Miss-Delectable
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http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3996463&nav=0Ra7
Amber Kay is a former Miss Deaf Indiana, but very soon she may be able to hear.
Amber, who has been deaf since she was a child, looks at pictures from the pageant. “It was nice to go out there and show, ‘I'm deaf but look at me; I can do anything anybody can do,’” she said. It's been six years since Amber won the title of Miss Deaf Indiana.
Amber was born into a deaf world. Both of her parents are profoundly deaf. They can't hear or speak.
But Amber has always been able to hear just enough to make her want to hear more. “I hear a lot of sound, but sometimes I don't know what they are. I can hear people's voices but I don't understand all of the words that they say,” she said.
Amber began educating herself on cochlear implants several years ago, but it wasn't until just recently that she decided she was ready.
“It's a personal choice. The deaf community is very split. Some of them feel that if you have an implant you are betraying the deaf community and they feel like hearing people are trying to fix them and they don't want to be fixed,” she said.
Her doctors have prepared her for the best and worst case scenarios. “At the beginning it will be very confusing. I'm going to hear a lot of sound that I will not know because I've never heard them before in my life,” said Amber.
For her friends, the thought of Amber finally hearing them is exciting. “It's really not going to be that much different for me besides the fact – I don't know; it's just going to be amazing for her to actually really be able to hear me,” said Trisha Lewis, Amber’s best friend since the fifth grade.
Trisha says being deaf never stopped Amber from doing anything she wanted to do. ”She'll do anything. She can do anything. She's always on the go, always busy, always doing something. She's going to school. She's about to start teaching.”
Getting the cochlear implant will just be one more thing in life that Amber is determined to do.
“She's very, very brave. Everything that she's done and everything that she's about to do, like she said, it could really change her life,” said Trisha.
Amber's surgery is scheduled for November 18th. 24-Hour News 8 will continue to follow her story and tell you how it all works out for her.
Amber Kay is a former Miss Deaf Indiana, but very soon she may be able to hear.
Amber, who has been deaf since she was a child, looks at pictures from the pageant. “It was nice to go out there and show, ‘I'm deaf but look at me; I can do anything anybody can do,’” she said. It's been six years since Amber won the title of Miss Deaf Indiana.
Amber was born into a deaf world. Both of her parents are profoundly deaf. They can't hear or speak.
But Amber has always been able to hear just enough to make her want to hear more. “I hear a lot of sound, but sometimes I don't know what they are. I can hear people's voices but I don't understand all of the words that they say,” she said.
Amber began educating herself on cochlear implants several years ago, but it wasn't until just recently that she decided she was ready.
“It's a personal choice. The deaf community is very split. Some of them feel that if you have an implant you are betraying the deaf community and they feel like hearing people are trying to fix them and they don't want to be fixed,” she said.
Her doctors have prepared her for the best and worst case scenarios. “At the beginning it will be very confusing. I'm going to hear a lot of sound that I will not know because I've never heard them before in my life,” said Amber.
For her friends, the thought of Amber finally hearing them is exciting. “It's really not going to be that much different for me besides the fact – I don't know; it's just going to be amazing for her to actually really be able to hear me,” said Trisha Lewis, Amber’s best friend since the fifth grade.
Trisha says being deaf never stopped Amber from doing anything she wanted to do. ”She'll do anything. She can do anything. She's always on the go, always busy, always doing something. She's going to school. She's about to start teaching.”
Getting the cochlear implant will just be one more thing in life that Amber is determined to do.
“She's very, very brave. Everything that she's done and everything that she's about to do, like she said, it could really change her life,” said Trisha.
Amber's surgery is scheduled for November 18th. 24-Hour News 8 will continue to follow her story and tell you how it all works out for her.