Fair warning; you might need tissues while watching this one.
Seven-year-old Jenri Rivera, from Guatemala, was born deaf. Earlier this week, he heard his family’s voices for the first time, after he made a life-changing trip to America for a cochlear implant.
The story began three years earlier when nurse Erin Van Oordt visited Guatemala on a mission trip and met the young boy.
Speaking to a local US news channel, Van Oordt said; “There was something special about him from the beginning.
“I started talking to him, and he couldn’t hear me. I knew my Spanish wasn’t that bad, so I started asking around and they said he hasn’t heard since he was little. I said we need to figure this out, and that’s when we started the whole process.”
With help from nonprofit organisation Ray of Hope, Erin organised for Jenri to attain a medical visa and travel to the US for the operation.
Jenri is set to remain in the U.S for a few more months as he learns to understand what he’s hearing and how to communicate using his speech. The video above captures his remarkable story.
