By Abbey Cannan
Noosaville 5-year-old, Phoenix Long and her parents Lisa and Magnus are urging the Noosa community to get loud to help give babies born deaf the gift of sound.
Lisa and Magnus first new something wasn’t right when their second born baby, Phoenix, failed her newborn screening test. After multiple tests, it was confirmed that Phoenix was born with bilateral moderate sensory neural hearing loss.
“We were really shocked because our son had no hearing problems at all,” Lisa said while holding back tears.
“Both my partner and I were crying our eyes out on the way home from the hospital because we didn’t know what the future looked like for our daughter.”
That was until the family connected with local Queensland not-for-profit Hear and Say, who provide world-class listening and spoken language therapy and auditory support such as cochlear implants and hearing aids, to help give kids like Phoenix the gift of sound.
Thanks to Hear and Say, Phoenix was fitted with hearing aids at 5 months old. Once not being able to hear soft sounds like ‘Ph,’ Lisa and Magnus were over the moon when Phoenix was finally able to say her own name.
“It was really upsetting to know we had just named our daughter a name that she wouldn’t be able to hear,” Lisa said.
“We will never forget the day when Phoenix said her name properly for the first time at her Hear and Say playgroup.”
Phoenix is now a bubbly five year old and is hearing, listening and speaking just like any other typical hearing kid her age.
“Hear and Say have had a really big part of helping Phoenix become who she is today,” Lisa said.
“I don’t think she would be the resilient, confident girl that she is today without them.
“Without Hear and Say the future for Phoenix may not have been so bright, so we need the support of our community to keep this program going to help support these kids with hearing loss.”
For this year’s annual Hear and Say Loud Shirt Day fundraiser, Lisa, Magnus and Phoenix are calling on Sunshine Coasters to wear a bright shirt and donate ahead of Friday 22 October, so Hear and Say can continue to give the gift of sound to hearing-impaired Queenslanders.
Hear and Say Acting CEO, Bridget Murray is excited to unite the community for a life-changing cause.
“We are thrilled to celebrate the 15-year anniversary of Loud Shirt Day and are encouraging businesses and individuals in our community to go big and bright, so Hear and Say can continue to provide our world-leading services now and into the future,” Ms Murray said.
“As a not-for-profit, we rely on the generostity of Queenslanders to help us ensure children with hearing loss are afforded access to our world-class hearing technology and spoken language therapy.
“By ditching your daily wear for a loud shirt and raising funds, together we can can open worlds and profoundly impact the lives of those living with hearing loss in our community,” she said.
Donations can be made at hearandsay.com.au/loudshirtday
