Eric Lehmkuhl, 12, was born with a hearing deficit and eventually lost all ability to hear when he was six years old. In February 2002, Eric received a cochlear implant from a team of specialists in the UI Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at UI Hospitals and Clinics. A cochlear implant is an implanted electronic hearing device, designed to produce useful hearing sensations to a person with severe to profound nerve deafness by electrically stimulating nerves inside the inner ear.

Following the surgery, a dedicated team of audiologists, nurses and other specialists taught Eric how to use the implant and to enable his brain to recognize the signals transmitted from the device as sound. To date, the University of Iowa has one of the largest and most comprehensive cochlear implant databases in the world, following patients for as long as 20 years.

Eric, an honor student, will enter seventh grade next fall at Roosevelt Middle School in Cedar Rapids. He plays on a traveling baseball team. He also competes in basketball, wrestling and golf. In addition, he plays the trumpet. Eric and his parents credit his cochlear implant with helping him to lead an active, successful and happy life.

Eric and his family describe him as a “huge” baseball fan who very much hopes to play catch with some of the Kernels. Eric’s physician, Marlan Hansen, MD, and other members of the UI Neurosciences team will accompany Eric as Kernels’ staffers introduce him to the fans at the ballpark and as he circles the bases to celebrate his remarkable success story.

Photo courtesy of
Brian Livermore, BSL ProShotz Photography.

For more information:

UI Neurosciences

Home Run for Life News Video

University of Iowa Children's Hospital

Iowa Cochlear Implant Center

Marlan Hansen, MD