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Grayson Clamp, a 3-year-old from Charlotte, received the auditory brain stem implant in a child done as part of an FDA clinical trial during a surgery done this spring at UNC Hospitals.


Grayson Clamp, a 3-year-old from Charlotte, received the auditory brain stem implant in a child done as part of an FDA clinical trial during a surgery done this spring at UNC Hospitals.

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3-year-old Grayson Clamp, from Charlotte, as he hears for the very first time!

Grayson was born with no cochlear nerves and as a result could not hear.

“I’ve never seen a look like that today,” said Grayson’s father, Len Clamp, of the day that the implant was turned on for the first time. “I mean, he looked deep into my eyes. He was hearing my voice for the first time. It was phenomenal.”

The surgery, performed by Craig Buchman, MD, Professor Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, and Matthew Ewend, MD, Chair, Department of Neurosurgery, is the first of its kind performed in the United States as part of an FDA clinical trial.

“Seeing him respond, that had a lot of feelings for me,” said Dr. Buchman. “I felt like there was a potential that we were effectively changing the world in some ways.”

The device Grayson received was originally used for patients with deafness due to auditory nerve tumors, which impact hearing. The device is now being considered to help restore hearing in children.


Make a gift today in support of our Auditory Brain Stem Implant (ABI) Clinical Trial and help us implant 9 more children. This Clinical Trial is a key research tool for advancing medical knowledge and ultimately patient care for children like Grayson. Your gift will help us give them the gift of hearing. To donate to the ABI Clinical Trial visit: http://givethegiftofhearing.kintera.org/