Story translated from Spanish as told by her parents: "On December 21, 2015, Inna arrived to brighten our lives, make us even better, and give us our first experience as parents. Thank God everything went well, and she was born healthy. That same day her newborn hearing test failed in her left ear. The nurse told us it was probably due to fluid in the ear, and we should repeat the test a month later to ensure that her hearing was fine. A month later, on the day of her exam, she was detected with mild hearing loss, and they told us she would have to use hearing aids. We left with the sad news but hoping that she would hear with the aids. Over time we realized that she did not respond to sounds when we spoke to her, even when wearing her hearing aids. We knew that something more was wrong. An audiologist diagnosed her with severe hearing loss at one year old. Thank God he put many great and kind people who helped us and advised us in our next steps. For us, that was cochlear implants. With the faith of God in our hearts, we believed that the best option for Inna was to listen and learn to speak. Her first surgery was in June 2017 when she was 1 and 6 months old. Thanks to God and the doctors, everything went well, and in September of the same year, she had her second surgery.
Inna joined Happy Hands on August 21, 2017, where we met very good and professional people who have taught her so much. Because of Happy Hands, she has been able to communicate with us. She is now 6 years old and is learning 3 languages: English, Spanish, and Sign Language.
We are very grateful for Happy Hands and everyone who works there and their work to help children with communication problems. We also thank God for making us strong and putting Happy Hands in our path. Now Inna is in her last year at Happy Hands, and she will be ready for an elementary school in our local public school system and continue learning every day.
Inna's teacher, Ms. Renee, shared, "Inna is an adorable and brave girl who loves learning new things and making friends. She has always enjoyed her days at Happy Hands. We will miss her when she leaves!"
