GIRL'S FIRST JOY OF HEARING

From: New York Post, NY - 05 Mar 2003

By ERIC LENKOWITZ

March 5, 2003 -- A deaf, impoverished 2-year-old Romanian girl heard her mother's voice for the first time yesterday after a Manhattan hospital donated the procedure that saved the girl from a lifetime of silence.

"I just gave birth for the second time to a hearing child," a beaming Lucica Puia said as she held her daughter, Patricia. "This is the most beautiful day of my life."

Doctors at Mount Sinai Medical Center implanted a high-tech hearing device in the girl's ear on Feb. 6, but it wasn't turned on until yesterday because Patricia's ear needed time to accept the device and heal from the surgery.

Facing a barrage of flashing still and television cameras, Patricia squirmed and cried as she heard for the first time.

Dr. Chandra Sekhari, who performed the operation, said Patricia will be able to appreciate all sounds and will be integrated into regular classrooms by the time she is 5.

Former Mount Sinai doctor Abraham Jaeger convinced the hospital to donate the procedure, which normally costs $50,000 to $75,000.

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