On the way to dance training, the then nine -year -old Sophia from the Amstetten district in Lower Austria had a serious impact. Then the shattering diagnosis: it was deaf on one ear. The doctors in the Kepler Clinic in Linz then did great work.
“A school friend of my daughter came and said that an accident happened. I still thought it couldn’t be bad, perhaps a grazing wound. I ran down, and then I saw that blood comes from Sophia’s ears and also a clear liquid” Cathrin Lexmüller (37) became clear: her nine -year -old daughter Sophia not.
Spent a night in the Intensive Care unit
It was a Thursday in October 2023 when the girl from Oed-Oöhling fell with her scooter in the Amstetten district. She had borrowed a friend’s scooter and wanted to flash to dance. She fell on a slope. Diagnosis later in the hospital: Skull Base Break. Mama Lexmüller – trained nurse – took over the first aid of her daughter. “You just work,” she says about the fear moments today. A rescue helicopter then flew to Kepler University Hospital (Kuk) to Linz. After a night in intensive care, the next devastating diagnosis came: the break also went through the inner ear, Sophia was deaf on the right.
Operation within a few days
Then everything had to go fast. So that the ear was not acquired by the healing process of the body, the then nine-year-old received a so-called Cochlea implant within a few days. “It consists of two parts,” explains Sabrina Ackerl, senior speech therapist at the Kuk. The outer part looks like a hearing aid and sends the sound waves to the inner part. About 50 such implants are used every year in Linz University Hospital. Patients can hear it again.
However, a lot of practice is needed for this: “When hearing training, for example, you must deliberately listen to all sounds,” says Ockerl. This is how the brain learns to perceive the sounds about artificial ear replacement.
“I want to encourage the other”
Nowadays Sophia is eleven years old. “In the beginning it was a bit difficult. But now I am doing well,” the smart student tells the “Krone”. The eleven year can even make music with her now met again: Sophia plays the violin. What do you want to give others who read your story? “That sometimes it is not as bad when it sounds first,” she answers after a short superiority. “I want to encourage others.”
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
