Brainstem Implant Installed for the First Time in a Belarusian Child. The Boy Was Born Completely Deaf

For the first time in Belarus, a child received a brainstem implant — now he can hear. Money for the operation was collected by the whole country — €85,000 arrived in the parents' account in two and a half months, writes the Minsk district publication "Pristalichcha". Platon lives in the village of Lyaskovka, Minsk district. He was born deaf, although his twin brother Yaryk was born completely healthy. The child's exact diagnosis is congenital absence of cochlea and semicircular canals, bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Platon could only start hearing again after brain surgery — he needed a brainstem implant. To raise the full amount for the operation (€85,000), the parents launched a charity fundraiser. The money appeared unexpectedly quickly — in two and a half months. And already in March, Platon underwent the necessary operation at the University Hospital Würzburg in Germany. In total, the boy spent 11 hours under anesthesia. "It was scary. Doctors warned that the operation might not go as planned. If the brain didn't respond to the sensors, they would just close the wound and send us home," said his mother Anastasia. In May, in intensive care under the supervision of doctors, 12 sensors were connected to the child. The process was nerve-wracking, as not all of them might work. "I wanted to believe that Platon would immediately say: 'Mom, I love you.' But, naturally, that didn't happen. However, we were very lucky — all 12 sensors connected," Anastasia noted. Now the device is removed from the boy only for the night. A metal plate is implanted behind his ear, to which the device — a small magnetic tablet — is attached. For now, an additional bandage has to be used because the device is designed for adults. The sensitivity of the sensors will be adjusted gradually so as not to overload the child and not to scare him with loud sounds. Now Platon is working with educators. And there are already first successes: he has learned to pronounce the sounds "a" and "u". Sometimes the boy can spontaneously call his parents, say the long-awaited words "mom" and "dad". Platon also went to kindergarten, to the same group his brother Yaryk attends. Anastasia admits that sometimes it's not easy to let her son go — she worries about him a lot. Because any injury for Platon could be fatal. The family will still have to travel to Germany — regularly once every three months to adjust the sensors. The family plans to cover all expenses independently.