Making a Lifetime Difference for One Small Child. Revisiting Jeremiah Six Years After Lions First Helped with His Hearing.
During a December, 2007 visit to the Foundation offices, Jeremiah presents flowers to Executive Director Amber Kern.	When it comes to award winning smiles, you don’t have to look much further than Jeremiah Wolter. He grins from ear to ear which is very appropriate considering that he sports a pair of cochlear implants, partially paid for by the Lions of MD-36 through the Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation. Lions may remember Jeremiah from back in 2001 when he was just 19 months old. Along with his parents, Jeremiah was the guest at the MD-36 convention after having just received his cochlear implants. A whole new world was just opening up for this young boy – sounds he had never heard before, providing him an opportunity for education in the hearing world. Technology has advanced considerably in the past six years. When the Wolter family came back to the Lions to see if we might assist again with an upgrade to Jeremiah’s implants, your Foundation was pleased to be able to assist.
Up to this point, Jeremiah has worn a fanny-pack around his waist, to carry the equipment and batteries required to operate his cochlear implants. With new advancements, he can wear all those necessities behind his ears in miniaturized versions of what he has carried in that pack. “Finally, we’ll be able to tuck his shirt in,” said his mother Loralee, referring to the fact that most kids cover the fanny pack with loose fitting shirts that disguise the equipment. Recently, Jeremiah was out on the playground running, jumping and playing with other children. When he came back into the classroom, static electricity from his shirt touched the chair he was sitting in, zapping the cord and the power to his cochlear implants. Jeremiah began crying because the sudden silence had scared him. The new waterproof upgrades will make incidents like this less likely to happen. When Lions last met Jeremiah he had no language skills, and his parents hoped that the “cochlear implants will open up many doors for him – bridge the gap a little bit between the hearing and the deaf.”
Amazingly, six years later, Kerry Trainor and Anne Smyth, 1st Grade Teachers at Tucker-Maxon School in SE Portland, feel that Jeremiah is learning at the same level as other first graders. “He is super interested in science,” offered Kerry. “He recently gave his class a super explanation of gravity.” Anne says that Jeremiah is very inquisitive, and as he reads more books, he is picking up so much more vocabulary. “It is all starting to come together for Jeremiah.” Everyone agreed that the cochlear implants have made a difference in Jeremiah being able to talk or not. “I’ll never forget the first time I met Jeremiah and his mother Loralee,” commented Amber Kern, Executive Director of the Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation. “They stopped into the office several months after Jeremiah became the youngest child in Oregon to receive a cochlear implant through the Lions Patient Care Program. In walks this adorable inquisitive tow-headed 18-month old. As I spoke with his mother about the surgery she told me a story.
Shortly after the cochlear implant surgery they were in a parking garage. Like any 18-month old Jeremiah went running in all directions. Loralee called for him to stop immediately and for the first time in Jeremiah’s life, he heard her. Jeremiah stopped and turned to face his mother. Loralee broke out in tears of joy that her son could hear her.” When Jeremiah’s mother contacted Amber about helping to cover the cost of an upgrade to his cochlear processor, Amber said she did not hesitate to look for assistance. “While the family did not meet our financial guidelines for the patient care program, I felt Lions have a vested interest in Jeremiah and his auditory development. I contacted the Portland Downtown Lions Club and Portland Nob Hill Lions Club who together generously donated the funds for the upgrade.” When Jeremiah’s mother said she could stop into the office to pick up the donation, everyone was so excited. It had been nearly 6 years since Jeremiah and his mother had last visited. “I could not believe how much he had grown,” added Amber. “In walks this tall 7 year old asking questions about eyeglasses, photos, Lions - you name it! To hear Jeremiah speak you would not know he is deaf without his cochlear implant.” Through family support and a committed school program, Jeremiah’s verbal skills are similar to any hearing 1st grader but Lions gave Jeremiah the essential equipment he needed to learn to talk. Through their incredible support, Lions have given Jeremiah the ability to be part of both the hearing and deaf communities. Thanks in part to Lions, today Jeremiah’s future is limitless.
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