Hearing for the Holidays

In early December we were contacted by Jennifer Marquez. She was trying to help her brother, Antonio, get the hearing help he desperately needed.

When Antonio was a small child he had a very harsh allergic reaction to a medication and it unfortunately left him with significant hearing loss.

Growing up moving between Mexico and the United States, Antonio was never able to get the hearing help he needed. It was difficult for him to a good education, and while living in Mexico, he ended up taking a job in a shoe factory.

Now at age 20, Antonio moved to Texas to live with Jennifer, and while she was happy to have him, she was also working full time and raising a young child while her husband was deployed overseas. All of that made it difficult for her to be able to get help for her brother.

She wanted him to have all the advantages that a person living with normal hearing would have. While researching on what could be done, she navigated to our website where she learned about our Hear Now Program that gives hearing assistance in the United States.

She thought sending off an email was a complete shot in the dark, and was shocked when just a couple days later she heard back.

Antonio’s story made its way to Tani Austin, who jumped at the chance to be able to help. With our Dec. 22 Vikings hearing mission fast approaching at our Twin Cities headquarters, we worked diligently to provide all the travel arrangements to have Antonio, Jennifer and 18-month-old Olesya come up to be a part of it.

They showed up at the mission not knowing what to expect, but as soon as Antonio was fit with hearing aids, his eyes lit up and a big smile spread across his face as he could hear Jennifer talk.

“We’re still in complete disbelief,” Jennifer said. “We’ve never seen anything like this of being shown such care from people. It will be a while before it actually sets in that we were able to receive hearing aids like this.”

We’re thrilled that we were able to give Antonio such a cherished gift that will allow him to hear his family over the holidays, and excited that he’s now heading back home to Texas with a world of new opportunities.