Sphsihle’s Smile by Dr Kara Hoffman

I had the pleasure of being asked to provide a second medicolegal opinion on a young 9-year-old boy who suffered birth negligence and was left with Cerebral Palsy. At the initial appointment, I knew that this little boy was going to make a lasting impression on me. What a sweet little face, and the happiest smile filled with beautiful white teeth was the only way he could communicate. All he wanted to do was please us – from looking into his ears, to eventually being sedated to undergo objective testing of his hearing – he complied with doing what probably scared the living daylights out of him – because his language, understanding and awareness of the world around him is so limited. But he sat, smiled and patiently allowed us to navigate his ears, without wincing once.

Sphesihle was born with cerebral palsy as a result of birth negligence – this is a sad reality in a third world country such as South Africa – where the maternity units are under-staffed and over-burdened. As a result, he was left without speech and language and with severely delayed developmental milestones. Despite this Spesihle walked into our rooms with a wide, open smile, deeply indented dimples, and a twinkle in his beautiful brown eyes.

We confirmed that Spesihle does not hear very well, and that could have been one of the main reasons that he is unable to communicate. Did you know that if a child cannot hear speech, they will not produce it?

Spesihle had already been given a set of hearing aids, however we discovered that the person who gave him the hearing aids, had not even programmed them. He sat patiently waiting in silence, with his smile still so bright, listening to all the sounds that Dr Kara played for him through the hearing aids. His eyes lit up. Suddenly Dr Kara switched both hearing aids on, and this kid’s smile went from sparkle to explosion! His entire face lit up, and while he sat and danced to YouTube kids, a tear trickled down his mom’s cheek. As Dr Kara said “ba ba ba” to him, and as he imitated the very same “ba ba ba”, his mom let out a big yelped, clapped her hands together and said “this is the first time I am hearing my boy’s voice”.

This is the power of hearing. The power of communication. The power of sound. The power of smile.

April 2024