VIRGINIA BEACH — A mother’s story of love for her 2-month-old daughter went viral after she posted a video of the baby hearing her say “I love you” for the first time.
Born on Aug. 2 with bilateral profound congenital hearing loss, Charlotte Ruth Keane had never been able to hear her mother’s voice until Oct. 12 when she received hearing aids from the Virginia Hearing Aid Loan Bank.
The VHALB is a state program that lends hearing aids to children under the age of 18 who have confirmed hearing loss.
Charlotte’s family didn’t know what to expect when she first received the hearing aids. Although they are still unsure of the root of her hearing loss, the degree of it was significant enough that they weren’t hopeful she’d be responsive to sound even with the hearing aids, her mother, Christy Keane, said.
Still, because they stimulate the brain and nervous system, getting the infant hearing aids was an important first step toward eventually getting her cochlear implants, which are surgically implanted to replace some inner ear function. Keane said that she and her husband plan to get cochlear implants for Charlotte in a year. They are also exploring learning American Sign Language.
But a video posted on Facebook by the 32-year-old mother showed that Charlotte was ready to listen.
The Oct. 12 video captured Charlotte’s response to her first minute of sound after getting hearing aids. In the video, the baby can be seen cooing and wrinkling her bottom lip as her mother says, “Hi… I love you!”
“I felt like our hearts were connected in that moment,” Keane said, adding that she’d always carried pain because Charlotte couldn’t hear her say “I love you.” In those first few moments with the hearing aids, that pain was erased.
Now Charlotte smiles every morning when her mother puts her hearing aids on and says “hello.” She also turns her attention to her 2-year-old sister Cameron when the little girl plays.
And Charlotte’s parents say that they plan to treat their sweet infant no differently than her sister, offering her the same motivation and support as Cameron.
“To us, she’s perfect,” Keane said.
But Charlotte’s first moments of hearing didn’t just touch her parents’ hearts — they also drew attention from viewers across the globe, many of whom have reached out to Keane to offer support and ask questions. Since it was first posted, the video has gotten 17 million views and nearly 300,000 shares.
“It seems like the world has been in such a really dark place,” Christy Keane said. “She brought a little bit of light to it.”
