
BY LYNDSEY GARZA ANCHOR CANDICE AVILES Thanks to a cochlear implant, 10-year-old Sammie Hicks can hear again. CNN has the emotional moment... "Watch Sammie jump when the audiologist activates the implant. Then the first thing she hears... herself -- breathing." Hicks was born with a genetic mutation and had limited hearing. She lost her hearing completely at the age of two. After the family's insurance company agreed to pay for the implant, Jenifer Hicks, Sammie's mom, began a video blog to document her daughter's struggles, post-surgery. Here's their conversation a mere four hours afterwards... "How do you feel now?" "Well it hurts, but it doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would be." "What does your head feel like?" "Heavy." The implant works like much like a "bionic ear". Once it is surgically implanted under the skin, it is turned on three weeks later. Hicks' physician, Dr. Paul Baurer explains to ABC News... "Inside of your inner ear are millions of microscopic hairs that turn the nerves on and off, in very simple form. And what a cochlear implant is trying to do, is replacing those hairs." According to Australia's NineMSN, the implant works differently than a standard hearing aid. While hearing aids simply amplify sounds, the implant bypasses the damaged tissue and stimulates the auditory nerves directly. It does what Hicks' ears cannot do naturally. While the $27000 implant is a miracle in itself, it isn't perfect. Hicks says all the voices she hears sound like <b>...</b>
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sammie hicks regains hearing
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