Charitable Healthcare Grant Gives Cobb Girl The Gift Of Hearing

ATLANTA -- A young Powder Springs girl has been given the gift of hearing, thanks to a grant from a local healthcare charitable organization. At birth, Chloe Parker was diagnosed with Atresia, a medical condition causing her to be completely deaf in the left ear and partially deaf in the right ear. As a small child, Chloe often would become frustrated because she couldn’t completely understand what was going on around her. Hearing only bits and pieces of conversations also contributed to her struggles with school.

That all started to change four years ago when Chloe had implant surgery that allowed her to wear Cochlear Baha’s, bone-anchored hearing aids. The surgery made it possible for Chloe to hear for the first time on her left side at age five and gain close to 100 percent of her hearing in both ears.

But in 2018, Chloe’s implants needed an upgrade because that model was being discontinued. A grant from the UnitedHealthcare’s Children’s Foundation allowed Kali to upgrade Chloe’s hearing aids and covered the cost of the warranty on the devices. Today, Chloe is a thriving young girl living a healthy, normal childhood and is becoming more comfortable communicating in all settings.

On Tuesday, March 12 from 6 to 9 pm, UHCCF is hosting a special fundraising event at Topgolf in Midtown to raise money for medical grants for kids in the southeast. Since 2007, UHCCF has awarded over 18,000 grants totaling more than $45 million to children and families across the United States. All proceeds support the organization’s goal to award the 20,000th grant in 2020.

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