In memoriam, Ponto processor donated to a child in need
Oticon Medical has had the privilege of working with so many incredible individuals and families affected by hearing loss, including many who use our Ponto™ and Sentio™ Systems. Over the years we’ve built meaningful relationships with hearing health advocates, who are passionate about supporting others by sharing their personal experiences with hearing challenges.
One of our dearest advocates, Tamala “Tammy” Sullivan, recently passed away. Tammy touched countless lives with her kindness, courage, and unwavering dedication to the hard of hearing community. She offered not only information and guidance, but genuine hope—the kind that comes from someone who has walked the same path and chooses to light the way for others.
To honor Tammy’s generosity and the impact she made, we have donated a Ponto processor to a child in need.
Turning hearing challenges into a passion to help others
Tammy was especially passionate about helping children access the tools they need to thrive, which is why we felt this donation would be a meaningful way to continue her legacy.
“My family are honored that you are doing this,” said Tracy Sullivan, Tammy’s sister, when we consulted her about the donation. “My sister was a huge advocate for helping kids get what they needed to be successful. She loved to help people and would love this being done in her honor.”
Tammy learned sign language as a teenager and started working with the Deaf community. She was hard of hearing her entire life and was fitted with her first hearing aids as a teenager. When she read about bone anchored hearing systems, she was excited. Her traditional hearing aids had created problems that the bone anchored devices eliminated.
Meet Noah, recipient of Tammy’s gift of hearing
Another longtime advocate, Oticon Medical advocate-Ambassador Angela Sabal, helped us identify a family whose child needed a bone conduction processor but weren’t in a financial position to obtain one.
Noah is two-years-old and was born with hemifacial microtia, which his mother, Jessica, told us was “a surprise” when he was born. The family faced a long process of acceptance, researching the condition, and figuring out what steps to take moving forward.
Because of his condition, Noah is completely deaf on his left side. He has a plastic surgeon on board to reconstruct his ear when he is old enough (around 7-9 years old), an otolaryngologist to do the implantation surgery for a bone anchored hearing device (at around 5-7 yrs old), and an audiologist who Noah’s been seeing every six months since he was born. According to Noah’s otolaryngologist, he would not qualify for the surgery unless he wore a bone conduction device or something similar on a band as a first step. His audiologist loaned the family a bone conduction hearing processor to use until they were able to get one of their own.
The challenge for the family was insurance. They tried to go through their insurer twice, but both times were informed that insurance would only cover a small portion of the total cost. The balance was beyond the family’s means to cover out-of-pocket.
Upon being contacted by Oticon Medical about this donation in honor of Tammy, Jessica reached out to Noah’s audiologist, who confirmed that Noah would be able to use the Ponto being offered. She would just have to bring it in to be programmed for his specific hearing requirements. Jessica thanked Oticon Medical for reaching out and expressed her appreciation upon being informed of this opportunity to treat Noah’s hearing loss.
We will share more about Noah’s progress with his new Ponto processor when it becomes available.
