Meet Our Patients

Kennedy is just one example of the many brave kids whose lives have been changed thanks to a surgery performed at Children's Hospital. Kennedy was born with cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common virus that can cause birth defects in unborn babies, including hearing loss, as it did in Kennedy’s left ear.

Luke Morra is just like any 18-month-old boy. He loves dancing to music. He enjoys swimming and running through the sprinkler outside with his brothers. He’s constantly learning and points at things he finds interesting. He responds when his parents call his name.

David was born with cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common virus that rarely causes obvious illness. However, it can damage the nervous system, including causing hearing loss, as it did in David. At age 4, he was fitted for hearing aids, and by age 6 he was completely deaf.

In January, Joshua Webb, 13, underwent a cochlear implant at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. The surgery itself wasn’t an unusual occurrence at the hospital. The Cochlear Implant Team has an international reputation for treating hearing loss, and it has performed more than 575 pediatric cochlear implants since the mid-1980s.