), which caused her to become deaf, Global Newsreported.
Last week, however, her parents Julia Tirabasso and William Jones watched in amazement as their infant finally heard them for the first time with the assistance of cochlear implants.
“It was so subtle and so powerful that it will stay in our hearts for forever,” Julia told Global News. “She has received, basically for Christmas, the gift of hearing.”
“It scared me, we were all sleeping in the room and Francesca didn’t move; she didn’t flinch,” Julia told Global News. “She just stayed as she was and I got very nervous… an innate feeling that something was off.”
While most babies who are born with CMV rarely ever show signs or symptoms, those who do show long-term health problems often experience hearing loss, vision loss, and/or developmental or motor delay, according to theCenter for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC).
Francesca Jones and her father William.Global News
Luckily, because of Francesca’s young age and the doctor’s quick intervention, her brain is more likely to adjust to the implants better than a child who has been unable to hear for years.
“It’s a very different outcome when you put an implant in a child who’s been deaf since birth [versus] when they’re three, four, or five because the brain is already changed,” Dr. Cushing told Global News.
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Moving forward, the outlet said, Francesa will be carefully monitored through a hearing therapy program to make sure she does not exhibit any other symptoms of CMV.
Despite having the implants, Francesca’s dad said he is confident that it won’t affect his daughter’s abilities in the future.
“You don’t tell her what she can’t do; she can do ballet, she can do figure skating, she can do hockey,” he told Global News. “It’s up to her to tell you that she can’t do it for whatever reason.”
source: people.com
