A 17-year-old shouted "Mommy!" through tears of joy when hearing her mom’s voice for the first time thanks to her first hearing aids. Ashly Monserrath Hernández, from San Antonio, Texas, was born prematurely at 26 weeks in 2008, which caused a series of health complications. When she was around a year old, she suffered paralysis in the middle of her body, affecting her ears and the tendons in her legs, her mom, Fany, said. After numerous operations on her legs to help her walk, Ashly's family came to accept she would never be able hear. At school, she learned sign language, and Ashly later joined San Antonio-based program Aid The Silent, which provides support and financial assistance for children who are hard-of-hearing and deaf. Ashly embraced the program and its founder, Emma Faye Rudkin, who gave the teen the news they would be helping her source a pair of hearing aids. Having picked out her favorite color of pink, she was given a date for when she would try them out for the first time. On July 30, at Aid The Silent's facilities, Ashly's hearing aids were fitted and activated, and the teenager immediately lit up when she heard clear sound for the first time. But it was then, when she knew she could finally hear Fany's voice that the emotions got too much for Ashly.
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