Help Taelynn get her “hears”

‘Take your child home and enjoy her. There is nothing we can do for her before she is six months old,’ was the dreaded words that a young couple had to hear after their baby girl was born with a rare condition.

 
The lives of Kenton (30) and Chiarra (25) Shapiro were dramatically changed on March 11 when their daughter Taelynn Lauren, was born with a condition called Bilateral Microtia and Atresia. This meant that her inner and outer ears did not completely develop.

 
When her parents first realised that her ears were not fully developed, it was a major shock and very traumatising for this young couple, especially considering that they could not pick anything up before she was born. When the parents were told that doctors could not do anything for Taelynn for the next six months, they took the initiative to consult specialists all over the world to see whether they could immediately make a difference in Taelynn’s life.

 
They were incredibly successful in doing this. They found out that Taelynn has full functional hearing and that her development (for a baby of four months) was normal. With the help of a Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA) everything changed for the young baby when she was suddenly able to hear for the first time in her life. The hearing aid is attached via a head band that goes around her forehead allowing the bone to transfer sound to a functioning cochlea rather than via the middle ear (a process known as direct bone conduction)..

“We just want to give Taelynn a normal life and through the help of family and friends, we are now able to do so. “She is the most precious gift we could ever have asked for,” an emotional Kenton said.

 
Obtaining all of these treatments and hearing aids is an incredibly expensive and lengthy process. Unfortunately the medical aid plan the Shapiro’s are on, does not cover this condition at all and because Taelynn was born early in the year, they can only upgrade their plan in January 2020. This means that they have already spent in excess of R90 000 in the last four months (seeing as the BAHA costs are close to R70 000).

 
At the moment Taelynn does have one BAHA, but will soon need another one to balance out the sound in her brain so that she can pick up direction. This is crucial for the development of this beautiful young girl.

 
Through the help of HI HOPES (NPO), young Taelynn receives free home based support and information every two weeks regarding her condition and development. The great news is that Taelynn is on par with learning and development in her age group. This means that the couple has done something incredible to provide their young daughter with hearing and a normal life up until now.

 
The Shapiro family still has an incredibly long and tough road ahead, financially and emotionally. The cost of all future surgeries and consultations are close to R1 000 000. Kenton and Chiarra have created a crowd funding page for Taelynn with BackaBuddy and have managed to raise about R30 000 towards her next hearing aid. “Every cent towards our daughter’s hearing means the absolute world to us, and we are grateful to anyone who can help us give Taelynn a normal life” Chiarra said with tears in her eyes.

If you want to contribute to the fund, phone Kenton on 073 566 1510 or Chiarra on 076 573 7643.

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