As new parents everything your child does is extremely special, their first steps, first words, and the first time they respond when you say “I love you.” It is an incredibly beautiful moment in any parent’s life but it was even more extraordinary for a mother with a deaf child. Little Charly’s parents had to deal with the news that their darling little girl was born deaf. Their kid was able to hear her parents’ voices for the first time thanks to the assistance of professional and modern technology.
Initially, Charlotte Keane or Charly didn’t respond to noises or vocal cues, and her parents became anxious. Her worried parents took her to the doctor and asked for a hearing test. The results revealed that Charly was deaf. She would have to start using a hearing aid right away. A hearing specialist custom-made a hearing aid for Charly’s ear. They had no clue she would have such a strong reaction once they switched it on, reports Good Housekeeping.
Her mother, Christy Keane, shared the adorable video where Charly can be seen tearing up when she hears her mother say “I love you.” The video went viral on Facebook in 2017 and made people cry across the world. Christy told the outlet at the time, “I was not expecting such a large response to the post.” Christy claims she had no intention of making the video public, but when relatives urged her to do so so that they could share it with their friends, she gladly agreed.
She said, “I thought, ‘Oh, what’s the harm? I’ll make it public. And then, I think I woke up the next day with a thousand shares and by Monday it had hit a million.” She wrote in the caption of the video, “CHARLY HEARS FOR THE FIRST TIME AND HEARS ME SAY I LOVE YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! “And she’s holding back happy tears and emotional as her mama.”
Christy expressed her own emotions after witnessing her baby’s reaction, “I had never in my life seen that face before. I’m her mother, and I know the look in her eyes when she’s sad, upset or hurting, and that connection, and that moment when our eyes met and she heard my voice for the first time, that was true emotion from her.”
Her father Daniel, was as emotional as Christy, she explained, “All this time that we had spent sad that she wasn’t able to hear us, all that pain went away.”
In an update given by her mother in 2018, 10-month-old Charly had started to communicate with her family. Christy said in an exclusive video sent to Good Housekeeping, “Charly is already making huge strides in her language development and has even learned her first sign for the word ‘milk’! “
Charly would also have cochlear implants that summer, according to Christy, which would improve her hearing even further. According to the manufacturer behind cochlear implants, the devices vary from hearing aids in that they effectively do the function of the damaged areas, whereas hearing aids just enhance the sounds. Her mother said, “It is really important to me that, regardless of her cochlear implants, that Charly has a strong deaf identity and ties to the deaf community. We appreciate everyone’s love and support from around the world and we can’t wait to see what amazing things Charly will accomplish in her life.”
According to her mother’s Instagram, Charly is now 5-years-old and is experiencing the world despite her disability. She goes on Disneyland trips and bowling alleys and is having an absolutely wonderful time with her family.