Wesley has very interesting hearing impairments. On one side, he has middle ear hearing loss of low tones/sounds, and on the other, he has inner ear, permanent loss of the high tones/sounds. This makes his hearing needs very specialized.

On one side, he has a traditional hearing aid that has a mold that goes in his ear and then the device that goes over his ear (like your parents and grandparents have!).

On the other side, he has a device that is connected to a headband he wears the entire time he is awake. It is called a Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA).

This past fall, we were finally able to get Wesley to adopt the use of both successfully! And, man, did we see an immediate improvement. He was speaking more words, stringing more words together, and absolutely understanding more from the people around him.

Finally, he would say, “My name is Wesley!”

In late October of 2024, he returned home without the BAHA attached to the headband. I immediately called the school, who searched everywhere and contacted transportation. Everyone looked, and nothing was found.

I contacted Wesley’s audiologist, who encouraged me to reach out to Cochlear, the manufacturer of this device. Turns out they had a one-time loss replacement policy. They emphasized to me, and I, in turn, emphasized to the school, that if it were to be lost again, insurance would not cover it, and the cost to replace it would be around $5,000 out of pocket.

So, it was replaced, and we came up with a plan at school, and everything was going fine.

Then disaster struck again. He returned home on April 25 without the device.

Over the last week and a half, I have contacted the school, the audiologist innumerable times, Cochlear a half dozen times, my superintendent, my school board member, and his audiologist in Minnesota. I feel like I’ve exhausted every avenue available to get the school to take responsibility or insurance to cut us a break.

And I have been met with nothing but brick walls.

Meanwhile, I have watched Wes’s behavior regress drastically. The frustration, anxiety, and anger he feels at not being able to properly hear once again is affecting everyday life. His teacher has also confirmed he is struggling at school.

He needs help, so I am turning to you, my incredible network of friends and family, to ask for your help once again. You were all so incredible in 2020 when we needed so much help from you to get us through transplant! I hate to have to ask for help again so soon, but I have to help my son move through the world comfortably and successfully, and being able to hear is such a huge part of that.

I appreciate each and every one of you, even if you’re unable to help monetarily. It means the world that you read our story, and if you feel called to do so, please feel free to share our story. We need all the help we can get.

Sending so much love.

Whitney, Wesley, and Asher