Aidan Burns was on the radio a month before he entered seventh grade. The local youngster explained how an operation and cochlear implants had changed his life.
That was in the summer of 2012. Aidan reported that without the devices behind his ears he was totally deaf.
While the implants helped him, they were supposed to be updated every few years. His parents, Kevin and Coleen Burns, tried to make that happen, but they ran into a road block with their insurance company. The battle was long and frustrating.
“We finally reached out to Sen. Bill Larkin,” Mrs. Burns said, “and within a month we got the insurance company to correct one of its errors”
It was a big step in the right direction. In March 2014, Aidan finally got his upgrades. His mother said that the only benefit to the long wait was that Aidan received the “absolute newest version.” His new implants are smaller than the old ones, more powerful, blue tooth compatible and waterproof.
For the first time, Aidan will be able to wear his implants in a pool. In the past if he was swimming, the only way to get his attention was to splash him.
On May 9, Aidan visited Sen. Larkin to thank him for his help. It wasn’t a brief meeting, the teenager and the octogenarian spent a half hour together. At the start of the session, the senator took out his hearing aids and showed them to his guest. At the end of the visit, Mr. Larkin commended Aidan for being a great kid and never giving up.
Mrs. Burns says that people always ask her how Aidan is doing. She says that, with his new implants, the answer is “amazing.”