This heartwarming video is likely the most touching you’ll see in 2025, as confirmed by many who have watched it online.
As a teenager, Maggie underwent a significant surgery to have an auditory brainstem implant positioned on the lower portion of her brain.
The doctors at UH Case Medical Center in Cleveland documented her response when they activated the implant, capturing Maggie’s joyful expression as she heard for the first time.
“Maggie, can you hear me?”, her father Frank inquired.
“You can hear my voice? What about your sister?”, asked her mother Joanna.
Maggie nodded and softly said ‘yes’, prompting everyone in the room to tear up at this deeply emotional moment.
The University Hospitals shared the video on YouTube, and it quickly gained nearly three million views.
The description of the YouTube video stated: “Maggie Gleason, 14, who was born deaf, heard sound for the first time ever when hearing specialists at UH Cleveland Medical Center turned on an innovative electronic device called an auditory brainstem implant (ABI).”
The comments section was flooded with emotional reactions, proving that the video moved many to tears.
“What an inspirational family! I’m happy that this technology has reached Maggie; may it help her continue to make great strides in her life. Bravo!”, commented one viewer.
Another added: “WOOOO!! Go humans and science!!!! This is so amazing….just wow.”
Curious about how Maggie could understand conversations, viewers prompted University Hospitals to clarify in the comments.
They explained: “So Maggie does not yet understand words as we do. She currently communicates using a combination of American Sign Language (ASL) and lip-reading cues, now combined with auditory cues. She is working with a speech-language pathologist toward the goal of understanding words using the auditory cues. Think of it like learning a foreign language; the auditory sounds of the foreign words are being heard, but the brain must be trained how to make sense of the sounds. This will take time.”
The auditory brainstem implant is a device placed where the spinal cord meets the lower part of the brain.