Showing posts with label viral. Show all posts
Showing posts with label viral. Show all posts

Monday, October 03, 2011

When haters gonna still hate....and the clueless ones continue to be clueless...

Amazing and touching video of a young woman turning on her implantable Esteem hearing aid for the first time. This YouTube video has gone viral with 4.8 million views and counting with over 20,000 comments along with over 49,000 likes and over 700 dislikes. Good thing the majority knows better and knows what a good thing looks like. Kudos to Sarah Churman for a successful implant but then the sad thing is that you'll get your usual haters in the comment section as always by a bunch of idiots who don't know any better. And then you have a bunch of ignorant people who can't even understand that deaf/hh people can speak just fine. And if you look further you might find a few gems.You'll have to spend some time to find and read those comments including the Today show. And, of course, you gotta go to this forum with the discussion on whether the video is a fake or not. 

Being ignorant is not an excuse.

Next, I bet with this viral video it will push a 2nd wave of interest from people wanting to know more about the Esteem implantable hearing aid and perhaps get even more investors for the makers of Esteem. Last year Rush Limbaugh helped advertise the Esteem hearing aid and saw a huge wave of interest in this new albeit very expensive hearing technology.
Thanks in large part to Limbaugh's plug on his radio show, White Bear Lake, Minn.-based Envoy recently raised another $16.4 million, including $10 million from hearing aid powerhouse Starkey Laboratories Inc., for its Esteem implantable hearing device.
Nice of Starkey Laboratories to donate $10 million dollars to Envoy as a worthy cause.

And lastly, as I mull this thought, I wonder what are the odds that Limbaugh will read about this YouTube viral on his radio show? I'd say it'd be pretty good odds over the next few days or so for that to happen.

UPDATE: For the naysayers, haters and doubters:
The Texan woman had been wearing hearing aids from the age of two, but had mainly relied on lip-reading, because 'hearing aids only help so much'.
Supportive messages have poured in from viewers, including one who wrote: 'This is one of the most beautiful and moving things I've witnessed. We're all so happy for you.'
Mrs Churman replied on YouTube: 'Thank you for all the positive comments... thanks for all the people who are kind.'
In response to viewers who were amazed at her ability to speak clearly, the formerly deaf woman said: 'My whole life I've been complimented on how well I speak.
'I don't really have an answer for you other than I have always had a passion for reading, grammar, and English.
'My hearing loss was/is considered severe to profound. I've worked very hard to be able to interact and blend in... only thing I can say is 'God is good'.'