Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060523/NEWS0102/605230379/-1/CINCI
Dustin Drifmeyer had his foot on the base, arm extended and glove open, like any good first baseman.
As the ball was thrown toward him, it appeared it would be a routine play. It wasn't.
Dustin blacked out from the summer heat. The ball smacked him in the face, knocking out what little hearing he had left.
"I remember the next day - I puked like 15 times in an hour," Dustin said. "I was so dizzy."
The accident happened at a practice in June 2000, leaving the 12-year-old completely deaf.
Dustin, now 18, will graduate Thursday from Lloyd Memorial High School with a 3.6 grade-point average, 13th in a class of 110.
"I think it's his attitude," Lloyd counselor Shawn Lehman said of Dustin's success. "Some people would have thrown in the towel."
Not Dustin.
"I did go through a depression after it happened, but then I was like, 'I don't want to go through this,'" Dustin said. "I figured I already have a hearing problem, why create another problem?"
Dustin was born hearing-impaired and diagnosed with Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct Syndrome, which causes progressive hearing loss.
He was deaf in his left ear by 5 and was told he'd lose all hearing by the time he was in his 30s.
Despite the accident leaving him deaf about 20 years too soon, he still attended Tichenor Middle School in the seventh grade, reading lips and relying on friends, family and teachers for support.
"His attitude was incredible," said Candace Campbell, his Tichenor speech teacher. "He didn't hate the world because of what happened."
His spirits were even higher in January 2001, when he was one of the world's firstto have a Nucleus 24 Contour cochlear implant.
"He felt anything was better than not being able to hear at all," said his mom, Donna Drifmeyer.
Dustin said doctors carved out a piece of his skull and inserted a magnet with electrodes, then connected that to his hearing nerves connected to his brain. On the outside of his head, a receiver in his right ear processes sounds.
With it on, he says his hearing is about 95 percent. "It was a life-changing event," Dustin said.
His lifelong best friend is his cousin, Jeff Drifmeyer, whom Dustin said "watched my back" in seventh grade and will graduate Thursday with Dustin.
"I can't believe how far he's come," Jeff said.
During the past four years, Dustin played basketball and football for Lloyd and was this year's prom king. He'll attend Western Kentucky University in the fall to study physical education.
He's also back on the baseball field, hitting a team-best .393. He pitches, plays third base and, yes, still plays some first base.
He does what he does without fear, living by the same phrase that helped him end his depression in 2000. "Life is what you make it," he said.
Dustin Drifmeyer had his foot on the base, arm extended and glove open, like any good first baseman.
As the ball was thrown toward him, it appeared it would be a routine play. It wasn't.
Dustin blacked out from the summer heat. The ball smacked him in the face, knocking out what little hearing he had left.
"I remember the next day - I puked like 15 times in an hour," Dustin said. "I was so dizzy."
The accident happened at a practice in June 2000, leaving the 12-year-old completely deaf.
Dustin, now 18, will graduate Thursday from Lloyd Memorial High School with a 3.6 grade-point average, 13th in a class of 110.
"I think it's his attitude," Lloyd counselor Shawn Lehman said of Dustin's success. "Some people would have thrown in the towel."
Not Dustin.
"I did go through a depression after it happened, but then I was like, 'I don't want to go through this,'" Dustin said. "I figured I already have a hearing problem, why create another problem?"
Dustin was born hearing-impaired and diagnosed with Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct Syndrome, which causes progressive hearing loss.
He was deaf in his left ear by 5 and was told he'd lose all hearing by the time he was in his 30s.
Despite the accident leaving him deaf about 20 years too soon, he still attended Tichenor Middle School in the seventh grade, reading lips and relying on friends, family and teachers for support.
"His attitude was incredible," said Candace Campbell, his Tichenor speech teacher. "He didn't hate the world because of what happened."
His spirits were even higher in January 2001, when he was one of the world's firstto have a Nucleus 24 Contour cochlear implant.
"He felt anything was better than not being able to hear at all," said his mom, Donna Drifmeyer.
Dustin said doctors carved out a piece of his skull and inserted a magnet with electrodes, then connected that to his hearing nerves connected to his brain. On the outside of his head, a receiver in his right ear processes sounds.
With it on, he says his hearing is about 95 percent. "It was a life-changing event," Dustin said.
His lifelong best friend is his cousin, Jeff Drifmeyer, whom Dustin said "watched my back" in seventh grade and will graduate Thursday with Dustin.
"I can't believe how far he's come," Jeff said.
During the past four years, Dustin played basketball and football for Lloyd and was this year's prom king. He'll attend Western Kentucky University in the fall to study physical education.
He's also back on the baseball field, hitting a team-best .393. He pitches, plays third base and, yes, still plays some first base.
He does what he does without fear, living by the same phrase that helped him end his depression in 2000. "Life is what you make it," he said.