Khalil’s hearing loss happened suddenly. During the summer of 2016, Khalil woke up one morning and couldn’t hear out of his right ear. At first, he thought it might be a buildup of earwax blocking his hearing so he continued life normally. For two weeks, Khalil did not know what was wrong with his ear.

“I didn’t take it so seriously,” Khalil shared. “I just wanted to be able to hear again when my fall semester of school started. I wanted to get my hearing back or at least find out what was wrong with me.”

Eventually, Khalil was diagnosed with sudden profound hearing loss. This news changed his life.

“When I was told that my hearing isn’t coming back, it hit me really hard. That moment made me think about what could have happened if I got my hearing checked earlier and not waited, but I couldn’t really blame myself. This was unexpected and nobody saw it coming at all. I feel like this changed me and made me want to take my hearing more seriously.”

The following spring, Khalil had cochlear implant surgery. After he received the Sonic cochlear implant he was finally able to hear in noisy environments again and began to understand speech again.

Even when Khalil could not hear out of his right ear, he never let that effect his mood. He continued to hang out with his friends and remain positive. Khalil works in noisy environments with children, so being able to hear clearly and to understand the sounds around him is important. His cochlear implant makes his school and work life easier because without it, he wouldn’t be able to understand what people are saying.

“Having the Sonic makes it much better to hear. Not just hear, but to be aware of sounds and what is going on around me. My school life and work life have gotten much better since the surgery and I’m only getting better.”

Khalil is a HearStrong Champion because he is driven to help others and always keeps a positive attitude. Throughout his hearing journey, Khalil has continued to smile and pull through because he believes that nothing can bring him down.

Khalil has been surrounded by friends and family who have supported him. They have been there to guide him through tough times and have never let his hearing loss effect their relationship with him. Khalil’s positive attitude and willingness to always smile makes him a great role model for those around him.