Johannesburg - It’s taken five years - almost Finn Prosser’s entire life - to give the Fourways pre-schooler a chance at normal hearing.
Playing with his Lego set this week, Finn is energetic and inquisitive. Looking at him, you wouldn’t think he’s had to overcome the serious challenges that he's confronted thus far in his young life.
Until the beginning of October, Finn relied on hearing aids. His family had to campaign online for about a year to raise enough money for him to have surgery.
Lisa Prosser says they knew Finn would need it, because he was born with bilateral atresia and microtia.
This meant that his ears had not fully formed, a condition believed to affect almost one in 12 000 people worldwide.
Prosser said: “Doctors had to open up the ear canal and build an ear drum. They then created an ear, using an artificial frame of a porous, plastic substance and Finn’s own skin and blood supply.”
The catch was that the surgery available locally would be a rib graft ear construction that’s done on older children (10 years and up), and it would take up to four procedures over three years to complete.
The family decided to have the surgery done in the US, but that carried a price tag of R1.3 million per ear.
Their medical aid, Discovery Health Scheme, would only pay a maximum of R200 000 per ear, because of its terms, conditions and caps, so the shortfall was at least R2.2 million.
They turned to Facebook, creating the Raising Finn page, which became the thrust of their campaign.
Prosser says they had to blog to raise awareness about Finn’s condition, and eventually even crowd-fund to finance the surgeries. A pillar of strength for the family was Hi Hopes, part of Wits University’s Centre for Deaf Studies.
The organisation helped the family understand the impact of Finn’s type and level of loss of language. They also helped the Prossers with a deaf mentor, who could communicate in both sign language and normal speech.
“We made sure together that his language development was on par with that of a hearing child. This family was fantastic to work with; they did everything and more for Finn. We worked together for about 18 months,” says Hi Hopes's Carla Zille.
Prosser says their major challenge was the money. “We applied for Discovery’s overseas treatment benefit, but it wasn’t approved.”
Discovery Health's overseas benefit is for medical emergencies while a client is travelling abroad.
According to the Prossers they will be receiving R320 000 from Discovery towards Finn's surgeries. To date, the Prossers have raised R1 million online. They’re still in debt, but they’re looking to the future. As Finn’s parents chat in the garden, he wanders around a corner. His father David calls out: “Finn boy, come here, please.”
Finn shouts out: “Yes.”