The ability to see and hear is a gift and it opens up so many doors and pleasures in life, that it’s hard to imagine life without being able to use our eyes and ears to get through the days.
Like most things in life, we don’t appreciate these gifts until we lose them or in some cases if we are born without them.
Fifteen-month-old Owen Montoya was born deaf, which was exceptionally difficult for his musically-inclined parents. Naturally, they hoped he would follow in their footsteps and appreciate music in the same way that they did.
Learning a parent’s voice is one of the first things that a baby does when it comes to recognizing their caretakers and it doesn’t take long for most babies to pick up on the inflections and tones of their mom and dad’s voice.
Babies don’t even have to be facing the parent for them to recognize that they are in the room and will show feelings of excitement and happiness when they hear that memorized voice.
But, Owen never had the chance to learn his mom and dad’s voice, until recently, after he underwent surgery to place a cochlear implant in his left ear.
And from that moment on, the boy’s life changed forever.
In the video below, you can witness Owen experiencing sound for the first time and it’s clear that this added sense is bringing him joy, right along with his parents.
He can be seen smiling at simple things that we take for granted every day, like the gurgling sound made from lips. Owen is clearly in awe when he smiles at the noises erupting from his caretaker’s lips.
He even points to the lips, recognizing where the noise is coming from. And then, he is seen sitting at the dinner table while listening to music.
This is where Owen really shows his newfound love for music, and he starts dancing in his seat as if its the most natural thing in the world for him.
He’s bouncing side to side and waving his arms around showing off his love of the tunes. The entire time, he is bobbing his head up and down with a huge grin on his face.
This surgery was certainly a life changer for both Owen and his family.
“We were so excited to see him enjoying music this much, it was the craziest moment ever,” said his mother, Janae Montoya, 26.
“When we found out Owen was deaf, it was very hard for us, because our family is very musical. I’ve always wanted him to experience it.”
It’s like witnessing someone opening up a gift for the first time and luckily his parents will be able to watch these videos forever and show Owen how happy he was when he was blessed with the newfound ability to hear.
All of our senses are given to us as a gift in life and because we are born with them and they are all we know, we sometimes take them for granted.