Sixteen days ago 29-year-old Sarah Churman posted a video of herself hearing her voice loud and clear for the first time after being implanted with Envoy Medical’s Esteem device. The video went viral, sales have spiked and Churman and Envoy have shared the spotlight on The Today Show, Ellen DeGeneres, Fox and Friends, and CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, among others. The story was also covered on 150 local television stations, and the media attention keeps coming: MSNBC will be doing a story at Churman’s house.
Envoy already spends around $8 million to $10 million a year on radio advertising with announcers including Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Michael Savage. Company CEO Patrick Spearman said as a result of the video big-name celebrities have approached Envoy about getting the device. Spearman thinks that development could lead to television appearances as well as television advertising.In short, it was a good deal for Envoy Medical to help re-imburse Sarah the $30,000 she spent on the hearing aid implant and will cover for free for Sarah's second implant for her other ear. The viral video was after all basically free advertising for the company's product.
A few days ago Sarah answered a few questions of her own in her own blog. Today, more questions were answered regarding the many complaints saying the whole video was fixed, for example.
In addition to an increase in media exposure and sales, the video also led to a lot of skepticism. Critical anonymous online commenters accused Envoy of creating the video as a marketing strategy. Envoy has posted around 20 to 25 similar videos themselves in the past, though none of them had the same impact as Churman’s.
Did Envoy have something to do with it?
“Absolutely not,” Spearman said. “It was a surprise to us.”
Churman’s husband posted it to YouTube “thinking his family and friends would watch it and people were so touched by it that all of a sudden it went viral,” Spearman said.
Envoy Medical has since given Churman a free device for her other ear.
“It’s basically a reimbursement for her time,” Spearman said, pointing out that she’s been flying all over the country for television appearances.That's what I said, too, about how the video was meant for her family and didn't expect it to go viral.
And then you have the doubts that Sarah could not be deaf (well, she is, so get over it) only because she speaks so clearly or how she could hear her own voice for the first time because, darn it, it's an impossibility!
“The definition of deaf is somewhat of a range,” Spearman said. “If you have a severe hearing loss, you’re considered deaf, anything over a 70 decibel loss.
“The skepticism, you’re always going to have people who are skeptical but the reason is because she said I heard my voice for the first time. Well, what she heard was her real voice, the same way you and I hear our own voice. She could hear something [before]. Not a lot, and not very well, but she could hear tones and sounds or she wouldn’t be able to speak. And that’s where this came from, people saying, ‘Well, she’s not deaf.’
“Well, it’s just a matter of semantics and how you define deaf, but she basically has a severe hearing loss because I’ve obviously seen her audiogram. She had a 70 to 75 decibel loss at 1500 to 2000 hertz, and that’s a severe hearing loss.”Not the full detail of her audiogram but I'm happy with it though I didn't feel the need to question her so harshly or unnecessarily.
There you have it folks. Pretty much all in a nutshell with most questions answered. She's deaf. She can speak really well. The viral video isn't a fake and was never a ploy set up by Envoy Medical. And she can finally hear very well with the help of her new implantable hearing aid.
Time for people to move on and stop speculating and nitpicking, and be happy for Sarah just for once. Welcome her with open arms.
7 comments:
Ha! Nice try.
She has relatively low the clash between the 70db and the 1500/2000 hertz in the audiogram. She could hear anything with or without the hearing aids or enovy esteem in the 'hertz' section.
If she was born with the sensorineural hearing loss, she needs to provide her audiogram since birth. I don't think she is completely honest about her 'audiogram' status since birth.
'Sensorineural' hearing loss can change and impact in the audiogram later in life. For instance, if an infant with the 40 db in left ear and the 20 db in right ear, the audiologist will diagnose this infant might have the sensorineural hearing loss since birth. Later in life, this infant's audiogram will change and impact to become severe hearing loss or deaf.
I am very glad to know that there is the EHDI program that can be available and help. I am pretty sure that the EHDI will lobby how to dealt with the "legally certified" diagnostics, perhaps, including the status in the supercomputer, during the convention.
White Ghost
She's not "required" to give anybody her audiogram. Secondly, one must have sensorineural hearing loss (40 to 90 db) in order to have the implantable hearing aid. It only works for those with sensorinueral hearing loss. Spearman said hers is 70 and 75 db loss in the 1500 and 2000 Hz range. Mine is between 68 and 72 and I can certainly NOT hear everything without my hearing aid because the sound has to be literally next to my ear such as on the TV speakers or talk slightly loud right into my ear in order for me to hear and understand clearly what's being said. The distortion is actually less that way, too. Normal speech (1500 and 2000 Hz is a crucial range) decibel is around 35 to 40 db. Sarah's hairs in her cochlea are tangled as a result of her genetic DNA as she already explained on the Ellen DeGeneres show. Mine is not but stunted because of Rubella while in the womb. Both is still categorized as sensorinueral hearing loss. Having a digital hearing aid is a world difference from having an implantable hearing aid simply because a digital aid distorts sound while the Envoy does not because it uses the eardrum as a natural microphone without the sound distortion. That's why her voice came in so much clearer, louder and hearing her natural voice for the first time.
She is deaf. If she wants to describe herself as deaf then fine. She is hard of hearing and if she wants to describe herself as hard of hearing then fine. I'm deaf but I am also hard of hearing because of my ability. Same for Sarah. She got the better end of the deal and gotten an Envoy.
WG, how about be happy for Sarah who is finding happiness with her new Envoy hearing aid and welcome her with open arms? Her video going viral wasn't her fault. She didn't put it up, her husband did. The video was meant for her family and friends.
BTW, mine is a like concave slope. I hear much better in the lower and higher frequency range but levels out in the crucial speech range between 68 and 72 db at the 1500 and 2000 Hz level.
Hmmm.
Some deaf ppl's audiograms don't change much from birth throughout adulthood. Mine, for instance, has changed very little over my lifetime and the hearing loss is sensorineural.
Sarah Churman has stated on the Ellen DeGeneres show that her hearing loss is due to a genetic defect of the cochlea hairs in her ears. Meaning that she was born this way, with a hearing loss.
It is possible that she has had the same loss of 70 to 75 dB, and not a progressive one, throughout her life. A 70 to 75 dB loss would require hearing aids to hear human speech clearly. Uh, yeah, someone with such a loss could hear speech if a person spoke right into her ear, but not at the distance most spoken conversation is held.
And Mike's right, Sarah's not required to make her audiogram public. I don't know of very many v/bloggers who do, in fact. It's a given that if a v/blogger claims to have a hearing loss, then that's what it is. To reveal that one has a hearing loss is personal enough info as it is. To reveal the degree of the loss in dB and hertz is even more revealing. Ever given yours, WG? ;)
Ann_C
Right, Ann. Mine hardly changed since as a young adult but so what. What has to do with Sarah getting her Envoy? As far as we know her hearing loss isn't a progressive one.
Hi Mike, I just came across your blog today and wanted to comment about the Sarah sensation. I believe every bit of it is real because I was just activated with my Esteem implant on October 17th (so 6 days ago) and Sarah's reaction was every bit as honest as mine even though more dramatic. I, too, wish the nay sayers would just let it be and let this beautiful moment shine! I went public with my activation video on Facebook for my family and they all knew I could hear with my hearing aids but the moment was still so special to them because now I could hear without my aids! It is like hearing for the first time because it is so different from what we know! Just wanted to say kudos to you for rallying behind her. I started a blog about my Esteem activation because there isn't much out there on this procedure and I'll leave you with my link, as maybe others could benefit from it. www.MyEsteemStory.blogspot.com
Hi Mike, just came across you blog today! Kudos to you for standing behind Sarah Churman! I just want to chime in and say I believe her story is genuine because I just experienced my own Esteem activation on October 17th! My reaction, although not as dramatic, was just as heartfelt. I truly relate to her story and it makes me sad that others are doubting her. I have hearing loss in the 50 db range and had speech therapy and hearing aids since 5 yrs of age. I'm now 30. I speak very well, but am extremely soft spoken, also odd for a HoH person, right? But that's how I've always been. Keep up the great blogging and support! I've just started my own blog about my Esteem implant since it isn't well known yet. I'm hoping now it is getting the recognition it deserves! www.MyEsteemStory.blogspot.com
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