live united

Last year (2010), we were fortunate enough to have Lucas be the subject of our local United Way's campaign video. I blogged about it here, where you can also view the campaign video.

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.

giving back

Lucas is not thriving right now just because he got a cochlear implant. His access to any sound at all is made possible solely through the miracle of the cochlear implant, but his ability to discriminate that sound and mimic what he hears through speech is all thanks to the hours upon hours of therapy he has participated in.

Last year I was asked to be my school district's United Way representative, because Lucas receives services from United Way funded agencies. I was thrilled to share his story, and share the miracle of the cochlear implant. I wanted to show people that deaf children really can listen and speak, and what early identification and aggressive intervention does for young children. Lucas accompanied me to many district faculty meetings, but couldn't come to all, so I made this video to chronicle his journey.

Our local United Way agency caught wind of this video and asked if Lucas could be the star of this year's campaign video. We were really happy to continue to share his story with an even broader audience this year - the whole county. It's been really fun meeting strangers who recognize Lucas, and hearing from friends who have seen Lucas's video. One friend in another school district told me that they exceeded their donation goal for this year, thanks in part to Lucas's story.

Lucas is my miracle baby. He is an inspiration. He has changed my life. I hope his story touches yours.