On Thursday we were asked to appear on our local television station to promote an event thanking all of the contributors to the campaign. Together, our county raised over 8.5 million dollars for the United Way. I can't help but think that Lucas's story helped contribute to that amount just a little.
We were only contacted on the day before the news broadcast, and I told them it would only work if they could broadcast from our home, due to the fact that we're at work by 7:15 AM daily. At 5 AM Thursday morning, the news van pulled into our driveway and our story was televised live at 5:30 & 6:30 AM. Talk about pressure to say the right things! We also recorded a segment to be played at noon. Lucky for us, we have a record of all 3 broadcasts, thanks to DVR. You can see the 6:30 coverage here. Although I did not script what I said, I had a couple of key points that I wanted to make. I wanted to praise the cochlear implant for giving him access to sound, attribute his ability to listen and speak to the hours upon hours of therapies he's received, and acknowledge the agency where his amazing speech therapist works.
We were then invited to attend the thank you dinner to wrap up the program. I spoke on stage about the miracle of the cochlear implant and how Lucas's success wouldn't be possible without the hours upon hours of therapy that have been provided to him. Lucas also spoke to the audience, thanking them for helping him, and saying goodnight.
What a long, but powerful day we had. It was our way of giving back and a reminder of how blessed we really are, how lucky Lucas really is. He was born in the right decade (universal newborn hearing screen & cochlear implant technology), in the right country (with great access to health care), to the right parents (I'll take a little credit here for my perseverance), with the right genes (let's face it, this kid was born to talk).
We are so, so proud of our little man, and so thankful to be his parents.
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3 comments:
How awesome! Loved the clip! And you deserve all the credit in the world! Lucas is incredibly lucky to have you and your husband as his parents. :) You are a great advocate!
Emily
That was great! Sorry you had to get up so early, but it was a really good interview. And I agree with Emily -- take the bulk of the credit. The technology, the therapy -- those are key linchpins, but it's providing a rich language environment 24/7, and advocating for him, that really gets the job done.
That is awesome.
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