“He Didn’t Flinch”
The hearing test that changed one family’s life and the bill that could help save another child’s hearing
Sara Holcomb‘s toddler son August was on her lap. Headphones on. Appropriately hard to settle.
Hearing technicians initiated the sounds. You know the beeps.
He didn’t flinch.
With each attempt, Sara slowly came to understand something she had never imagined.
August wasn’t hearing the sounds.
My aging millennial mind immediately goes to Mr. Holland's Opus. The scene where his son sleeps peacefully through the blaring horns of fire trucks at a parade and they first realize he cannot hear.
In August’s case, the cause was congenital CMV (cCMV), undiagnosed at birth.
A virus that could have been treated.
Hearing that could have been saved.
This is one of the hardest moments Sara has ever had to speak about.
She's speaking about it anyway.
Because Sara is advocating for Massachusetts to require universal cCMV screening at birth. The kind of screening that could have saved August's hearing.
It was too late for August.
It doesn't have to be too late for the next child.
Sara is at the State House right now (literally today!) working to get co-sponsors for a cCMV screening bill before it goes to a vote this summer. Public pressure makes an enormous difference.
If you live in Massachusetts, this link will take you to an email tailored to your local representative.
1 click.
10 seconds.
Save a child's hearing.
❤️
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Full interview with Sara Holcomb, SVP at Criteo and mother of two, is out now on The Mothers wherever you listen: Spotify, Apple, YouTube & Instagram.