Hadassah Alexander is a 3.5 year old female from Nigeria who was born with hearing, but following an illness shortly after birth, she became deaf. With no hearing, she has not learned to talk and no formal sign language was available. With the assistance of Dr. J. Douglas Green and the Hearing Help for Africa, Hadassah came to the United States and received a cochlear implant to the right ear on February 12, 2013. One week later, the implant was activated and Hadassah heard the sound of her mother, Maryam’s voice for the first time. Hadassah smiled and laughed, especially when hearing her foot steps on the tile floor. She was intrigued with noise toys and the sound of jingle bells.

Hadassah Alexander and her mother are in the sound booth preparing for a test.